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Far Away by Clara La San: As readers follow Offred’s life in Gilead, they learn that she has a young daughter who was captured while trying to escape America with her and Luke. Her daughter is the main character in many of her memories; she wonders if she remembers her, where she is and if she is even still alive. Later in the book, Serena becomes more eager to have a child so she proposes a solution: Offred has sex with another man to better her chances of getting pregnant in exchange for a picture of Offred’s daughter. Offred accepts the offer. “I take it from her… My treasure. So tall and changed… I am only a shadow now… You can see it in her eyes: I am not there” (Atwood 228). The song Far Away by Clara La San expresses a distant love such as what Offred is experiencing. “If I’m far away, I will prescribe you something, something to give you, the strength, my love” is a message to her daughter to motivate herself to stay strong for her.

Willing to Trust by Kid Cudi: The sexual encounters between Offred and the Commander were strictly professional until he requested to see her in person. As they spent more time together, he grew more of an emotional liking to her, asking her to kiss him like she meant it as a goodbye after seeing each other. She complies because she knows that he is the key to having a more comfortable life in Gilead but this does not mean that she feels the same way about him. One night he gives her an outfit to wear to the Club, a place in a hotel where men go to gawk at women. The Commander believed he was thoughtful as he took her to a hotel room to have sex: “‘I thought you might enjoy it for a chance”’(Atwood 254). Willing to Trust by Kid Cudi is a perfect song to describe his delusion of Offred truly enjoying their forced sex. “I’ve been willing to trust someone, Is this really love what it’s becomin’?” The Commander believes they have a connection when in reality, Offred is taking advantage of him to better her well being in a living hell.

Palaces by Lupe Fiasco: Throughout the Handmaid’s Tale, there are numerous instances where the reader can see how Gilead uses objectification and manipulation to control its Handmaids. Janine, one of Offred’s peers, tells her story about being gang-raped at only fourteen years old at Testifying. Aunt Helena is then quick to demean her by saying, “But whose fault was it?” (Atwood 72) and making the other Handmaids chant, “Her fault, her fault, her fault…” (Atwood 72). Janine breaks down into tears. The next week she takes the initiative to repeat the words to herself, “It was my fault, she says. It was my own fault. I led them on. I deserved the pain.” (Atwood 72). Aunt Lydia and Aunt Helena know that by degrading yourself, you start to lose your identity, strength, and confidence. Lyrics from the song Palaces by Lupe Fiasco write, “We think we’re fortresses, made of stone, But we’re just palaces made out of flesh and bone, waiting for our time to come on home”. When Lupe says “home” he could be referring to heaven, or somewhere with God, in this context. I recognized these lines as something the handmaids say to themselves to break any mentality of rebelling.

Cool Grey 11s by Marlon Craft: Marlon Craft said, “Country of compulsion in a world of illusion”. As the new laws and new government began to take over, women were slowly stripped of their basic rights. It began with the army declaring a state of emergency but escalated to suspending the Constitution. People did not question anything that was happening, there were no protests,“There wasn’t even rioting in the streets. People stayed home at night, watching television, looking for some direction” (Atwood 174). From firing all women from their jobs to forcing banks to transfer women’s earnings to their husbands. America quickly and easily folded into a life of inequality. While genuine Jewish people were able to escape to Israel because they were seen as special: “Sons of Jacob”, most, like Offred, attempted to escape through the Canadian border. Canada and Israel have not interfered with America’s new system. Why weren’t people questioning the government shutdown? Why didn’t other countries recognize the devastation? “Country of compulsion”.

Where did the day go by Wet: Living through the manipulation of Gilead is similar to moving through water: each day that goes by feels slow and endless to Offred. Readers often find her pondering her past but also her surroundings: “the shell of the egg is smooth but also grained; small pebbles of calcium are defined by the sunlight, like craters on the moon” (Atwood 110). If their minds haven’t broken yet, imagination is the only freedom the Handmaids have access to. Where did the day by Wet embodies their experience, “I see a field below, and when I’m feeling low, I open my eyes, and to my surprise, there’s no one inside, I never arrive”. These lyrics serve as a reminder that their fate lies within Gilead’s laws and traditions as it is nearly impossible to escape alive.

Lit Log #2 - The city of confliction

This piece of art, titled The City of Confliction is my attempt at a visual representation of a section of the book The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood. It features a tall cityscape from the perspective of somebody standing on the ground, looking up. There are red or blue details on the buildings depending on where you look, and in the background flames are rising tall above the buildings, contrasting against an oddly calm, blue sky. The scene from the book I chose to base my artwork off of was the Manhattan cleanup, a riot/protest of sorts, where pro-Gilead radicals took to Times Square, burning, destroying, and denouncing people and things they saw unfit for their ideal society. They burnt clothes and humiliated those responsible for their design and manufacture.

My scene of Times Square isn’t exactly as-seen in the book or TV series, as I chose to take liberties to include details and symbols that elevate this from simply a visual piece, to a proper representation with symbolic meanings all throughout. I stayed on-script with the major details. I kept the buildings that are actually in Times Square, using a reference picture to stay fairly realistic with those depictions. Beyond that, almost every choice has a meaning behind it.

The most obvious symbol included is the red and blue contrasting colours, seen all throughout the scene. The colours both represent one side of the story, red being Gilead and blue being the resistance. (whether Mayday, or just individual acts of resistance. All rebellion is included in it) The colours are mostly split down the middle, with the buildings on the left emitting a red light from their windows showing Gilead occupation, and the right being blue to show the rebels residence. This is also furthered by the signage on the buildings, with the tall pointy building on the right depicting the word “MAYDAY,” which is the name of the major rebel group in The Handmaid’s Tale, and the end of the word “Gilead” (seen as “-EAD”) can be seen on the shorter building on the far left. The tallest building is the one in the middle, which is split half and half between Gilead and the rebels. The billboards that line the building all show half red and half blue. This isn’t just to show their coexistence, but also their constant battle. Both parties are always fighting for control and/or freedom, and the mixed signals on the signage shows this conflict.

On the tallest Gilead occupied building, you can see that it is labeled with “Shein.” During the Manhattan cleanup, the primary item that got burned was clothing. To allude to this, I showed that Gilead occupied the former Shein building, and turned it into one of their own. This isn’t only a surface level reference, but also a way of showing how when Gilead wants something gone or changed, they will use force, violence, and manipulation to get it done. Some of the windows on the Shein building shine blue, despite it being supposed to be owned by Gilead. This is to once again show more rebellion, and to show how even when under Gilead control, rebellion and hope can still exist for all of those who want to break free.

In the background, the flames that burn high are a literal representation of the fires and arson that occurred during the Manhattan cleanup in the book and TV show, but also another representation of Gilead vs rebels. The flames burn high into the sky, taller than any real fire could reach, yet no visual destruction is apparent. No burnt buildings, no smoke. Even the sky is clear. This is indicative of Gilead occupation. They keep a good image, wearing nice clothes and residing in well-made buildings. They are concerned with their public image, keeping many secrets, like the full extent of what happens to handmaids. Yet despite this well kept look, they are a terrible force, causing pain and destruction both emotionally and physically everywhere they control.

The contrasting blue sky is the final important symbol, which holds similar meaning to the billboards earlier. Even in the flames of Gilead’s control, rebellion and resistance will still exist, shining bright above their struggles.

I know I spelled Shien wrong. Too late

For my visual representation I choose to highlight a moment between Offred and the commander. Throughout the last couple of chapters we see their moments of them playing scrabble, reading, writing, talking and other experiences. My piece of artwork highlights their scrabble games. Using my creativity I choose to have them in either element of emotion rather than the actual scene. To show what is in their minds as they have their intimate meetings. While we can’t actually know, I can infer the mental state of both Offred and the commander.

I made very specific artistic choices while creating this. To start I have the commander with his back facing to Offred, this shows the complicated relationship between them. Even though this is rather unusual for a commander and a handmaid to have these private moments they continue to do so. The bubble above his head shows his thoughts of Offred. His enjoyment of the time they spend together and her as an individual rather than her as a handmaid. It’s a confusing feeling which is why he stands with his arms crossed. Across the room is offered. While we know she never actually lays on the floor with her head buried in her knees I made her in this position to signify her upset feelings towards the whole situation, her emotions as a handmaid and being this new version of herself. In the bubble above her head we see the name Luke. In all this time they spend together Offred can’t help but just think of Luke. Where he might be, their memories together, their child together and him as she can’t forget their love. On the floor between the two we can see scattered prices of scrabble. The game the two of them play together. The reason I scattered it was to signify the unwillingness to want to play on Offred’s part. How she doesn’t enjoy it like he does and how she wishes to be freed of this isolating life. It’s confusing for both of them. The game is nothing but an object in their unique relationship. It doesn’t signify any fun. That is the reason for that chosen element in my art work. Finally I drew a window behind Offred. I don’t know for sure the layout of this room. Although I added this to represent the distance between the outside work of nature and fun and the house she finds herself always in. The wanted feeling of freedom lingers behind her. The path of stones is to be seen in the Commander’s Wives garden.

The reason I choose this scene is because as I read these moments between them tend to stick out to me. In a world full of confusion, despair, mayhem it is easy to get lost in a small down to earth moment. To me I see the commander as not a bad guy. It’s easy to see him as the villain but we can see guilt he carries for the role Offred was put in. These moments they spend together I believe relieve him of the guilt. We don’t get to see many one on one moments between any two characters for long periods of time. Although with these two it has made me confused and curious to how this will turn out. Whether they will continue to have time together or not. The confusion on if either party truly likes one another in a friendship sense or if the commander feels more. I enjoy reading to see the development between these two characters and not in a sense of romance but to wonder why all the sudden he is curious about Offred and why he is so open to her being more than just a handmaid but a companion.

These two photos are from a park near my house. I took these photos because of the relation I noticed to The Handmaid’s Tale. When first looking at them, it may not look like they have much relation to the book. These two photos don’t represent a specific moment or scene from the book. Rather, they represent the whole book. The photos show freedom and privilege. Two things that Offred and the other handmaids don’t have in Gilead. If you take a deep look at the photos, you can notice a handful of ordinary things that women in Gilead don’t have. In the photo on the right, the first thing that I notice is the woman riding a bike in the right center of the frame. That alone is something that would get you in trouble in Gilead. All she is doing is outside by herself, but in Gilead, that is something that people wish they were able to do. If you look closer at that photo, you can see a man and a woman walking together behind the flowers. This is another basic thing that you don’t think about that wouldn’t be allowed in Gilead. Everywhere you look, you can see something that would get you in trouble if you were living in Gilead. You can see even more of this in the photo on the left. This is just a photo of an ordinary day on a playground, but if it were Gilead, none of this would be happening. The first thing I would like to point out in the photo is on the left, behind a light pole. There is a mother with two children in a stroller. The first thing is that she is allowed to have children that are hers, and she is allowed to keep them. She is also able to take them outside and spend time with them. Something that seems so simple, but isn’t allowed in Gilead. All of these things are things that Offred dreams about. She is constantly wishing for her old life back. She is always thinking about old things that we see every day and don’t even think twice about them. Something as simple as going for a bike ride or spending time with your kids is a luxury that Offred had been taken away from her. Offred is also thinking about her old family. Her daughter and Luke. She is thinking about the life she wanted with them, and what she wants is so simple. She just wants to have a normal life. Have a house and a family. “Luke and I used to walk together, sometimes, along these streets. We used to talk about buying a house like one of these, an old big house, fixing it up. We would have a garden, swings for the children. We would have children. Although we knew it wasn’t too likely we could ever afford it, it was something to talk about, a game for Sundays. Such freedom now seems almost weightless,”(23).

The Ceremony scene in The Handmaid’s Tale reveals how ritual can become a form of control. Atwood builds a moment that feels calm on the surface, but is full of quiet terror. My first reaction to this passage was discomfort, then an after, a kind of numbness. The emotional shift mirrors what Offred feels in the book. Reading it, I understood how Gilead’s power doesn’t rely only on violence. It relies on repetition, silence, and forced participation.
Offred describes the setting with plain observation. “My red shoes are off, my legs are on the bed, spread open, and the Commander is fucking” (pg. 94). The flatness of this sentence hit me; there is no emotional word. No protest, no metaphor. It’s written the way a person describes a task. That lack of feeling is what makes it so hard to read. Offred is detached because feeling would make the act unbearable. The state has made her body public property, so she protects what little remains of herself by refusing to feel. That is survival disguised as obedience.
When I read this line, I felt the tension of the scene. The Commander’s wife, Serena Joy, sits with Offred and holds her hands during the act. Atwood writes, “Serena Joy’s rings glitter near my face, her perfume thick and sweet” (Page 95). The image of glitter and perfume contrasts with the violence of what’s happening. That detail stuck with me. It shows how Gilead turns cruelty into a ritual. Everything is dressed up to look holy decent. I thought about how control often hides behind ceremony in the real world. When rules are wrapped in tradition, people stop questioning them. That is what happens in Gilead. The scene is quiet. There is no struggle, no shouting. Everyone plays a part. Offred lies still. Serena grips her hands. The Commandeer finishes and leaves. It feels mechanical. The silence is the loudest thing in the chapter. Offred says, “One detaches oneself. One describes” (Page 96). That line explains how she survives. She steps outside herself; she becomes the narrator instead of actually being in the scene. My reaction changed as I reread the scene. The first time, I was shocked by the act. The second time, I paid more attention to Offred’s thoughts afterward. She says, “We are two-legged wombs, that’s all: sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices.” (Page 136). That word choice is very brutal and specific. It reduces women to objects. But the sarcasm in her tone matters. She knows the system’s language but uses it with irony. That irony is her defense. She understands the lie but pretends to accept it. In the middle of the chapter, there is a moment that also shows how Offred is managing this oppression. She says, “Nor does rape cover it: nothing is going on here that I haven’t signed up for. There wasn’t a lot of choice, but there was some, and this is what I chose” (Page 94). She recognizes the limited control she has but asserts ownership of her actions. The phrase “there wasn’t a lot of choice” shows the pressure Gilead places on women; the system limits options and forces compliance. The phrase “this is what I chose” emphasizes her effort to maintain autonomy within those limits. Even small decisions become meaningful in a system designed to erase them. Offred weighs risk, emotion, and appearance to protect her inner life. This line also illustrates the complexity of consent under pressure. Offred acknowledges that the act is not freely desired, yet she claims responsibility for how she endures it. Gilead does not need violence to control women; it requires compliance framed as consent. Atwood shows that survival demands compromise and calculation. Reading this passage, I felt the tension between helplessness and control. I noticed how Offred’s observation of her own participation is a form of resistance. She frames her experience as a choice, even though she was constrained; it allows her to preserve a sense of self that the system seeks to destroy. At the end of the scene, Offred retreats to her room as she says, “Nolite te bastardes caborundorum.” The phrase, meaning “Don’t let the bastards grind you down,” is secret resistance. It shows survival is sometimes internal and quiet. Every sentence she writes proves she exists, observes, and thinks. That inner voice becomes her power. Reading the Ceremony scene, especially lines like the one about her limited choice, changed how I understood the novel. Gilead is built on the absence of feeling, yet Offred retains control through observation, reflection, and private decisions. Her calm voice and awareness form the subtle acts of resistance that keep her self intact. The quietness, routine, and constrained choice make the world believable and terrifying. Offred’s survival depends on small acts of mental autonomy, a reminder that even in extreme oppression, individuals find ways to assert themselves.

When I first read Chapter 23 of The Handmaid’s Tale, I didn’t expect such a quiet scene, just Offred and The Commander playing Scrabble, to affect everything so deeply. The more I thought about this chapter, the more unsettling it became. This chapter is not dramatic in the usual sense: no chases, no violence, no public Ceremony. But for me, it became one of the most emotionally charged moments in the book. Atwood uses small gestures and ordinary words to expose the terrifying connection between power and language. My emotional experience with this scene moved from curiosity, to discomfort and to an awareness of how fragile freedom really is, especially the freedom to remember who we are.

Offred’s narration begins with a quiet shock: “I want to laugh, shriek with laughter, fall off my chair” (Atwood Page 138). The Commander has just invited her to play Scrabble, an act that would seem harmless in any normal world. But in Gilead, words are contraband, and literacy for women is forbidden. What struck me here was how physical Offred’s reaction is. Her laughter isn’t joy. As a reader, I felt the tension between her desire to act freely and her fear of being punished for it. When she writes, “I can feel the laughter inside me, like a bubble,” I imagine the pressure she’s holding inside. My own reaction was confusion mixed with dread. Why is this simple act so dangerous? And yet, why does it feel almost sacred?

As the scene unfolds, Offred’s awareness of the past mixes with the awkwardness of the present. “Now of course it’s something he can use against me, later if he chooses”(Page 139). Here, I felt myself recoil. What seems like a human connection, a man offering a woman to play a game, is actually built on a threat. Offred knows every interaction can be used as leverage. I started to realize how Atwood blurs the line between affection and control, making it impossible to know whether intimacy in Gilead is ever real. My emotional response shifted from curiosity to unease. I wanted to trust the commander’s gesture, but Offred’s inner voice reminds me not to: “He looks like a midwestern bank manager, but he’s not.” That line, quiet as it is, made me pause. Offred’s ironic tone, the way she reduces him to a type, becomes her only form of resistance. It’s language used for survival

I also found myself haunted by how much memories show through this scene. As Offred recalls life “in the time before,” she says, “We used to exchange jokes, with the man in the bar, with strangers. We were a society dying of too much choice” (P 140). I remember rereading that line and feeling both fascinated and uncomfortable. “Too much choice”, it’s such a bitter paradox. Offred recognizes how the past had its own kind of emptiness, carelessness with freedom. When I first read it, I felt a sting of recognition. I thought about how we take our own choices for granted. Atwood doesn’t just criticize Gilead here, She criticizes and critiques complacency. This made me feel uneasy because it felt directed towards me living in a world that still struggles with power and control(mostly race).

The Scrabble game itself becomes a metaphor for rebellion through memory. Each word Offred spells “Valance,” “zygote” feels like an act of resistance(P 141). I love how Atwood chooses words that are reproductive and domestic, echoing the world Offred has been reduced to. I noticed how the language becomes: “The letters feel like dried out bones under my fingers”(P 142). That image stopped me. Bones and remains symbolize what’s left of the old world. I felt grief and admiration at the same time. Offred isn’t just touching wooden tiles; she’s touching a ghost of her past identity. For me, this is one of Atwood’s most powerful moments. A scene that turns something as mundane as a board game into a confrontation with history.

When the Commander tells her, “You can’t cheat fate,” and she replies, “Maybe you can,”(P 143) I felt a sense of triumph. It’s one of the only times in the novel where Offred pushes back. Yet it’s also heartbreaking that her rebellion takes place in whispers, in private, within the walls of a man’s study

By the end of the scene, I felt hollow. Offred’s final reflection, “I want to steal something… It would make me feel like I have power”(P 144) stayed with me. I understood that this wasn’t about scrabble or about the commander. It was about reclaiming the self in a world determined to erase it.

Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden “Black Hole Sun” is a very nihilistic song, which is fitting for Gilead, as it’s a country seemingly gone insane. The songs yearning for death sit in Offred’s entality. “ Black Hole Sun, won’t you come and wash away the rain?” The downbeat locals and bodies a world in which hope has been exterminated and replaced with apathy. Offred feels this in her bones.“I am like a room where things once happened and now nothing does, except the pollen of the weeds that grow up outside the window, blowing in as dust across the floor.” (18,104) She has become a machine, mindlessly doing her tasks, devoid of all emotion other than a permanent feeling of discomfort and abandonment. Just like this son, she sees their only way in which she sees her story ending, that being the inevitable death that all handmaids will inevitably experience, the death of their usefulness.

Song 33 - Noname Gilead is nearly identical to Noname’s Song 33. The song is spoken over a jazz hip-hop beat. Noname calls out the world for its ignorance of this violence again and again; she sees more and more people like her go missing or be murdered outright. “They’ve removed anything you could tie a rope to.” (1,7) Her dark tone as she repeats herself, appalled by the violence and the indifference of the people around her, is nearly identical to how the book depicts Gilead. Noname can’t after every verse shows the cyclical nature of the violence that she is seeing, the spoken word style of her rapping makes it all the more similar to OfOffred’s relentlessness in the world in which she must face the violence inflicted on her every day.

Watching him fade away - Mac DeMarco The hazy guitar loop, muffled vocals, and nostalgic tone of Mac DeMarco’s “Watching him fade away” perfectly fit into Gilead’s atmosphere of a bitter new world, having this way from the Bittersweet world remembered by Offred in the before times. The detached sadness mirrors Offred’s quiet surrender as the memories of the before times are slowly drowned out, not by what is inflicted on her but by the simple and mundane memories and routines. The song’s lack of climax parallels how Gilead strips the past of emotion and vividness. Throughout the song Mac DeMarc expresses his displeasure with the person that is singing about but he also realizes that part of him still hurt that he is gone “I know you never meant to put him down. And even if you did, he sure deserved it” if you substitute “ him” As America’s system of patriarchy, and this song is very close to ow Offred els in Gilead. America’s patriarchy was destroyed and replaced with one unimaginably worse. Where did you sleep last night - Lead Belly There’s a cold danger to Lead Belly’s “Where did you sleep last night?” The song feels like the lead-up to a horror movie. The question he asked is concerned as to reveals hell dark and dangerous the Pines are. Eventuallyrevealing that there was a body found in the woods. The song mirrors the darkness of Gilead and the dangers of breaking the rules. Offred’s private meetings, Scrabble games, and cigarettes with the commander aren’t intimacy. It’s Danger dressed as privilege. When he asks, “Where did you sleep last night?” it’s out of concern, as the forest is only filled with darkness and danger. The commander performs politeness and benevolence, but both of them know that he has the power to send her to the gallows. When she finally realizes that she is only a doll to the commander too late.

Which side are you on?- Pete Seeger

Throughout the story, Offred is given a choice: compliance or death. Gilead is terrified by the disloyalty of its citizens, so it uses secret police to disappear anyone who speaks against the government’s totalitarian and rabidly paternalistic policies. Offred’s whispers have become her only protest: “Nolite te bastardes carborundorum”(9,52) (Don’t let the bastards grind you down). The folk-protest classic “Which Side Are You On?” It is very similar as it is a song meant to resist the ruling class, although in Gilead, the ruling men and not the Capital owners. The pride and survivalism are clear in both the song and the quote as both regard the ruling class as being in the way of dragging them down and ontologically evil, while uplifting the people.

“Temprest” Deftones: This song is not a light-hearted song. It’s slow and dramatic, and aggressive in a way. The guitar gives it an edge to it and a darker theme. This song reminded me of how Offred dissociates during the ceremony and, in general, to escape her true feelings about her world, and to keep it all down to avoid trouble. The song says “Lay there, stare at the ceiling, and switch back to your time.” It reminds me of how Offred dissociates during the ceremonies, separating herself from her physical body. She just stares at the ceiling while thinking about anything. “I’d like to be taken apart from the inside, then spit through the cycle, right to the end.” They’re trapped in a cycle built to exploit them. The government tries to brainwash the girls into thinking this is the right way, so they want to keep continuing.

“Shameless” Camilla Cabello: This song describes the powerful tension between two people, and how hard it is to resist. Immediately, this reminded me of Nick and Offred, and the unspoken bond between them. They’re human, and that’s not good for Gilead. “My emotions are naked they’re taking me out of my mind,” I believe this lyric portrays how the intimacy is forbidden, so offred not used to the feeling. Offred isn’t used to feeling that kind of connection. I think this song would play when he sees her standing by her window. “Distance inches in between us, I want you to give in, I want you to give in. weakness, tension in between us, I just wanna give in, and I don’t care if I’m forgiven.” This lyric reminds me of the glance Nick offred share. “Nick. We look at each other. I have to rise to toss, he has no lute. But it’s the same kind of hunger, which I can’t indulge.” (192) They both feel the tension and connection between them, and they both know it’s wrong, which makes it harder to resist.

“Tourniquet” Evanescence: The fast pace and intensity of this song express the anxiety and fear offred has about seeing Luke again, and wondering where he is. The song perfectly expresses this feeling. “Do you remember me? Lost for so long, Will you be on the other side? Or will you forget me?” I picked this song because it shows the distressed emotional side of her she is forbidden to express. “Does he know I’m here, alive, that I’m thinking about him? I have to believe so.” (105) She asks herself very similar questions as the song lyrics; she is desperately trying to comfort herself in a way. There’s also the religious aspect in this song too, “I’m dying, praying, bleeding, and screaming. Am i too lost to be saved, am i too lost? My god my tourniquet, return to me salvation.” In Gilead they use religion to control the women in a way, and i think this lyric symbolizes the lack of hope she has left.

“Prayers/Triangle” Deftones: The lyrics in this song are intense and about power and similar themes. I thought this would be perfect for The Handmaid’s Tale. “Prayers laid on the line, you will never be free. You will never be free, I’m a true slave to the fire and the air around you.” This reminds me of how the women are bound to their oppressive rules and the religion that’s been created. How she feels like she desperately needs to escape, and how the girls are so deep into the system they can’t express their humanity. They cant even walk outside wearing normal clothing, everything is restricted, everything is a reconstruction.

1) Blood Sweat Tears Revenge- Kodak Black

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z89gOZ0oOEY

“I done lost a lot of friends, shed plenty tears Could’ve hung me by my throat and cut my fucking ears Stay solid, had to do my bid, now I’m here”

Both the title and lyrics within this song connect to The Handmaid’s Tale in various ways. To begin, the line about losing friends and shedding tears mimics Offred’s time in Gilead, where nearly everything was taken away from her, whether it be friends, family, or possessions. This line shows Offred’s profound sense of loss and isolation within the state of Gilead.

The second line illustrates the physical and mental torment that the handmaidens have to endure. The line about hanging by the throat echoes themes from The Handmaid’s Tale, where many handmaids chose to take their own lives to escape Gilead. Additionally, this whole line sums up the violence inflicted on the handmaids, whether it be torture for misconduct or violence in ritual.

The last line about staying solid directly relates to the endurance of the handmaids and their ability to persevere in this harsh environment. Offred is the embodiment of resilience within Gilead as she navigates the oppression without giving in.

2) No surprises-Radiohead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5CVsCnxyXg

“A job that slowly kills you Bruises that won’t heal You look so tired, unhappy Bring down the government They don’t, they don’t speak for us.”

These specific lyrics connect to the many themes in The Handmaid’s Tale. The first section of the song connects to the demeaning job of the handmaiden, as their role in Gilead is to bear children. This job represents the handmaids’ physical and emotional degradation because of their unjust role in society.

The next lines, “Bruises that won’t heal” and “You look so tired, unhappy,” illustrate the physical and emotional toll that their lives take on them. These lyrics also describe their feelings of general unhappiness, as Gilead’s laws make their lives rather unbearable.

The last 2 lyrics were my personal favorite from this song, as these lines symbolize both rebellion and individuality. These lyrics represent the overall disdain for the state of Gilead. I also like how these lyrics can mirror individual characters from the book. As an example, the character Moira symbolizes rebellion and hope for the handmaidens, just as the lyrics do.

3) Stop trying to be god-Travis Scott

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqvCptqhHfs

“Stop tryna be God Almighty (Hm) Fuck the money, never leave your people behind, yeah It’s never love, no matter what you try Still can see it comin’ down your eyes Cause they did not create commandments.”

This is another song where both the lyrical content and title mimic themes from the Handmaid’s Tale book. The title and first line of the song are “Stop trying to be god”. These four simple words represent the handmaid’s disdain for Gilead and those in power as they bestow an almost god-like complex in their way of controlling others. Those in power control over everyone in Gilead with almost god-like power. However, this lyric directly represents the Handmaid’s wish for Gilead to “Stop trying to be god.”

The second line shows how Gilead betrayed the people within its society. The line about leaving your people behind you is exactly what Gilead did as they created an extremely unjust system that negatively affected the women within it. While Gilead didn’t do this for money, as said in the lyric, it did this for power, which can be attributed to money.

The next line symbolizes the relationships and emotions of the people in Gilead. It has been made clear throughout the book that there is a clear lack of both love and emotion within the oppressive state of Gilead. This lyric shows how hard it is to find love within Gilead. We have seen direct examples of this from Offred as she and the other handmaidens are forbidden from having those kinds of emotions.

The last line about commandments is a testament to the unjust laws and morals of Gilead. While Gilead does have religious commandments, they are harmful and only benefit those in power.

4) Breath In The Air-Pink Floyd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcz0YxYl6Ac

“Long you live and high you fly Smiles you’ll give and tears you’ll cry And all you touch and all you see Is all your life will ever be

Run, rabbit, run Dig that hole, forget the sun When, at last, the work is done Don’t sit down, it’s time to dig another one

Long you live and high you fly But only if you ride the tide”

These 3 verses were intentionally broken up as their lyrical content represents a different theme in The Handmaid’s Tale. The first verse symbolizes the bland reality in which the handmaids dwell. This lyric that says “all you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be” connects to the Handmaid’s life as a whole. The handmaids are subjected to a very oppressive society where they are constantly controlled. This line shows how the handmaids are permanently stuck in Gilead and that this was going to be their reality forever.

The next verse represents rebellion and the constant strain of life in Gilead. The lyric about a rabbit running and digging a hole connects to Moira’s attempt at escaping this regime. The following lyrics tell us not to sit down and to continue digging. This mirrors the constant labor that handmaids have to endure as they have to keep on digging to survive. The last verse of this song stuck out to me because of how blatantly they connect to the major themes in The Handmaid’s Tale. ¨Long you live and high you fly,” these lyrics preach long life and flying high, which is the life promised to the handmaids by Gilead. However, this promise will only come through if you “ride the tide, ” referring to the handmaids being controlled and forced to fit a certain standard.

5) Nutshell- Alice in Chains

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq9MBnX00hs

“We chase misprinted lies We face the path of time And yet I fight, and yet I fight

This battle all alone No one to cry to No place to call home¨

This song is packed to the brim with lyrics that are intertwined with The Handmaid’s Tale. The first verse is about chasing lies, which is a theme that I have noticed throughout the book. We see that Gilead tends to misinform and lie to its subjects, constantly keeping them in the dark. The following line about the path of time refers to the handmaid’s limited time left in Gilead, as they could be deemed infertile and would be forced to go to the colonies. The last line in this verse represents the perseverance of the handmaids despite the restraints of this society.

The next verse represents the isolation experienced by the handmaidens. We have seen throughout the book that the handmaidens have almost no one to call a friend and have to deal with this reality on their own. Despite Offred making some friends, most of the battles she fights are fought alone without any help from others. The last line symbolizes Offred’s loss of self-identity as the place she had once called home was abruptly stripped away from her.

With the beginning of the end (senior year) coming around, whether we want it to or not, it becomes harder and harder to run away from the…..c word. Applying to college is something most young adults fear, the fear of trying to sum up the purpose of our life and your efforts into a few boxes is consuming. As we know, SAT scores and our grade point averages play a significant role in the school we get admitted to. Yet I don’t think enough people talk about the toll these submissions can have on not only your academic confidence but your overall sense of self-worth. We are taught that the numbers we work oh so hard far, will open doors, and push us to achieve our dreams, but no one told us about what happens when our results have us questioning our worth. It is without a doubt that each student has poured countless hours into their school work, yet with the competition becoming harder each day, and constant lowering of acceptance rates, it would be easy for admissions offices to look past all of our efforts. “I don’t want to look at something that determines me so completely.”(pg 173) This quote from The Handmaid’s Tale, when Offred reflects on her own powerlessness, captures exactly how I feel when I see my test scores. Our worth is so much more than what numbers can represent. There is no world in which a human being—who they are and what they stand for—can be truly seen through numbers alone. What these numbers actually show us, specifically the SATs, is how long we can focus for. This had never been pointed out to me until I began my SAT tutoring, when I realized that my ADHD was going to affect not only my preparation for the test, but the outcome itself. Just as Gilead sorts people into handmaids, commanders, and marthas, our system creates its own rigid categories: the “1600 SAT score” students and the “4.0 GPA” students. The systematic process of labeling—both the characters in The Handmaid’s Tale and real-life students—is damaging because it strips away identity, reducing complex human beings to a single defining characteristic. “My name isn’t Offred, I have another name, which nobody uses now because it’s forbidden. I tell myself it doesn’t matter, your name is like your telephone number, useful only to others; but what I tell myself is wrong, it does matter.”(pg 84) Offred’s loss of her name reveals what happens when we’re reduced to our statistic. The difference is only in what we’re reduced to: the handmaids are stripped down to their bodies and fertility, while we students become nothing more than standardized exam scores and every grade we’ve received since we were 14. In both cases, everything that makes us who we are—our struggles, growth, is lost. My grades aren’t perfect. I can’t say I know many students whose are. But my intent is not to overlook the students who have worked tirelessly to achieve the numbers they have. It is to acknowledge our flawed academic system that encourages us to strip away our humanity in exchange for numbers. Because my grades are less a representation of myself and more a representation of what I’ve overcome, and the common app with never have enough room for my whole story.

“Either he talks or I will. I know it, I can feel speech backing up inside me, it’s so long since I’ve really talked with anyone. The terse whispered exchange with Ofglen, on our walk today, hardly counts; but it was a tease, a preliminary. Having felt the relief of even that much speaking, I want more.”

This quote speaks to a specific feeling that is actually pretty universal and common, but is hardly ever put into words, it’s that feeling of going so long without speaking to someone that it feels like anything you have to say is just stuck inside of you. When Offred says “speech backing up inside me,” It precisely captures something many people experience, even though it’s a completely different situation. It’s not only that she wants to have a conversation but it’s that the words are building up pressure, like she will explode if she doesn’t let them out. This resonates with me because in our current society so many people go though their days have these surface level conversions that feel empty. They talk to coworkers, classmates, friends, family about these surface level things which is exactly what Offred means when she describes her exchange with Ofglen as something that “hardly counts.” People talk constantly but they’re not really truly talking to anyone a lot of the time.There’s a massive difference between common small talk, and deeper conversation, where you’re actually saying what you are thinking or feeling. Think about how many people right now sit in their school cafeteria, or their lunch break at work and talk about assignments or weekend plans but still feel lonely. You might not realize how surface level conversations can be until you have a real deeper conversation. This is what Offred means when she calls her short moment with Ofglen “a tease, a preliminary.” She gets this small moment of real connection and it reminds her of everything she had desperately been missing, which makes her want it more. “Having felt the relief of even that much speaking, I want more.” This line captures the reliability of someone remembering what a genuine connection feels like they can’t just forget ,they begin to long for more. What stands out the most to me about this passage is the way it displays that loneliness isn’t always about being physically alone. Offred is basically never physically alone, there are constantly people around her, but she feels entirely isolated because she has nobody to have these real conversations with. Everything she says and does needs to be controlled and monitored. This reminds me of the way people feel in the real world, many people are surrounded by people constantly, whether that’s at home or at schools, but still feel isolated. People constantly have thoughts and feelings that build up but they don’t know who or where to dump them, just like Offred describes. This passage makes me think about how real conversations aren’t just nice to have, but actually necessary for humans to survive. We need to be heard by others, to be understood. When Offred says “it’s so long since I’ve really talked with anyone” she’s describing something more than just being bored, she’s showing the ways she’s starving for something that is not food, she’s starving for connection. When you can understand what Offred is going through, you can see why she takes risks by having conversations with the commander, when someone is that desperate to be heard, they’re willing to take risks.

Bad Religion - Frank Ocean - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMpypbtrcCg

In Frank Ocean’s 2012 song “Bad Religion”, Ocean uses the song to express anguish and pain from an unrequited love. Ocean uses the theme of religion, as well as societal pressures of the time, as a metaphor for chains stopping him from loving the man that he wants to. This relates to “The Handmaid’s Tale” because, just like in Ocean’s song, Offred faces a system that stops her from loving who she wants to love. In the song, Oceans sings, “Ooh-hoo, this unrequited love To me, it’s nothin’ but a one-man cult.” When Ocean says this, he emphasizes how he isn’t able to love because of this system put in place. In “The Handmaid’s Tale”, Offred isn’t able to love who she wants or even be able to have relationships with any man who is not the Commander.

Snow White - Laufey - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeG3jPeeMec

Laufey’s single from 2025 titled “Snow White” is a song about the struggles of being a woman in our modern world. With lyrics like “A woman’s best currency is her body, not her brain”, Laufey highlights the objectification of women in society. They are often not seen as actual people, with men often reducing them to symbols of sex or pleasure. This connects to The Handmaid’s Tale’s overall theme and setting of the oppression and objectification of women. Offred, along with most other women in the book, is not seen as a person anymore but instead, objects, means of fertility, or, in the case of unwomen, trash.

Sign of the Times - Harry Styles - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN4ooNx77u0

The hit single from 2017, “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles, is understood to be inspired by two different things: a mother passing shortly after childbirth and the political and economic state of the world at the time. In Styles’ song, he says in the chorus “we’ve never learn, we’ve been here before”, which talks about how humans have not learned from the past, repeating mistakes from before. This relates to The Handmaid’s Tale because, as seen in the book, mistakes of the past have been repeated and expanded upon. The oppression of women, as in the past, is expanded upon in the worst way possible in the book.

A Change is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEBlaMOmKV4

“A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke is one of the biggest songs of the 20th century to carry a message about social change and provide commentary on society at the time. While the song talks about societal reform in a more racial sense, it still applies to any and all groups being oppressed, no matter the reason. I believe this song in particular connects to Offred and her society. Offred is depicted very heavily to be a resilient Handmaid. Although she reluctantly follows her duties as a Handmaid, she stands firm in the belief that one day, she will see her family again and society will change. She states multiple times in the book that the thought of seeing her daughter again is often the only thing keeping her going. Offred’s mindset throughout the book is often an embodiment of this song.

What Was I Made For? - Billie Eilish - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW8VLC9nnTo

In Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For,” she explores themes of self-exploration, questioning one’s identity, finding her place in the world, and being objectified. Eilish says, “Takin’ a drive, I was an ideal. Looked so alive, turns out I’m not real, just something you paid for. What was I made for?” This song alludes to the larger meaning of feeling not as a person, but as a doll. This relates to how almost, if not all, the women in “The Handmaid’s Tale” feel. Offred often says how she feels like less than a person, just something to be used to make babies. She’s been stripped of her freedom and her self-autonomy.

Petals (Hole): https://youtu.be/sB5n6wnT61w

Petals by Hole, for me, gives the lasting theme and impression of a woman stripped of everything that kept her feeling human. Listening to it again immediately made me think of Janine (Ofwarren). The chorus of Petals is “Tear the petals off of you, make you tell the truth. Tear the petals off of you.” This evokes imagery of taking someone’s livelihood, reducing them to nothing. In chapter 20 of the Handmaid’s Tale there is a line Offred uses when describing Janine in labor- “Inflated but reduced, shorn of her former name.” (pg 117) Janine, a shroud of a human, someone who (at this moment in the story) has supposedly won the social game of Gilead, who has completed her mission and fulfilled her purpose. In verse two of the song, there’s another line that says, “They will make you so, so cynical. The fire burns the flesh, destroys the best in me that’s old.” I felt like this part had a vivid connection to the way Offred talks about losing her memories of the “before” world, and how she seems to float in between worlds. She doubts herself, and others and it is clear to the reader, who is not shrouded in the fog of Gilead to see that everyone living in it has been brainwashed to accept without question.

Call the Doctor (Sleater-Kinney): https://youtu.be/m3cWY4fliPM?si=O90njTHB_00fx2pW

Call the Doctor has many lines that I feel parallel Offred’s thoughts of Gilead- for example, in the first verse “They want to simplify your needs and wants to sterilize you” This line made me think of how Gilead erodes the handmaids to all be the same, with no individuality so it’s easier to not think of them as people. Another line from the song is “This is love, and you can’t make it” This line connects to Gilead because I feel like a major theme of the book is discussing what “real” love is and what forms it can take. You can’t force love, nor can you suppress it- as is obvious in some of Offred’s more provocative inner thoughts, distance does make the heart grow fonder. This song is also special because, like many Sleater-Kinney songs, the choruses have two voices who are singing/chanting two different messages at the same time. This creates an effect that I think is similar to how I feel reading Offred’s inner thoughts when compared to the things she says out loud.

Shimmer Like a Girl (Veruca Salt): https://youtu.be/EKEYB-y-2_Y?si=ieRc-Fz2RM5FJOv8

The main choruses of this song have the repeating part “Shimmer, sparkle, glitter shimmer while you can.” These lines made me think of how handmaids are viewed in Gilead. They have three chances to get pregnant before they are cast aside and banished from society. The lives of handmaids in Gilead are dictated by their physical abilities. If they are not able to have children, they are no longer relevant. Shimmer like a woman while you are still young, fertile, pretty, desirable. Useful to the continuation of society.

Dramamine (Modest Mouse): https://youtu.be/dXBEuQwy5NU?si=wZCMXjgbhZ6zMI4w

One of my favorite lines of Dramamine is, “We kiss on the mouth but still cough down our sleeves.” I think this line has a really good connection to how Offred discusses many of her relationships with men throughout the book. This could describe her complex relationship with the commander, who makes her kiss him goodnight after each of their secret meetings and wishes she was genuine, or her relationship with Luke in the before times when she expressed concern about her locked band account and job and he didn’t seem to mind her being more or less his property. She says, of that time, that she hadn’t wanted to be intimate with him that night and wasn’t able to pinpoint exactly why. I think this line describes a lot of the performativeness of Gilead, but also of society before. The entire first verse of Dramamine -“Traveling, swallowing, Dramamine Feeling spaced breathing out Listerine I’d said what I’d said that I’d tell you And that you’d killed the better part of me”- makes me think of Moira, especially in the part of chapter 38 where Offred is disappointed by the fact that Moira seems to have accepted her role in this society. Offred says, “She is frightening me now. Because what I hear in her voice is indifference, a lack of volition. Have they really done it to her then, taken away something- what?- that used to be so central to her?” Offred is okay with knowing that, between the two of them she is the one to give up and take her place but the fact that Moira, a character so full of spunk and determination, has been worn down, defeated by the system, is discouraging to her. Finally, at the end of the song, there are these noises that feel like a record-scratch type of breaking out of the rhythm of the song. This reminds me of Offred’s little rebellions in Gilead, her ways of breaking herself out of the droning never-ending loop of the Gilead society.

Song about an Angel (Sunny Day Real Estate): https://youtu.be/ETtXtl-VXcY?si=7zK-RZK7I1dyYLwb

Song about an angel by Sunny Day Real Estate uses a ton of biblical imagery, particularly the image of angels. Similarly, Offred uses a lot of references to angels in the thoughtshots when she thinks about her daughter. The first verse of the song goes, “So I say, still awake Sleep, close my eyes An image of your face Traced in white sand” And I feel that this entire paragraph actually parallels the multiple parts of the book where Offred lays in her room and lets memories of her daughter consume her. The entire song feels like it’s waiting for someone, just as Offred waits for her daughter, Luke, Moira or someone else to come break her out or at least remind her that there’s still other things out there, beyond Gilead.

I HAVE NOTHING- WHITNEY HOUSTON

The first song I chose is “I Have Nothing” By the late Whitney Houston. My reasoning behind why I chose this song is that she deeply expresses her yearning for love and intimacy. The song is all about wanting love and not wanting to lose it. This is a huge part of Offred’s emotional battle. Whitney sings, “I won’t hold it back again, this passion inside, Can’t run from myself, there’s nowhere to hide.” This line reminds me of how Offred feels trapped not only physically, but also emotionally. In a world where love is seen as dangerous and forbidden, she wishes for love and care but knows she is unable to get it. She has nowhere to go due to the fact that her being locked down in Gilead, so she has no distractions to help her run from her emotional distress. So just like in “I Have Nothing,” Offred has her emotions torn between fear and longing. She desires love and intimacy, but she knows how much it hurts to lose it. Whitney Houston truly captures that feeling.

FREEDOM-KENDRICK LAMAR & BEYONCE

This song has a deep connection with the book’s big themes of oppression and the battle for control over justice. “Freedom” is all about fighting back against a controlled society and not letting the chains of oppression break you. In the song, Beyoncé sings, “I’ma keep running, because a winner doesn’t quit on themselves.” Which really reminds me of Offred’s quiet, yet strong determination to survive Gilead, even why it tries to take everything away from her, including the future she desires. In a world where women have no rights or independence, she still holds on to her memories, her emotions, and her sense of self. Even though she can’t openly rebel, her small acts are still impactful. Like secretly meeting with Nick and taking control of her memories from her past life, shows that her spirit has not been crushed. “Freedom” captures that energy of a brave spirit. Both the song and the book demonstrate that even in the most oppressed environments, people still find ways to resist, hope, and liberate.

ELASTIC HEART-SIA

Sia’s song “Elastic Heart” connects incredibly well to the book and the life Offred lives in Gilead. She sings about surviving brutal emotional pain and refusing to break. Even after being torn apart, it is still standing tall and willing to break through. In the song, she sings, “I’ve got thick skin and an elastic heart,” which fits Offred’s silent strength. Even though the wrath of Gilead takes away her name, freedom, and her sense of identity, she still hopes to persevere and does so by taking the first steps to hold onto herself inside. The phrase “Elastic Heart” represents having a strong heart and being unbreakable. It’s also what keeps Offred going; she refuses to snap under the pressure of Gilead, and the leaders like the Commanders or the Aunts who have physical and mental control over her. Sia singing, “You did not break me,” is a representation of what Offred would say in response to the system that tried to break and erase her. In all, this song embodies Offred’s spirit to survive and fight to come back.

THE NIGHT WE MET- JAMES HURON

I chose this song because James Huron sings it in a very detailed way that paints a great picture for me. The deep meaning of the song is based on looking back on the past and feeling the pain of losing something you can’t get back. When Huron sings, “I had all and then most of you, some and now none of you,” it reminds me of Offred’s feelings with her daughter and Luke. The man she dreamed of being her husband and having a family with. But those memories also haunt her, knowing that Gilead took away all of her possibilities of a good future. Offred uses these memories the same way James uses these lyrics. Holding onto love, identity, and meaning in a world attempting to erase them.

THE SOUND OF SILENCE- SIMON & GARFUNKEL

“The Sound Of Silence” captures the kind of fear that lives in Gilead. Which is a quiet and controlled terror where the women and even men are scared to speak the truth. The lyrics, “People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening”, describe how Offred and the other citizens live in constant fear. Silence becomes a necessary device for them to survive. Like Offred, the song represents being in a place surrounded by fear. The song also sings, “And the people bowed and prayed to the neon god they made”, which connects how Gilead uses religion to demonstrate it as a weapon to control people, taking advantage of their obedience to the religion they present. But Offred’s silence isn’t a reflection of weakness. It’s forced by the system. Like the song represents, showing how fear can be spread through a society until everybody knows how to hide their voice.

Alewife - Clairo “Alewife” is a song about reflection on a really challenging time in the artist’s life. It was a time when she was incredibly depressed, even to the point of attempting to commit suicide. Offred considers committing suicide several times throughout the book. One time in particular stands out where she describes how she could do it: “I think about the chandelier too much, though it’s gone now. But you could use a hook, in the closet. I’ve considered the possibilities.” (Page 195) After constant pressure from the rigid and controlled life she has to live, Offred wonders whether it would be better just to be dead then in her current situation. She even mentions that she has “considered the possibilities,” implying that she has thought about committing suicide several times before. In Alewife, Clairo explains that her friend’s actions were the reason she didn’t succeed in her suicide attempt. This makes me wonder if Offred has anyone in her life that would do the same for her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBjmnqewTeo

Someone New - Hozier “Someone New” by Hozier, has a completely different vibe from the previous songs. It is much more upbeat and lively, however the lyrics connect to the Handmaid’s Tale. In the chorus, Hozier says “I fall in love just a little, oh, a little bit every day with someone new.” Offred loving someone is essentially banned in Gilead, however she previously loved Luke, and later falls in love with Nick. While I believe Offred’s love for Nick is real, I also think that their relationship is a rebellion to the system she has to live with. Hozier also says, “There’s an art to life’s distraction To somehow escape the burning wait, the art of scrapin’ through.” Nearly the entire story, Offred is trying to escape her reality, like many others. Her reflections are one way to do this, and I think that they are a huge reason that she doesn’t go crazy even with all the pressure that is on her at all times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPJSsAr2iu0

What was I made for? - Billie Eilish In “What was I made for,” Billie Eilish reflects on her struggles in finding a purpose in the context of expectations from society. Some main points of this song are body image issues and finding herself in a society centered around male gaze. This shows connection to the struggles that many women must consider in Gilead. “There is no such thing as a sterile man anymore, not officially. There are only women who are fruitful and women who are barren, that’s the law.” (Page 61) While men are considered to be more than their bodies and are able to attain actual power, women are judged on whether they can reproduce or not. This is essentially the only thing that gives value to a woman in Gilead other than her ability to provide pleasure. This narrative is pushed from every angle in Gilead, causing Offred to consider the contrast between her role as a handmaid and her identity as an individual throughout the book. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW8VLC9nnTo

Sun Bleached Flies - Ethel Cain This song’s dark and melancholic tone reflects the reality of Gilead, and Offred’s position in it. It seems as though there is no one who can actually help Offred. Gilead is also a society built on a distorted version of Christianity, said to be built on ideals from the old testament. Similar to Offred’s situation, “Sun Bleached Flies” emphasizes Ethel Cain’s relationship with God, saying “God loves you, but not enough to save you.” Similarly, Offred has a conversation with God in her head during one of her periods of reflection: “I feel very unreal, talking to You like this. I feel as if I’m talking to a wall. I wish You’d answer. I feel so alone” (Page 195) It is not made especially clear that Offred feels betrayed by God in this scene, but it is clear that she feels alone, and wishes God would help her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1ecmtqd7LE

Fable - Gigi Perez Fable is one of the songs that I think encompasses this story the best. It brings up themes of grief, finding purpose, and religion, which the Handmaid’s Tale clearly also does. Showing the theme of finding purpose, Gigi Perez says “Someone to tell me we’re not born to be mules in this.” The handmaids are similarly “born to be mules” in Gilead, valued by their ability to fix a problem and nothing more. This song also relates Offred’s feelings of religious (and non-religious) guilt. “When I lifted her urn. Divinity says, “Destiny can’t be earned or returned.” I feel when I question, my skin starts to burn. Why does my skin start to burn?” Her “skin starting to burn” is reference to Gigi feeling guilt after questioning her beliefs, something the Offred similarly struggles with throughout the story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiCJGXnEtIQ

PROCESS DOCUMENTATION — in this box, include evidence of your mind at work: brainstorms or partial drafts in your class notebook, rough drafts of artwork, typed stream-of-consciousness while you listen to potential playlist songs, etc.

List of potential songs from my notes app: Billie Eilish - What was I made for? Olivia Rodrigo - drivers license Taylor Swift - The Man Hozier - Take Me to Church Lorde - Glory and Gore Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out Lana Del Rey - Born to Die Ethel Cain - Sun Bleached Flies Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know? Radiohead - No Surprises

Moira

                     Katy Perry - Roar 

I chose this song as a choice to describe Moira because it shows her process through the different aspects of empowerment, defiance, and resilience. As quoted, “I don’t want her to be like me. Give in, go along, save her skin. That is what it comes down to. I want gallantry from her, swashbuckling, heroism, single-handed combat, something I lack.” (chapter 38, pg. 249). This shows that June sees resilience in her own friend. I feel like that in the latest chapter, we got to learn that Moira is a constant fighter who will find ways to let her voice be heard, no matter what she goes through. In some moments, she might be able to be silenced, though that doesn’t last for long. This is relatable to Katy Perry as she said in the song, “ You held me down, but I got up…” Representing that no matter what one person could do to her, she will still fight.

Serena Joy (The commander’s wife)

K. Michelle - A Mother’s Prayer

I chose this song for Serena Joy because she shows that she has a mother mentality. You can see that she really wants a child to be able to protect, love, and cherish. As quoted in the song, “ ​​the first time I saw you I knew my life had changed, I would have been dead and gone, but I found purpose when I brought you home, and even though I’m not there to tuck you in every day.” This just resembles how I imagine Serena Joy as a mother. She has shown in several ways that she would do anything to have a child. Even if that meant she would have to get pregnant by Nick. “As she quoted that he was the “safest possibility,” showing that she really just wants to get the process over with so she can be able to just live a simple life with her child.

The commander

Power and control - Marina and the Diamonds

I think it’s obvious why I chose this song. It just seems to me like it mostly just talks about the commander and his true thoughts about everything. As quoted in the song, “We give and take a little more/ Eternal game of tug and war…” This alone just expresses his relationship with Offred; it shows that he constantly tries to make it seem like he is giving to her just to take away more. He just has all these different power schemes and is only doing these things for the feeling of having power over others. As quoted, “better never means better for everyone, he says. It always means worse, for some.” ( chapter 32, pg.211) This just shows that he only cares for himself and bettering his life for himself because being able to be a man in his position is a sense of control for him. It’s a better way of life for him to be able to feel good about himself.

Nick (the driver)

The Man - Taylor Swift

Even though Nick is just the driver throughout the chapters so far, we get a few hints about who he is. In the song, Taylor Swift said, “ I’d be a fearless leader/ I’d be an alpha type.” This shows the smartness and how secretive Nick actually is. Through June’s eyes, we get to see how Nick and silently showing how he feels and what he might be truly capable of. As quoted, “ His posture disapproves of me, or am I imagining it? And if so, does this make him angry, lustful, or envious or anything at all?” (chapter 36, pg.232) I think this is just a subtle way of showing it. It just gives a little view of what power Nick might actually have because he is not only a man, a is a worker for a commander and sees the ins and outs of his life. So, if he really wanted to outsmart the commander, there is a chance he probably could and get away with it, because who knows, Nick could be more than just a driver.

June (Offred)

Bury a friend - Billie Eilish

This song by Billie Eilish, to me, describes the truth behind June’s thoughts. I think it helps understand how her mind gradually changed throughout the book, up to what we recently read. As quoted in the song “ I wanna end me…” It’s a sense of how Offred feels since she started to feel like there is no way out of where she is at in the moment. June once said, “ That’s one of the things they do, they force you to kill, within yourself.” (chapter 30, pg.193) This saying that the world that was made around her at his point was made to force women to break themselves down on the inside and not be who they usually are. Their normal is no longer normal for them, and they are forced in this life of dissociating themselves from who they truly are. At some point, they are just birthing machines made to only produce one thing, which is babies, after tha,t they have fulfilled that, they no longer matter.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V0d5EaTOo7ScPWpyz0y4SCGK_8DmznNYA9RaEkSjokk/edit?usp=sharing

Love used to be a weird concept to me. I never understood how, in the movies and stories, people could find this perfect person for them, that they would have no issues and live a lavish life until they died. It just felt too unrealistic and untangleable. It made me think that maybe I wouldn’t find my person. I felt that I was just too much and that no one would want that. I would be too loud or too pushy. I felt like I was just an unbalanced person, and no one would want that. In The Handmaid’s Tale, love is a topic that is brought up throughout the story. “We believed in it, this downward motion: so lovely, like flying, and yet at the same time so dire, so extreme, so unlikely.” (pg 225) Offred tells us how people used to think about falling in love. When she mentioned how unlikely it was, it reminded me of how I thought. I thought of falling in love as something that would happen and would be hard to achieve. Offred and I had different views, though. She believed in it, and I had no faith. It shows how love can be shown to people, impacting their views of it.

How I have seen love in the media also didn’t help me. Once I had gotten access to the internet, it showed me a different side. I showed me how women would feel and do when they fell in love. “We were revisionist; what we revised was ourselves.” (pg 227) Similar to into the book, women would change themselves. In the book, the way that Offred said this felt like it was something that had to happen. It was a basic thing to do, and I feel like that is similar to the real world. It isn’t as common as it used to be, but there are still people who change who they are for the person they have fallen for. Being shown this in shows and movies doesn’t help. We see how it made it a common thing to be done in the book, and we see how it is in the real world. With the internet, it also showed me how much people would worry about things once they were in a relationship. “Likely you would think at these times: What if he doesn’t love me?” (pg 226) The amount of worry people have is something that will linger on for years. People will always worry about whether their partner is loyal to them or not. In the book, Offred shows us how these thoughts might manifest and, in a way, how it can impact you. I think that I will experience this. It is something that almost everyone will. The thought of whether they still want you and what they might do if not will always exist. In some way, I can say I relate to it now. I have had my doubts in whether or not my partner still loves me. It is an overwhelming feeling. You don’t know what to do with this. If they don’t, how can you confirm this? You don’t want to ask them straight forward, as it can show that you doubt them and hurt them. I just didn’t know what to do, so I did nothing. I know for sure that the thoughts that Offred showed us will always exist in people, even in me.

With the older that I have gotten, I have started to see love in a different light. I have finally seen the relationships around and saw that they had inperfections. I have even been in one myself. No relationship is going to be perfect. There will be problems and issues, but that is human. Being imperfect is normal. What I have also seen is that not everyone will have just one love in their life. You can love one person at one time and then another later. “Luke was not the first man for me, and he might not have been the last.” (pg 227) Offred says how she wonders if she would have fallen in love again. If Luke was her last love. In the real world, people do exactly what she was thinking. People often don’t end up with their first love. They can have two, three, four, I could go on and on. It is just natural to fall in and out of love. You will eventually find that one you will love for the rest of your life, but it may take time. I know that it is a process that will take its time with me.

Love has changed for me over the years. Once something I thought wouldn’t happen to me did. I had gotten to fallen in love and figured out how it felt. Love is something that can come in many forms. To some, love is family and friends, and to others, it is the one they think will be with them forever. Now knowing how love is to me, I know that I will fall in love again and again, until I find the one. Like Offred, I will have the wonder if the person I am going to be with is the last. But unlike her, I will hope that this is the one.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1483hs48DcEB2he2IG31Tvdel8zYv1l9qgxhHvOltrxI/edit?usp=sharing

Creating this playlist is so powerful, it’s imaging the sound of resistance in a world built on silence. Music represents freedom, individuality, and memory, all things that women like Offred are denied. The five songs I chose capture moments of longing, rebellion, and survival that echo through the novel.

Running with The Wolves by AURORA

When Offred says, “We were the people who were not oin the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edge of print. It gvave us more freedom”(Pg. 57), it reminds me of the wild, defiant spirit in this song. AURORA’s lyrics “Running with the wolves tonight” feels like Offred’s secret self, the part of her that refuses to be fully tamed by Gilead. Even through her body is controlled, her thought still run free. The wolves represent a natural freedom that Gilead has tried to erase. The rhythm of the song builds like the pulse of Offred’s quiet rebellion a reminder that even within “the blank white spaces” there’s life, emotion, and resistance trying to break through.

Caged Bird by Alicia Keys

Offred reflects that “We lived in the gaps between the stories” (pg. 57 ), and that perfectly connects to Caged Bird. Keys sings, “Right now I feel like a bird, caged without a song,” which mirrors the trapped lived of the Handmaids. Their stories don’t get told, they exist in those “gaps,” between what’s written and what’s allowed to be said. Just like the song, Offred can’t sing or speak freely, she’s constantly watched and silenced. But even in her cage, she dreams of flight: “But I know I’ll fly away someday.” That dream of freedom keeps her alive. In Gilead, hope is dangerous, but its also necessary. This song feels like the sound of Offred’s inner voice, quiet but unbroken.

Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears

When the Commander tells Offred, “Better never means better for everyone…. It always means worse for some” (pg. 211), he’s practically describing this song’s entire meaning. The lyrics, “Welcome to your life, there’s no turning back,”sound like what the citizens of Gilead might be told when the regime takes over. The Commanders created a system that benefits themselves under the excuse of mortality, and everyone elsepays the price. The line ¨Helpy me mae the most of freedom and of pleasure”connects to the Commader’s hypocrisy when he sneas Offred to Jezebel’s he’s enjoying ”freedom” while she risks everything. This song exposes the truth behind Gilead’s fake righteousness, that control, not faith, runs the world.

Control by Halsey

Offred finds the Latin message scratched into her closet “Nolite te bastardes carborundorum,” (pg. 146) and it becomes a secret anthem of strength. Halsey’s “Control” feels like that message turned into music. She sings, “Im bigger than my body, I’m colder than this home,” which echoes Offreds’s feeling of being trapped inside a body that isn’t hers anymore. The line between sanity and rebellion blurs for her as she tries to maintain control in a place where she has none. Like Halsey battling the monster inside, Offred’s fight is both mental and emotional. She can’t shout her anger, but it simmers under every quiet thought. The Latin phrase Isn’t just graffi, its the voice of every women in Gilead saying, “We’re still here.”

The Night We Met by Lord Huron

Offred admits, “I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not.”( Pg. 97) That longing connects deeply with The Night We Met.” The song’s lyrics, “I had all and then most of you, some and now none of you,” sound like her memories of Luke and their lost life together. The slow, haunting melody feels like remembering lovethrought fog, its there but fading. The song also reflects her complicated relationship with Nic, where love ans survival blur. In Gilead, love is rebellion, it means clamin something human in a place designed to erase humanity. When Offred reaches for those memories, she’s not just missing Luke, she’s reaching for the part of herself that Gilead can’t take. This song captures that ache perfectly.

Each of these songs I choose gives sound to the emotions Margret Atwoods leaves unspoken fear, love, rage, and hope. The Commanders may erase women’s voices, but they can’t erase rhythm or memory. When Offred remembers the past, it’s like a song playing in her head, something that connects her to who she used to be.

Running with the wolves

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06ht9MyJLT4&list=RD06ht9MyJLT4&start_radio=1

Caged Bird

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9_9XbUvfrA&list=RDj9_9XbUvfrA&start_radio=1

Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGCdLKXNF3w&list=RDaGCdLKXNF3w&start_radio=1

Control

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so8V5dAli-Q&list=RDso8V5dAli-Q&start_radio=1

The night we met

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtlgYxa6BMU

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12qi7K_RKfOGFJAtrnxmeGF33CA9WgnvDne-tIN3mpWE/edit?usp=sharing

Chapter 19: I chose this chapter because its following chapter 16 where the birth ceremony took place, and 17 where she imagines making love to Nick then envisions his body dead following their failed escape. The rest leading up to 19 is her lying in bed and reliving her past trauma and events of Gilead. Chapter 19 kicks off with Offred dreaming of catching her daughter in a hug before the thought of it sends her into a wave of sorrow; she then wakes up in bed with her mother holding a tray of breakfast. She is stuck in a dream sequence which is making her relive these moments especially during the aftermath of experiencing extreme trauma.

While this might seem like just your usual chapter there is a lot to unpack. The silence and sleep is broken by a birthmobile arriving to take Offred to a birth. Janine is expected to give birth and have her baby. During the ride to the commander’s house Offred wonders if she will give birth to a child with birth defects. This was one of the more confusing parts of the chapter but it shows the effects Gilead has on their person and how many ways that this birth can turn out. Though there are times in the text where they make questionable comments. The birth seems somewhat ritualistic in a sense, women are praying, in the text it states “what will Ofwarren give birth to? A baby, as we all hope? Or something else, an unbaby, its heart or no arms, or webbed hands and feet?” They speak of the possibility of a baby born with a disability as if it is a demon dreaming of an unbaby and wondering if they would be born with webbed feet or a pig snout.

I thought this was note worthy because it shows that they have more or less lost their grip on reality. They treat their day to day life in a cult like fashion and they are showing signs of starting to give into their environment. The lack of the previous normal they once had led them down the path of adapting whether they previously tried to fight it or not. They believe that 1 of 4 women have been poisoned by toxins and environmental pollution and that women outside poison their bodies or get their tubes tied calling these types of women Jezebels, scorners of God’s Gifts. In a classroom Aunt Lydia shows them a graph of how the birthrate has fallen over the course of history, eventually falling under the “line of replacement.” Aunt Lydia said that women who didn’t want to breed were lazy sluts. She claims that childbirth in Gilead is in contrast to the old days, because birth then was entirely natural. When women were not allowed drugs to sooth their pain, because it’s better for the baby, and because god wanted women to suffer in childbirth. The birthmobile eventually arrives at Ofwarren’s Commander’s home and the handmaids are told to go in. Offred imagines the Wives sitting around talking about their Handmaids, calling them sluts and complaining about their uncleanlyness, then chapter ends. The whole point of this chapter is to show us the reality of life in Gilead. We get a look into how skewed and diluted the media they are fed really is.

The soundtrack of love in a locked Room by(Jay Dutton)

Even though there’s no music in Gilead, if Offred had a playlist similar to mine, emotional r and b the kind that feels like love and quiet rebellion all at once. In the handmaids tale. Chapters 35-39 show offered shifting from fear to need.

She starts seeing Nick in secret,loses trust in the commander, and begins realizing how much of herself she’s already had to bury to live. These songs by drake, jhene,pnd,future and rod , capture the mood and emotion of her life where even love feels like resistance.

Feel No Ways by Drake this song perfectly matches Offred’s growing disconnection from the commander. By this point she realizes her relationship with him isn’t love- its control dressed up as kindness drake says ¨ I had to let go of us to show myself what I could do”and that line shows how offred tries to emotionally separate herself from the commanders manipulative power.¨He was not a monster,to her mind he was the only man she was allowed¨, p 231) This line shows how Gilead traps her into confusing captivity with comfort. The song’s distant, drifting prod sounds like the mental space offred enters when she with him lowkey , polite,pretending. She’s done giving emotion to someone who sees her as property the song by drake becomes the sound of her detachment the moment she stops trying to please him and starts thinking for herself again

Jhene Aiko’s Triggered shows Offred’s emotional reaction to her secret connection with Nick. Aiko´s voice is soft but angry and full of lots and lots of heartbreak and I think thats how offred feels when she first gives in to desire again she’s been silent for so long that the rush of emotion almost overwhelms her. ¨ I tell him my real name, and feel that therefore I am known¨

That moment is like an emotional rollercoaster its not just identity its memory its rebellion which is a recurring things for offred and kind of matches the song Jhene’s Line ¨”You were my muse, now your just just a trigger¨ reminds me of how love in Gilead is dangerous its both healing and painful in my opinion. You can tell that Offred wants to feel something again even though every touch could get her killed the song fits her perfectly because it’s about reclaiming emotion after being told to look away from it and love might leave you triggered

partynextdoors come and see me. This song’s dark late at night vibe tone feels like the secret meetings between offred and Nick that Serena joy arranges. The lyrics describe sneaking around for connection Come and See me for once¨ which matches how Offred and Nick’s relationship is built entirely in whispers and shadows

¨The Fact is I no longer want to leave.¨(p 252) That line hits hard. Offred knows she’s trapped but being with Nick gives her the smallest sense of peace. “Come and See me¨ isn’t romantic in the usual way; it’s lowkey, desperate and quiet which makes it even more powerful. She not chasing romance, more of something that keeps her alive.

Heart On ice by rod wave is a really good one especially based of the artist Rod wave music is about pain and emotional scars all of which define Offred by the end of these chapters heart on ice represents the part of her that has to shut down feelings just to keep moving.

I am a national resource ( p 236) that quote shows how she’s been normalized to a lifestyle of her body not being her own. And rods beautiful bar ¨Put my heart on ice cant let it show captures her emotional numbness to her world every time Offred shows her feelings she could risk a major punishment or heartbreak so she hides her heart just like she hides her thoughts her memories.

These songs tell the story of a woman who has to fight quietly to stay herself. R&B fits because its intimate it lives in emotions that Gilead erase from the norms and emotions such as love pain desire Offred may not be able to listen to music but if she could her playlist would sound like these songs feel no ways shows her rejection of control triggered and come and see me reflect the danger of loving in secret wait for u captures her longing for freedom and heart on ice shows the numbness she has to build to keep from surviving

Together these songs become a voice for what she can’t say aloud they turn her silence into sound proof that even in the most craziest world emotion can be still resistance