It was a random weekday when I got a text the day before from a friend who I’ve known for a long time but haven’t talked to in a while. He texted me about if I wanted to go to the gym with him. I was pessimistic about it because I wasn’t sure how it’ll turn out. But, I went along with the plan and signed up. Right after school the next day I met up with him and began our first day at the gym. As I kept going, I started to like going to the gym and the control I had with my body. I was able to control the intensity that I trained at and freedom I had with my own body. However, in The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood the main narrator Offred, has the opposite from me. Offred has no control or freedom over her own body. Reading through The Handmaid’s Tale reminded me that being able to make choices for my own body is a privilege that is not guaranteed for everyone. Being in the gym has taught me that control over your own body is not just physical, but also mental. Every choice I choose from the weight to intensity shows that I am in charge of my own body. In contrast with Offred every aspect of her life under Gilead’s ideology is for one purpose and that is to give birth to the children of the Commander. As stated in the novel, “It’s true, and I don’t ask why, because I know. Give me children, or else I die. There’s more than one meaning to it” (55). This shows Offred’s value as a handmaid, which is her ability to give children or die. Her understanding that she doesn’t ask why, shows the forced meaning Gilead gives to handmaids. Though she says that she will die if she doesn’t have children, it can also be the human meaning that she will feel like she has died because Gilead will strip Offred of everything that makes her human, showing the mental control over her body. Depending on how I felt or how my body felt I rested or adjusted my workouts to adapt to how I was feeling. On certain days I felt like eating fast food and cheating on my diet. This showed me the autonomy I had with my body outside the gym. In Gilead, that autonomy is stripped away. “I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation, or an implement for the accomplishment of my will” (73). This quote shows Offred’s past experience with the body before Gilead. Her body as an instrument of pleasure showed that she could experience and enjoy life freely. With her body being a means of transportation this shows her independence. Offred’s implementation for her own will shows how she could act on her choices and desires. Showing the autonomy she has on her own body in her past. Now under Gilead’s rules, her body is no longer hers, being owned and regulated by Gilead, used for a sole purpose of reproduction. As I continued to progress in the gym I realized my body has changed and I started to care about myself. For Offred, she is no longer able to care for how her body looks. “But we weren’t supposed to care about our complexions anymore, she’d forgotten that” (55). Showing how Gilead has taken away individuality and self expression over their bodies. Imposing strict control over women’s own bodies and even their thoughts, deciding what they should value. “We are containers, it’s only the insides of our bodies that are important. The outside can become hard and wrinkled, for all they care, like the shell of a nut.” (96). This quote furthermore shows Gilead’s control over these handmaid’s bodies and how they directly change the value of handmaids like Offred. Under Gilead’s rules these handmaids had to change their values on their bodies, showing that even when the outside of their body was hard and wrinkled, only their insides were important. This control under Gilead’s rules highlights the psychological impact that follows without being able to have control over your own body which then forces you to lose identity and individuality. Reading The Handmaid’s Tale changed how I viewed personal freedom and the importance of my body. My experiences in the gym showed me my control over my body and my ability to shape my own life. Offred’s loss of bodily autonomy shows how devastating it can be when the freedom and control over your body are taken away. This novel has made me realize that true power is having the ownership of your body, your actions, and your identity.

In The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, I went through many different emotions reading about the societal standards present in the story to the hidden meanings, and references to the human nature of genders in page 45. I was able to experience a deeper understanding as I closely read At the beginning of page 45 as Offred says her farewells to Ofglen she states, “ She hesitates, as if to say something more, but then she turns away and walks down the street“ (45). I was confused at this interaction, but as I look deeper I find that because of Gilead’s rules of no intimacy between Handmaids they both fear and hesitate to get closer. This reminds me of how societal norms can affect the choices of people and how they act in accordance to the norms. For instance speaking out about anything that is hot in the media can result in judgement or even worse being canceled. Another line from the same paragraph says, “She’s like my own reflection, in a mirror from which I am moving away” (45). This shows the Handmaid’s similarity to each other, as they wear the same red uniform, and are subjected to the same rules and ganders. Not only are they similar in uniform, their identity is stripped of individuality and reduced to follow a role set on them.

One of the moments in this page that made me feel weird was when Nick, who was polishing the car, suddenly whistles and tries to talk to Offred. “Then he says, ‘Nice walk?’ I nod, but do not answer with my voice. He isn’t supposed to speak to me. Of course some of them will try, said Aunt Lydia. All flesh is weak” (45). Nick’s actions towards Offred triggers a flashback to when Aunt Lydia says that all flesh is weak, making a connection to the human nature of men and how their desires are inevitable. It also shows the gender double standards, as men breaking rules are seen as natural, but women bear the burden of restraint. I find that this also relates to chapter 23 as the Commander wants Offred to play a few games of scrabble with him and then at the end give him a kiss. Which further shows Aunt Lydia’s point about men’s desire being inevitable.

The connection that intrigued me the most was when Offred described Serena Joy’s garden and specifically the tulips. In this section Offred describes the tulips as “no longer wine cups but chalices; thrusting themselves up, to what end? They are, after all, empty” (45). I find that this line shows a connection to the Handmaids, and from the line, “thrusting themselves up,” it expresses sexual imagery about reproduction. With the line sentence following that being, “They are, after all, empty,” can be connected to how the Handmaid’s bodies are merely vessels for reproduction. Furthermore chalice is normally seen as a holy item, I feel like from the use of chalice it symbolizes Gilead’s use of religion to justify the control and actions being done to these women’s bodies. With the last bit saying they are all empty expressing the emptiness of this religious justification.

Additionally Offred shows the violent system in Gilead through the tulips. “When they are old they turn themselves inside out, then explode slowly, the petals thrown out like shards” (45). Offred implies that the slowing destruction of tulips over time mirrors the way women are consumed by the system, then eventually discarded when no longer valuable. This shows the violence that Gilead lives by, relating to how society can value women by their youth and beauty, like how fashion industries value beauty and youthfulness the most when looking for their models. I find that Offred’s connection to a tulip reflects her current mental state as someone’s identity so controlled by societal rules. Her constant mix of sexuality, religion, and violence in her descriptions show the twisted perception she has on gender roles and natural beauty, living under Gilead’s ideology.

The character Serena Joy shows how the shift in societal standards affects the actions of a person directly. She was previously a singer and with some fame to her name she changed when the societal standards of Gilead came. “By the time she was worthy of a profile: Time or Newsweek it was, it must have been. She wasn’t singing anymore by then, she was making speeches. She was good at it. Her speeches were about the sanctity of the home, about how women should stay home. Serena Joy didn’t do it herself, she made speeches instead, but presented this failure of hers as a sacrifice she was making for the good of all” (45). Since the societal change to Gilead’s ideology, Serena Joy was affected by this and had to then make speeches about gender roles women should follow and how religion should play a bigger role in people’s lives. It also shows the societal hierarchy, by trying to push for women to be silenced and controlled with her influence, she too was later confined to her home under Gilead’s control. Margaret Atwood shows the influence that societal standards have on people and how people trying to fit into these roles affects themselves personally.

The three brothers with the little one being a prodigue in boxing, but even with his undefeated record is he nervous?