The Handmaid's Tale

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The Handmaid's Tale

Love

Nick seems to be both a rebel and an eye and it's a bit confusing. It seems like him and Offred are in love but Offred can't really tell if she actually likes Nick or if she sees him as Luke.

Offred and Luke would be a good example of real love until it was brought to and end because of the new "Gilead." The fact Offred would sometimes think about Luke when she was alone or had time to think even after everything that happened would show there was probably actually love in that relationship.

In this novel love barely exists. Even Serena Joy and the commander aren't a good example of real love because they only got together because of status.

Survival

To survive in Gilead you have to fit into their perfect standards and if you don't they'd either execute you and display your body on the "wall," or they would send you to somewhere "better" in hopes of bettering you (in this case religion).

When Offred forgets what happened before Gilead was created it was probably a survival instinct. Memory loss is usually seen as a survival instinct and trauma response and after what happened I think that's what she and many others would be going through.

Religion

If someone went against their religion they would put them on "the wall" or send them away in attempts to convert them.

The whole of Gilead is shaped around some sort of odd Christianity.

Rebellion

Was the van at the end actually the eyes or was it mayday?

Nick is somehow part of both the rebellion and the "eyes" of Gilead so it's hard to tell if he's actually trying to help Offred or is just trying to catch her.

The commander and Serena Joy benefit from rebelling Gilead's laws.

Moira rebels against the whole Gilead "government" by protesting feminist and gender equality rights and escaping from the imprisonment the handmaid's are going through.

Symbols

The star of David the Gilead "government" would put on the executed Jews on the wall probably symbolized world war 2 and the fact Gilead most likely doesn't understand the meaning of it.

The eyes are like spies and symbolize the fact you're always being watched whether you think so or not.

Daffodils display hope and joy for Gilead and the handmaids.

The butter they use sort of like a lotion and hiding it was sort of an act of bravery.

The aunts are seen as the "good guys" but in reality they're sort of the "bad guys" as well. When one of the girls got raped they called her a "crybaby."

The gymnasium and where the handmaids are kept were probably representing a prison.

Aunt Lydia is sort of like a god figure to the handmaids.

Narration

They don't exactly clarify who the narrator is which makes it confusing to understand when you're just starting the book.

The book is written in Offred's pov and is a little hard to understand who is really talking towards the beginning.

Class

Many different "classes" the people of Gilead are sectioned into.

The econowives are women who are fertile but they married men that are not as high-ranking as the commanders.

The eyes of Gilead are like the top secret spies who could be watching at any time trying to catch someone doing something illegal in the eyes of Gilead.

Handmaids were fertile women that would get impregnated by the commanders whom which had infertile wives. They provided the men children when their own wives could not.

Marthas tend to be the housekeepers in this novel. They usually do all the cleaning and work around the house. They would rank higher in class than the handmaid's because they're more of a servant than a sex slave.

Commanders are known to be "high-ranking officials" in Gilead. The handmaid's would take the commander's name and put "of" in front of it, example; "Offred."

Generally the men were the ones in the highest class and women were in the lower class unless they were the commander's wife but even then they probably would tend to be lower class than the men.