THE HANDMAID’S TALETHE HANDMAID’S TALEMolly Andersen, Alexandra Gillespie, Isabel Molly Andersen, Alexandra Gillespie, Isabel

Diaz-Barriga and Dan PetrovitchDiaz-Barriga and Dan Petrovitch

General InformationGeneral Information

• Author: Margaret AtwoodAuthor: Margaret Atwood

• Date of Publication: 1998Date of Publication: 1998

• Genres: Dystopian fictionGenres: Dystopian fiction

ANALYSIS OF NOVEL’S PLOT & ANALYSIS OF NOVEL’S PLOT & THEMESTHEMES

Setting & Time PeriodSetting & Time Period

• Republic of GileadRepublic of Gilead• Totalitarian, patriarchal regimeTotalitarian, patriarchal regime• Women have no rightsWomen have no rights• Women divided into classes w/ Women divided into classes w/

unique roles/responsibilities: unique roles/responsibilities: Wives, Marthas (housekeepers), Wives, Marthas (housekeepers), Handmaids (childbearing)Handmaids (childbearing)

• FutureFuture

CharacterizationCharacterization

• Protagonist: OffredProtagonist: Offred• HandmaidHandmaid• IntelligentIntelligent• PassivePassive

• Antagonist: The government/societyAntagonist: The government/society• Takes away the rights of women depending Takes away the rights of women depending

on their positionon their position

• RelationshipsRelationships• Offred + LukeOffred + Luke• Offred + CommanderOffred + Commander

Characterization (cont.)Characterization (cont.)

• Offred + MoiraOffred + Moira• Offred + NickOffred + Nick• Commander + Serena JoyCommander + Serena Joy

• Key TraitsKey Traits• OffredOffred

• Confused, obedient, frustrated, wanting loveConfused, obedient, frustrated, wanting love• MoiraMoira

• Disobedient, brave, angry, resistantDisobedient, brave, angry, resistant• CommanderCommander

• Sympathetic, but also selfish, longs for companionshipSympathetic, but also selfish, longs for companionship• Note: Most of the character’s actions are over Note: Most of the character’s actions are over

determined by the oppressive regime…Offred’s determined by the oppressive regime…Offred’s perceptions of their personalities may not be accurateperceptions of their personalities may not be accurate

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Major ConflictsMajor Conflicts

• Women vs. SocietyWomen vs. Society• OppressionOppression

• Loss of love/real relationshipsLoss of love/real relationships• Separated from husband/family, forced to Separated from husband/family, forced to

have sexual relations with Commanderhave sexual relations with Commander

• Loss of freedomsLoss of freedoms• Reading, writing, speechReading, writing, speech

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ThemesThemes

• Loss of identityLoss of identity

• Women are assigned new identities: Handmaid, Wife, Martha, Women are assigned new identities: Handmaid, Wife, Martha, EconowifeEconowife

• ““My name isn’t Offred, I have another name, which nobody uses 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 now because it’s forbidden. I tell myself it doesn’t matter, your name is like a telephone number, useful only to others; but what I name is like a telephone number, useful only to others; but what I tell myself is wrong, it does matter” (page 84). tell myself is wrong, it does matter” (page 84).

• Protagonist has lived in both worldsProtagonist has lived in both worlds

• A free, educated, independent woman, forced to abandon all A free, educated, independent woman, forced to abandon all this to an oppressive governmentthis to an oppressive government

• Aware of what she has lostAware of what she has lost

• There is a void/emptinessThere is a void/emptiness

• Recognizes what is happening, yet allows it to happenRecognizes what is happening, yet allows it to happen

• ““We lived, as usual, by ignoring. Ignoring isn’t the same as We lived, as usual, by ignoring. Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it” (page 56).ignorance, you have to work at it” (page 56).

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Themes (cont.)Themes (cont.)

• Oppression of WomenOppression of Women• The Handmaids are just being used for their The Handmaids are just being used for their

bodies, reproductionbodies, reproduction• Handmaids are ovaries, not individualsHandmaids are ovaries, not individuals

• ““We are containers, it’s only the insides of We are containers, it’s only the insides of our bodies that are important. The outside our bodies that are important. The outside can become hard and wrinkled, for all they can become hard and wrinkled, for all they care, like the shell of a nut” (page 96).care, like the shell of a nut” (page 96).

• ““I am thirty-three years old. I have brown I am thirty-three years old. I have brown hair. I stand five seven without shoes. I hair. I stand five seven without shoes. I have trouble remembering what I used to have trouble remembering what I used to look like. I have viable ovaries. I have one look like. I have viable ovaries. I have one more chance” (page 143).more chance” (page 143).99

Themes (cont.)Themes (cont.)

• Handmaids are forced to wear long robes/headdress wigs Handmaids are forced to wear long robes/headdress wigs for modestyfor modesty

• ““My nakedness is strange to me already...Did I really wear My nakedness is strange to me already...Did I really wear bathing suits, at the beach? I did, without thought, among bathing suits, at the beach? I did, without thought, among men...Shameful, immodest...I avoid looking down at my men...Shameful, immodest...I avoid looking down at my body, not so much because it’s shameful or immodest but body, not so much because it’s shameful or immodest but because I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to look at because I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to look at something that determines me so completely” (page 63). something that determines me so completely” (page 63).

• Offred has lost the feeling of being loved and meaningfulOffred has lost the feeling of being loved and meaningful

• ““I want Luke here so badly. I want to be held and told I want Luke here so badly. I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not; I my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not; I want to be more than valuable. I repeat my former want to be more than valuable. I repeat my former name, remind myself of what I once could do, how name, remind myself of what I once could do, how others saw” (page 97). others saw” (page 97).

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Key ScenesKey Scenes

• Scrabble with the Commander, Chapters 23 and 24 (turning Scrabble with the Commander, Chapters 23 and 24 (turning point)point)• Breaking the rulesBreaking the rules• ““But something has changed, now, tonight” (page 143).But something has changed, now, tonight” (page 143).• ““I intend to get out of here” (page 134).I intend to get out of here” (page 134).• Commander now seen as humanCommander now seen as human

• End of the novelEnd of the novel• Unsure if she was arrested or rescuedUnsure if she was arrested or rescued• Historical notesHistorical notes

• Transcript of a university conference held in 2195Transcript of a university conference held in 2195• Gilead is gone, they discuss Offred’s story, which has Gilead is gone, they discuss Offred’s story, which has

been publishedbeen published

ANALYSIS OF AUTHOR’S STYLE ANALYSIS OF AUTHOR’S STYLE AND STRUCTUREAND STRUCTURE

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Characteristics of the Characteristics of the NarratorNarrator

• First-person POV, ProtagonistFirst-person POV, Protagonist• Creates an automatic bias against the societyCreates an automatic bias against the society

• Indirect characterizationIndirect characterization• Ex. Moira likes to have fun, won’t take no for an Ex. Moira likes to have fun, won’t take no for an

answer (page 37):answer (page 37):“Moira, sitting on the edge of my bed, legs crossed, ankle on knee, in her purple overalls, one dangly earring, the gold fingernail she wore to be eccentric, a cigarette between her stubby yellow-ended fingers. Let’s go for a beer.You’re getting ashes in my bed, I said.If you’d make it you wouldn’t have this problem, said Moira.In half an hour, I said. I had a paper due the next day. What was it? Psychology, English economics. We studied things like that, then. On the floor of the room there were books, open face down, this way and that, extravagantly. Now, said Moira. You don’t need to paint your face, it’s only me. What’s your paper on? I just did one on date rape.Date rape, I said. You’re so trendy. It sounds like some kind of dessert. Date rape.Hah-ha, said Moira. Get your coat.She got it herself and tossed it at me. I’m borrowing five bucks off you, okay?”

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Characteristics of the Characteristics of the Narrator (Cont.)Narrator (Cont.)

• Narrator draws conclusionsNarrator draws conclusions• Ex. page 56:Ex. page 56:

• Ex. page 87: Ex. page 87:

“Nothing changes instantaneously: in a gradually heating bathtub you’d be boiled to death before you knew it. There were stories in the newspapers, of course, corpses in ditches or the woods, bludgeoned to death or mutilated, interfered with, as they used to say, but they were about other women, and the men who did such things were other men. None of them were the men we knew. The newspaper stories were like dreams to us, bad dreams dreamt by others. How awful, we would say, and they were, but they were awful without being believable. They were too melodramatic, they had a dimension that was not the dimension of our lives. We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of the print. It gave us more freedom.We lived in the gaps between the stories.”

“To be a man, watched by women. It must be entirely strange. To have them watching him all the time. To have them wondering, What’s he going to do next? To have them flinch when he moves, even if it’s a harmless enough move, to reach for an ashtray perhaps. To have them sizing him up. To have them thinking, He can’t do it, he won’t do, he’ll have to do, this last as if he were a garment, out of style or shoddy, which must nevertheless be put on because there’s nothing else available. To have them putting him on, trying him on, trying him out, while he himself puts them on, like a sock over a foot, onto the stub of himself, his extra, sensitive thumb, his tentacle, his delicate, stalked slug’s eye, which extrudes, expands, winces, and shrivels back into himself...Still, it must be hell, to be a man, like that.”

Characteristics of the Characteristics of the Narrator (Cont.)Narrator (Cont.)

• Narrator admits to unreliability and storytellingNarrator admits to unreliability and storytelling

• Ex. Pg. 134: “It’s impossible to say a thing Ex. Pg. 134: “It’s impossible to say a thing exactly the way it was, because what you exactly the way it was, because what you say can never be exact, you always have to say can never be exact, you always have to leave something out.”leave something out.”

• Ex. Pg. 260: Tells story about encounter with Ex. Pg. 260: Tells story about encounter with Nick…“I made that up. It didn’t happen that Nick…“I made that up. It didn’t happen that way. Here is what happened.” Tells second way. Here is what happened.” Tells second story about encounter with Nick…“It didn’t story about encounter with Nick…“It didn’t happen that way either. I’m not sure how it happen that way either. I’m not sure how it happened; not exactly. All I can hope for is a happened; not exactly. All I can hope for is a reconstruction…”reconstruction…”

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SyntaxSyntax

• Simple syntaxSimple syntax• Longer sentences are often just a seriesLonger sentences are often just a series• Nouns, adjectives, independent clauses, dependent Nouns, adjectives, independent clauses, dependent

clauses, prepositional phrases, etc. strung togetherclauses, prepositional phrases, etc. strung together• Ex. Pg. 64: Ex. Pg. 64: “Behind my closed eyes I can see myself as “Behind my closed eyes I can see myself as

I am now, sitting beside an open drawer, or a trunk, in I am now, sitting beside an open drawer, or a trunk, in the cellar, where the baby clothes are folded away, a the cellar, where the baby clothes are folded away, a lock of hair, cut when she was two, in an envelope, lock of hair, cut when she was two, in an envelope, white-blond.”white-blond.”

• Ex. Pg. 173: Ex. Pg. 173: “Pieces of paper, thickish, greasy to the “Pieces of paper, thickish, greasy to the touch, green-colored, with pictures on each side, some touch, green-colored, with pictures on each side, some old man in a wig and on the other side a pyramid with an old man in a wig and on the other side a pyramid with an eye above it.”eye above it.”

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Syntax (Continued)Syntax (Continued)

• Ex. Pg. 84: “Ex. Pg. 84: “Luke drove, I sat beside him, the sun Luke drove, I sat beside him, the sun shone, the sky was blue, the houses as we passed them shone, the sky was blue, the houses as we passed them looked comforting and ordinary, each house as it was left looked comforting and ordinary, each house as it was left behind vanishing into past time, crumbling in an instant behind vanishing into past time, crumbling in an instant as if it had never been, because I would never see it as if it had never been, because I would never see it again, or so I thought then.”again, or so I thought then.”

• Florid proseFlorid prose• Descriptive depthDescriptive depth• Often uses a full paragraph or two to describe a single Often uses a full paragraph or two to describe a single

object, event, ideaobject, event, idea• See above examplesSee above examples

• Lists + Florid prose = Drawn out narrativeLists + Florid prose = Drawn out narrative14

DictionDiction

• ComplexComplex• Examples: bereaved, ethereal, perfidy, Examples: bereaved, ethereal, perfidy,

indecorous, lanolined, platitudeindecorous, lanolined, platitude

• Irony of Offred’s DictionIrony of Offred’s Diction• Her vocabulary is impressive Her vocabulary is impressive • Uses her vocabulary well to create eloquent + Uses her vocabulary well to create eloquent +

insightful description/analysisinsightful description/analysis• But she is lower class, not even allowed to But she is lower class, not even allowed to

read, considered a non-thinkerread, considered a non-thinker

MoodMood

• Oppressed: especially created by the amount Oppressed: especially created by the amount of time we spend in Offred’s headof time we spend in Offred’s head• Sovereignty of the mind/consciousnessSovereignty of the mind/consciousness

• FearfulFearful

• DarkDark

• Nostalgic: Offred’s life straddles two realities, Nostalgic: Offred’s life straddles two realities, unlike many characters in dystopian fiction unlike many characters in dystopian fiction (i.e. Winston Smith)(i.e. Winston Smith)

1919

Structure of the Structure of the NarrativeNarrative

• Chronological, with frequent flashbacksChronological, with frequent flashbacks• To college, to the Red Center, to her time w/ To college, to the Red Center, to her time w/

Luke, etc. Luke, etc. • Distinction between Distinction between presentpresent and and flashbackflashback is is

very fluid/seamlessvery fluid/seamless• Ex. Page 88: Ex. Page 88: Commander is reading Commander is reading

from Bible…“And so on and so forth.from Bible…“And so on and so forth. We had it read to us every breakfast, as we We had it read to us every breakfast, as we sat…” page and a half of flashback to Red sat…” page and a half of flashback to Red CenterCenter, page break, , page break, Commander Commander resumes readingresumes reading

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IMPACT OF IMPACT OF STRUCTURESTRUCTURE ON ON READER’S EXPERIENCEREADER’S EXPERIENCE

• Puts the reader “inside her head”, makes us Puts the reader “inside her head”, makes us feel like we are listening to her thoughtsfeel like we are listening to her thoughts

• Distorts reader’s sense of timeDistorts reader’s sense of time• ““There’s time to spare. This is one of the There’s time to spare. This is one of the

things I wasn’t prepared for-the amount of things I wasn’t prepared for-the amount of unfilled time, the long parentheses of unfilled time, the long parentheses of nothing. Time as white sound.” (pg. 69)nothing. Time as white sound.” (pg. 69)

• White noise: noise containing many White noise: noise containing many frequencies with equal intensitiesfrequencies with equal intensities

When an educated, independent woman When an educated, independent woman comes in conflict with a totalitarian, extreme, and comes in conflict with a totalitarian, extreme, and theocratic government, in a situation in which she theocratic government, in a situation in which she is forced into submission, stripped of her past is forced into submission, stripped of her past identity and valued only for her body, the results identity and valued only for her body, the results may be that she is constantly tormented by her may be that she is constantly tormented by her past life, rebels internally and succumbs past life, rebels internally and succumbs outwardly, yet always sustains the hope that outwardly, yet always sustains the hope that things will get better. Furthermore, the sovereignty things will get better. Furthermore, the sovereignty of men over women deems itself unsuccessful for of men over women deems itself unsuccessful for a society, as evidenced by the ultimate failure of a society, as evidenced by the ultimate failure of the government that supported unequal rights. the government that supported unequal rights.

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Theme Statement

The EndThe End

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