Examples Of Rebellion In The Handmaid's Tale

782 Words4 Pages
Motif of Rebellion Atwood utilizes the motif of rebellion throughout The Handmaid’s Tale to create dystopia. Indeed, rebellion towards the society is present from the exposition where Offred first describes that the previous Handmaid of the house has committed suicide in order to escape her fate. However to prevent this, Gilead has “remove everything you could tie a rope to” (Atwood, 1986, p.7). This emphasizes the society wanting to abolish any sort of rebellion both socially and individually, as the word “rope” is a symbol of committing suicide as a way of escape (Michael, 1996). At the same time, this introduction sets the story with a quiet atmosphere, making it contrast with the stereotypical war-filled noisy dystopia. Throughout the…show more content…
Living as a “Handmaid” and a “Commander” in Gilead, having more contact than needed is banned. However with the Commander rebelling against the society himself, and by having “an arrangement” with Offred, Offred illegally pays unnecessary visits to the Commander “two or three nights a week” (Atwood, 1986, p.154). In fact on the third night, Offred “asked him for some hand lotion” (Atwood, 1986, p.158): an act of direct rebellion as Gilead values women not for their looks, but only for their ability to reproduce. From this readers are able to understand that Offred does not want people to acknowledge her as a “woman” only for her reproductive abilities. The relationship between Offred and the Commander escalates to the point where the Commander kisses Offred, dresses her in slinky clothing and takes her to Jezebel’s—a place where citizens mingle with prostitutes. These actions and the illicit relationship between Offred and the Commander are violations of Gilead’s laws and the actions performed by the Commander such as helping Offred and engaging with proletariats is a contraband aspect of the society. (Hunter, 2001). From this, it can be understood that in Gilead, everyone does not have the freedom of doing what they want to do, including the Commander
Show More
Related

  • Dystopian Literature Analysis

    1142 Words  | 5 Pages

    There are many different forms that the regimes of dystopian literature take in order to suppress individuality from suppression by force in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Margaret Attwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale to a kind of silent suppression in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 or even just a suppression by the circumstance of nature in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. There are many different ways in which the suppression is manifested and many would argue that

    Read More

  • Offred Quotes

    1436 Words  | 6 Pages

    • “I think about Laundromats. What I wore to them: shorts, jeans, jogging pants. What I put into them: my own clothes, my own soap, my own money, money I had earned myself.” (Atwood 123) • Offred is sitting in her room at the Commander’s house having a flashback to her previous life. She reminisces about how she used to do laundry and other daily chores which is prohibited for her to do now. She regrets taking such little freedom she had, for granted. • Offred (the narrator) regrets the lack of mundane

    Read More

More about Examples Of Rebellion In The Handmaid's Tale

Open Document