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The Handmaid's Tale (Fertility (Serena Joy's hobbies are taking…
The Handmaid's Tale
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"I enjoy the power; power of a dog bone, passive but there." - Offred
Offred holds no real status or power in Gilead, so she enjoys teasing the guards as it gives her an illusion of power in the society
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I avoid looking down at my 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 something that determines me so completely." - Offred
Her body is her only saviour in Gilead, as she is fertile, and babies are extremely coveted
Her body is what determines her role as a handmaid, her only identity
"But maybe boredom is erotic, when women do it, for men." - Offred
Everything in the society is supposedly done for reproduction, but it is clear that much of what has been established is mostly for the benefit of men
"A thing is valued only if it is rare and hard to get."
A woman's sexuality is only valuable if it is not easily available -- Justifies the forced covering up
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Gilead is based on the belief that men are unable to control biological desires, therefore women must be controlled so as not to tempt men
Gives all the power to men, while women are forced to conform to living a life that will in no way cause any distraction to men
Men are defined by their military link (Angels, Guards, Commanders etc.), while Women are defined by household roles (Marthas, Handmaids, Wives)
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Women are given roles that define their gender and their sexuality and they continue to perform these roles under the false pretense that they are acting normally
In today's society, where communities such as the LGBTQ is constantly changing and being redefined, and in which more and more people are coming out with differing sexualities and gender "norms", the thought of forcing someone into a particularly sexuality (eg. Moira becoming a handmaid, and then a Jezebel's worker), seems absurd and cruel
"It reminds me of other kitchens, kitchens that were mine. It smells of mothers; although my own mother did not make bread. It smells of me, in former times, when I was a mother" - Offred
Associates women to the Kitchen, a stereotype that reinforces the role of women being household fixture
Religion and Theocracy
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The Genesis
"It's the usual story, the usual stories"
"God to Adam, God to Noah"
"Be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth"
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From the bible, when committed adultery executions are a penalty, however in Gilead those who resist the government and are not able to reproduce are executed
Religious symbols
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The handmaid's are dressed like nuns, being covered from top to bottom
"Long red dresses" and "white wings hat"
Fertility
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Serena Joy's hobbies are taking care of her garden and sewing and knitting elaborate, childish scarves
the garden is full of life and blooming, in contrast to the sterile world of Gilead
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"tulips are red", the colour of the tulips link to Offred as handmaids wear red
"tulips are opening their cups,spilling out colour"
representing Offred who is blooming, is fertile, in contrast to Serena Joy who is "sterile"
"a darker crimson towards the stem, as if they have been cut and are beginning to heal there"
The path through the garden looks like a part in hair, and the worms remind Offred of fertility
"gravel path that divides the back lawn, neatly, like a hair parting"
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"worms, evidence of the fertility of the soil, caught by the sun, half dead; flexible and pink, like lips"
could be referencing the handmaids
"caught by the sun", caught by the Commanders whom the society sees as the leaders(?), they are never wrong, never questioned
or caught by the hope that society places on them because of their fertility
they are "half dead" because being chosen by being fertile is "their job", they have been trained emotionally in the red centre and are now
Offered constantly sees signs of rebellion and fertility, they occupy her mind the most
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Doctor is more talkative than necessary and calls her honey while examining her, testing her breast like fruit, and proclaiming her to be healthy
now her body is like a fruit, another fertility symbol
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Aunt Lydia used to emphasise the importance of proper nourishment, to be "a worthy vessel"
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Offered sees herself as empty and waiting to receive, like tulips in Chapter 8
In Chapter 13, Offred thinks about her body, her blood like red waves, and her failure to become pregnant
past failure to protect her daughter and stick with Luke are linked to her present failure to achieve Gilead's demands.
Duty to Gilead, to be fertile and have a baby, parallels duty to her loved ones in her mind
Serena Joy arrives in a flower-trimmed dress, but Offred thinks that Serena Joy should accept that she's "withered" instead of bedecking herself with plants' reproductive organs
Serena Joy cannot have babies anymore, cannot reproduce, is "withered"
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Suggests that the Handmaids providing babies for the Commander's wives allows the wives to have the illusion that they are still fertile
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Serena Joy makes Offred leave immediately, even though Offred is supposed to lie down for ten minutes to increase the chances of conception
Serena Joy's action shows that, for now, woman-on-woman hatred outweighs her desire to have a baby at all costs
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In chapter 17, Offred resolves to steal a daffodil
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LOVE
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Quotes on Love
'But this is wrong, nobody dies from lack of sex. It's lack of love we die from' - Offred (Chapter 18)
'All I can hope for is a reconstruction: the way love feels is always only approximate' - Offred, Chap 40
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Story Telling and Memory
Dawn
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"I try not to think too much. LIke other things now, thought must be rationed"
"I twould like to elieve this is a story I'm telling. I need to believe it. I must believe it. Those who can believe that such astories are only stories have a better chance
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Reflection in actions
Adds comments on past events, clarifies actions.
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There was a treacherous smell, and I know i must shut it out'
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Narrates herself,Speaks as though in third person
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