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The Handmaid's Tale: themes and global issues, : : - Coggle Diagram

- - - - p.33-"There are no lawyers anymore, And the university is closed."
    - - p.35-"They seemed to be able to choose. We seemed to be able to choose, then. We were a society dying, said Aunt Lydia, of too much choice."
      - Passports taken away, ㄴ
    - - p.18-"I never looked good in red, it's not my colour."
    - - Black market for contraband shows contrast between the superficial aspect of Gilead and its reality.
  - - - p.17- "Return to traditional values"
      - p.34-"There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don't underrate it."
        
        Freedom from what? Does Offred have freedom?
    - - Attributing all faults to women
        
        "But whose fault was it? Aunt Helena says, holding up one plump finger. Her fault, her fault, her fault, we chant in unison.
        Who led them on? Aunt Helena beams, pleased with us. " She did. She did. She did.
        
        "He's said a forbidden word. Sterile. There is no such thing as a sterile man anymore, not officially. There are only women who are fruitful and women who are barren, that's the law."
  - - - Black market for contrabands, e.g. cigarettes.
      - p.34-"You don't see the Commanders' Wives on the sidewalks. Only in cars."
- - - - Assertion of individuality and freedom. She transforms her reality with figurative language - "myself in it [the mirror] like a distorted shadow, a parody of something, some fairy-tale figure in a red cloak, descending towards a moment of carelessness that is the same as danger. A Sister, dipped in blood."
      - Those who rebel go to "the colonies", "starve", "unwomen". Language associated with rebellion is dark and negative.
    - - She wants more power. She enjoys it (uses it occasionally). Her body gives her power (influence/power, sexual desire through a lack).
        
        "They touch with their eyes instead and I move my hips a little, feeling the full red skirt sway around me. It's like thumbing your nose from behind a fence or teasing a dog with a bone held out of reach, and I'm ashamed of myself for doing it, because none of this is the fault of these men, they're too young.
        Then I find I'm not ashamed after all. I enjoy the power; power of a dog bone, passive but there. I hope they get hard at the sight of us and have to rub themselves against the painted barriers, surreptitiously."
        w
      - Extreme hatred, jealousy, emotions lead to inhuman, brutal actions.
        
        "Stillborn, it was. Or, Stabbed her with a knitting needle, right in the belly. Jealousy, it must have been, eating her up. Or, tantalizingly, It was toilet cleaner she used."
      - Separation of people
        
        Sound: "silence", "I couldn't talk to her for several days", "we did it [talked] quietly", Visual: "watching from inside our slitted eyes", "Didn't turn to look at one another", Physically: "she turned away, she already knew what was safe", "we avoided each other"
      - Group shaming. Illusion to slut shaming
        
        Janine was gang-raped at fourteen and the Aunts enforce the perception that it was her fault and the HMs conform and eventually (reluctant) agreement - "Her fault, her fault, her fault, we chant in unison. Who led them on? She did. She did. She did". She enforces an ideology trough overwhelming fear and power.
        
        Offred feels somewhat bad but conforms and participates. Maybe out of self preservation/survival. "Crybaby. Crybaby. Crybaby. We meant it, which is the bad part".
      - They can talk, quietly and rarely, but still manage to find opportunities. "Where can we talk? Said Moira. Washroom, I siad. Watch the clock. End stall, two-thirty. That was all she said."
    - - To ensure her survival she is willing to conform temporarily, but there is a clear undercurrent of resistance (in thought, not yet in action). - "I try not to think too much. Like other things now, thought must be rationed." ... "Thinking can hurt your chances, and I intend to last."
      - "I never looked good in red, it's not my color." She disagrees with what is imposed but doesn't rebel. Instead has an ironic and humorous response.
  - - - "Where I am is not a prison but a privilege, as Aunt Lydia said..."
    - - The aunts are transforming/forcing the ideologies (thoughts, morals, perceptions) of Gilead into the minds of the HMs.
- - - - encourage herself; self-conscious "I'm alive".
      - use humour as a way to cope
      - analyze what is going on around her, she has a very descriptive view of the surrounding and people she encounters with.
      - refuse to acknowledge that Gilead is distorted
    - - acts numb as to create a barrier with reality
      - call this whole situation funny probably because of how ridiculous this is. Offred tries to see the comic in this traumatic experience in order to survive; she says "i chose this" because the other options were worse obviously but it seems like she is saying that to herself only to believe it is not as traumatic as it seems, but it is.
    - - seeing a photograph of her daughter bring her to her lowest point. imagination is no longer helpful. she realizes her identity as a mother and recognize what she lost. yet she still uses a metaphor (ocean).
    - - she is in this peaceful nature; flowers, scents, colors are all around. its a quiet place but also one where secrets are burried. offred imagine these secrets are soon to be reveal. her mind can escape easily in this environment.