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The Handmaid's Tale, The Handmaid's Tale - Coggle Diagram
The Handmaid's Tale
Offred
has power through how she controls others' perception of her - she allows them to think that she is an obedient and willingly incomplicit with Gilead's rule and regime
- feels power when she is passing men on the way to the market, as she tries to seduce them with her eyes, as the rest of her face covered (she represents forbidden fruit ?? )
- has power over serena joy as she is able to reproduce, as offred does not want to keep the baby
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Serena Joy (Wife)
As a wife, she is unable to bear children, however, due to her status, she would not go to the colonies. Instead she would have handmaid's bear her children for her
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Serena’s offer to show Offred a picture of her lost daughter if she sleeps with Nick reveals that Serena has always known where Offred's daughter was.
She cruelly concealed this knowledge and exploits Offred’s loss of a child to try to obtain a child of her own.
Her lack of sympathy makes her the perfect tool for Gilead’s social order (relies on the willingness of women to oppress other women)
She is a cruel, selfish woman, and Atwood implies that such women are the glue that binds Gilead.
Moira
is a lesbian
she rejects male-female sexual interactions, the only kind that Gilead values.
her escape
Moira caused a toilet to overflow, and while Aunt Elizabeth tried to fix it, Moira jabbed a metal object into Aunt Elizabeth’s ribs and forced her into the furnace room. The object was a long lever from the toilet, but Aunt Elizabeth thought it was a knife. After exchanging clothing with Aunt Elizabeth and tying her up, Moira boldly walked out of the center using Aunt Elizabeth’s pass. No one has seen Moira or heard from her since then.
results in Moira being sent to Jezebels, as she was caught
represents an alternative to the meek subservience and acceptance of one’s fate that most of the women in Gilead adopt.
When Offred runs into Moira again, however, Moira has been recaptured and is working as a prostitute at Jezebel’s.
Her fighting spirit has worn down, and she has become resigned to her fate. After embodying resistance for most of the novel, Moira comes to exemplify the way a totalitarian state can crush even the most independent spirit.
Commander
breaks these rules to have Offred's company at night for intellectual pursuits rather than sexual ones.
RELIGION
very religion orientated commander reads the bible to them As he reads Serena joy cries
blessed be the fruit —> may the lord open, praise be
serena’s moment, after the sex with the commander occurred —> grief, anger, jealous
small talk on the way to the market —> cordial (using their given phrases // greetings)
poses an ethical problem for Offred as he is Offred’s Commander = the immediate agent of her oppression
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In person, he is far more sympathetic and friendly toward Offred than most other people, and Offred’s evenings with the Commander in his study offer her a small respite from the wasteland of her life.
At times, his unhappiness and need for companionship make him seem as much a prisoner of Gilead’s strictures as anyone else. Offred finds herself feeling some amount of sympathy for this man.
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As the novel progresses, we come to realize that his visits with Offred are selfish rather than charitable. They satisfy his need for companionship, but he doesn’t seem to care that they put Offred at terrible risk.
Commander is aware of this risk, since the previous Handmaid hanged
The Commander’s moral blindness, which is apparent in his attempts to explain the virtues of Gilead, is highlighted by his and Offred’s visit to Jezebel’s.
Handmaids
COLONIES:
where the unwomen go (women that are unable to bear children and do not have status in society)
THE RED CENTER:
Handmaid's were required to confess about their old/past lives
Trainded to be handmaid's here
They are given vitamins and supplements to make the handmaid's healthier and more fertile
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After she finished speaking, the Aunts asked the group whose fault the rape was, and the rest of the Handmaids chanted in unison that it was Janine’s fault because she led them on.
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THE CEREMONY:
sex is referred to as the ceremony - highly ritualized act of rape that high-ranking men (such as Commanders or Angels), their Wives and Handmaids undergo to conceive children Involves those who want to concieve and those needed to conceive “of one flesh", alluding to the biblical story of Rachel, Jacob and their handmaid Billah
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The Handmaid's Tale
OFFRED'S FLASHBACKS
Few people appear in Offred’s flashbacks—only Luke, Moira, Offred’s mother, and her daughter make appearances.
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DISCRIMINATION
GENDER
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Gilead was formed in response to the crisis caused by dramatically decreased birthrates, the state’s entire structure, with its religious trappings and rigid political hierarchy, is built around a single goal: control of reproduction. → The state tackles the problem head-on by assuming complete control of women’s bodies through their political subjugation.
Women cannot vote, hold property or jobs, read, or do anything else that might allow them to become subversive or independent and thereby undermine their husbands or the state.
Offred lies in the bath and reflects that, before Gilead, she considered her body an instrument of her desires; now, she is just a mound of flesh surrounding a womb that must be filled in order to make her useful.
Gilead seeks to deprive women of their individuality in order to make them docile carriers of the next generation. →This subjugation creates a society in which women are treated as subhuman. They are reduced to their fertility, treated as nothing more than a set of ovaries and a womb.
unwomen
unwomen = not women --> claiming that because they were unable to have children that they should not be considered as women. because 'women' in their society were needed for child bearing, so, if a woman is cant to do that, she is not a woman
RACE
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even if black women were able to conceive, they were sent to the colonies along with all the other black people and children
RELIGION
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Offred - name meaning
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Offred has to sacrifice several important things throughout the book: her name, identity, family, body, and freedom.
Moira - name meaning
could be said that the name 'moira' is derived from the hebrew name 'miryiam' which means rebellious, which she is
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Marthas - role meaning
Martha and her sister - Mary - open their home to Jesus and his disciples. Martha is busy preparing the meals for Jesus and doing the housekeeping.
Martha’s dedication to the housework in the Bible is the basis for the role of an entire class of women. The Marthas in The Handmaid’s Tale are domestic servants, who are in charge of all things related to housekeeping, such as cooking and cleaning.
Angels - role meaning
In the Bible, angels typically appear as protectors. In literature, angels are an archetype for compassion, kindness, and spiritual connection.
Atwood uses this term ironically. The Angels are upholding Gilead’s oppressive regime through violence. The idea that angels are God’s soldiers is also at play here: implying that the founders of Gilead view themselves as divine figures, or God-like since the Angels are soldiers for their cause.
Jezebels - meaning
In Christian lore, Jezebel misled saints of God into sexual immorality through manipulation and seduction. The name Jezebel has come to mean a wicked, immoral, or sexual woman.
This is the name of the brothel that The Commander takes Offred to. Even though the men are the ones committing the immoral/sexual acts, the name Jezebel’s implies that women are still to blame for their promiscuity.
JEALOUSY
Wives
jealous towards the handmaids, because they are able to conceive, whereas wives are unable to
Serena is seen to be weeping during the ceremony, thus, offred is unsure if the experience (rape) is worse for her or for serena joy
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"I am a reproach to her; and a necessity" "So you're the new one" "As for my husband, she said, he's just that. My husband. I want that to be perfectly clear. Till death do us part. It's final."`
To the Wives, Offred is someone who is endured, in society because she is a "necessity", not because she is wanted -SJ takes ownership of her husband straight away, and makes it perfectly clear to Offred -short, minor sentences to emphasize her point
"Its not the husbands you have to watch out for, said Aunt Lydia, its the Wives."
made to believe that other women are the problem, that they shouldn't worry about the men, its the women that are against them, instilling this division between them
Handmaids
jealous towards the handmaids, when another one of them becomes pregnant (signifies that they are able to do their job correctly)
"stabbed her with a knitting needle, right in the belly. Jealousy, it must have been, eating her up."
"Now that she's the carrier of life, she is closer to death" "jealousy could get her, its happened before."
However its very dangerous to be pregnant, because of jealousy -The handmaids envy each other and their mental stability is so fragile, especially in regards to pregnancy that they could see her as the enemy and attack
FREEDOM
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Butter = normal household item becomes a symbol of their potential freedom. The misuse of the butter also shows a tiny amount of freedom.
"As long as we do this, butter our skin to keep it soft, we can believe that we will some day get out, that we will be touched again, in love or desire."