The fruit has Biblical links to the Fall of Mankind, where Adam and Eve first sinned. This is a real life aspect taken to the extreme in The Handmaid's Tale as Biblical teaching becomes paramount in Gilead. However, apples were the fruit growing on the tree, not pears. It's almost as if the story has been changed, or the original design for the world has gone 'pear-shaped'.
The pears could also represent fertility, as they are growing.
Doves symbolise peace, but the biohazard symbol represents danger. This is oxymoronic, as these aspects of real life are being brought together. This could represent how the Government are trying to create peace with war and using unconventional methods of procreation to create a harmonious society.
The doves being a symbol of peace comes from the Bibilical story of Noah's Ark, when the dove delivers an olive branch to the arc, signalling that the flood is over.
Doves also represent female fertility in Mediterranean culture.
The Biblical elements of the cover make the biohazard symbol seem out of place. It is unsettling how the Bible has been interpreted in the way it has in the novel.
The font of the title is traditional, plain and a traditional colour. This could represent society being stripped back to its bare bones and functions.
The Handmaid's uniform looks like a nun's habit, but a different colour. It also appears to made out of paper, which suggests that it is fragile.
The images are almost cartoon-like, not real.
The red moon could link to the red colour of blood and the effect it has on women's menstrual cycles, which is very important to the Handmaids.
The lack of choice, dystopian society and oppression described in the blurb links to fantasy, but the desires found in real life still remain.
The other real life elements in the blurb include: 'desire', 'hanging' 'The Republic of,' (even though Gilead is a fictional name.)

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A-Level (Year 1) (Year 1) English Language and Literature (The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood) Notiz am Cover Designs of The Handmaid's Tale, erstellt von Summer Pearce am 02/03/2017.