Offred

Offred

1. Life before Gilead

   • We learn that she had a daughter who was taken away from her, the symbolic colour "white" in "she was wearing a dress...white and down to the ground" shows that she is now a Commander's daughter
   • Offred was made redundant from her job as the Gileadean regime began to take over, the cataphoric reference in "It wasn't the army. It was some other army" highlights the terror, danger, and sense of the unknown that people felt as Gilead began to take power
   • Offred's memories provide a clear insight into her life before Gilead and the striking resemblences to our society shocks the reader into thinking about the problems in our world today
   • Her mother was part of a strong feminist movement, something that Gilead quickly abolished, they were "burning books" as described on page 48
   • The collective first person pronoun in "The three of us in bed" shows a unity that Offred no longer feels and shows a sense of belonging that she can no longer have

2. Role in Gilead and in the novel

   • The metaphor "two legged womb" sums up Offred's significance in Gilead, purely as a surrogate mother who is valued for her ability to reproduce
     • Fantasy Genre: no freedom of sex
   • Her role in the novel is the story teller, and rebels against the state. The asyndetic list "subversion, sedition, blasphemy, heresy" shows how she defies the oppression put on her by the state. This rebellious attitude of the protagonist is conventional of the fantasy genre
   • She is the narrator and the narrative is filtered through her point of view which questions her reliability as we don't hear opposing viewpoints
   • Homodiegetic narration

3. Character

   • "I am thirty-three years old. I have brown hair. I stand five seven without shoes". This is the only clear description we get of Offred and we see her not as a Handmaid but an individual
   • The drastic change in Offred's appearance when she goes to Jezebels wearing a costume "covered in sequins...tiny stars" is suggested to be a "power trip" for the Commander, and she is objectified
     • This is how Serena Joy finds out about the Commander's affair with Offred after she finds "lipstick" on her cloak, this signifies what Offred thinks is the end for her in Gilead, and she thinks Serena Joy was responsible for alerting the Eyes
   • Offred is rebellious
     • The mental process "imagine" shows how Offred's thoughts are a way of rebelling and taking back intellectual control from Gilead. Doing this in her head is safe
     • She has affair with both the Commander and Nick, and the Commander gives her luxuries such as "hand lotion"
     • Ofglen gives her the confidence to openly rebel against Gilead, for example at Soul Scrolls and when "may day" is mentioned

4. Relationships with other Characters

   • Nick
     • She trusts him enough to tell his her real name, something she doesn't even tell the reader
       • However it seems to the reader that tis trust isn't a mutual feeling
     • She loves Nick and he gives her a reason to stay in Gilead
   • The Commander
     • They satisfy each others need for companionship
       • "his wife doesn't understand him"
     • Could be seen as a "power trip" for the Commander or a way to assert his power
   • Moira
     • Best friends from college
     • Moira's story of rebellion inspires Offred and she wants to do more to fight the subjugation that Gilead impose upon her
       • Chapter 15
   • Serena Joy
     • She gets pleasure from pressing Offred
       • Shows how Gilead use women to oppress other women
       • "I want to see as little of you as possible"
   • Ofglen
     • Shopping partner
     • They form a close enough bond to discuss "may day"
     • Offred feels defeated and lost when Ofglen kills herself "I feel...their true power"
   • Luke
     • Their relationship exists in her memory
       • She finds comfort from it
     • Had a daughter together