Blog Post #2: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

While reading the Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, I have paid close attention to the emotions and actions of Offred, the protagonist, and the ways in which Atwood develops Offred’s identity. To refresh, Offred is a “Handmaid,” whose duty is to make babies for the Commander and his wife, to whom she has been assigned. The main element of Offred’s identity that I have observed is her desire to have ownership over something. Everything that was once her’s has been stripped from her: her husband, her child, her home, her material possessions. Because she is now living as a person with little control or power in her life, she lacks a sense of who she is and what belongs to her. As the Commander approaches her room she says, “Was he invading? Was he in my room? I called it mine”(49). Here, Offred reveals her conflicted view on ownership. She says her room belongs to her, but inside, she doesn’t feel like it’s hers. She feels more like a temporary guest, or a tenant who could be evicted at a moment’s notice. Because nothing in the household of the Commander is truly hers, as she lies in bed at night she thinks, “I want to steal something”(97). She then creeps out of her room and thinks, “What I would like to steal is a knife, from the kitchen, but I’m not ready for that”(97). Because Offred can’t cling to her own belongings and loved ones from the past, she has the urge to steal something so that she can gain control over her life.

Offred doesn’t even feel in control of her own body: “I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation, or an implement for the accomplishment of my will… now the flesh arranges itself differently. I’m a cloud”(73). A healthy person has a connected mind and body, but Offred does not feel connected with her body. I find it very interesting that she compares herself to a “cloud.” It reminds me of the poem we read in class, “I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud” by William Wordsworth; in class we talked about how Wordsworth’s choice to compare himself to a cloud is fitting because a cloud is neither on the ground nor in space, but rather floating in between. Offred, too, feels a disconnect between herself and the world around her.

In addition to a desire for ownership, I’ve also noticed Offred’s desire for interpersonal connections. She highly valued her relationship with her husband Luke, and now that he is gone, she can’t stop thinking about him. She says, “I want Luke here so badly. I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not; I want to be more than valuable”(97). Offred feels lost and lonely without her husband, and in losing him, has lost her sense of self-worth. Similarly, she desires friendship. She says, “It’s hard to imagine now, having a friend”(25). One of the only significant and meaningful group dynamics that remains for Offred is the group of Handmaids who join together and help each other give birth. When they are a part of a birthing ceremony, they share pain, even if they aren’t the one physically giving birth. “Each of us holds in our lap a phantom, a ghost baby… You wanted a woman’s culture. Well, now there is one”(127). The community aspect of these birthing ceremonies is at least some sort of connection for Offred to latch onto, but it’s not a healthy, interpersonal connection which she desires.