How does Atwood create an impression of a dystopian society in the first four sections of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’?
1) Conformity versus resistance
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Asserts her individuality in small ways – ‘we learned to whisper without sound’ – act of rebellion. + listing of names, minor
sentences – forcing the individuality to come back. She ‘remembers the smell of nail polish’, ‘the satiny brushing of sheer
pantyhose against the skin’ – sensuous image, evokes feelings and memories, which is strictly repressed in Gilead but
Offred does it anyways – later on ‘the smell of the soap’ reminds her of her daughter.
Nick – ‘he’s wearing the uniform of the guardians, but his cap is tilted’
‘A shape like mine’ – the suppression of individuality creates the idea of a ‘double’ – reoccurs constantly in the book –
‘doubled, I walk’, ‘she’s like my own reflection’
Chapter seven – private memories function as a survival technique for Offred as she ‘intends to last’.
‘He isn’t supposed to be here’ – an indication that the Commander himself might be opposed to the regime – foreshadows
transgression.
2) State exploiting fear/hatred
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Aunts ‘patrolled; they had electric cattle prods slung on their leather belts’ – constantly threatened, esp by someone
who’s supposed to be ‘familial’.
‘Perhaps he is an Eye’ – fear of constant surveillance – Offred is suspicious of everyone and doesn’t trust seemingly
genuine friendly gesture from Nick - A psychoanalytical approach to the novel would highlights the psychological terror
that the Gilead regime instills into women rather than physical, Offred is even scared of thinking
‘I don’t know what happened to the one before’ – sinister – handmaids can just disappear.
‘There are no lawyers any more, and the university is closed.’ – Gilead suppressed intellectuals who might criticize the
regime – similar to cultural revolution in China – easily getting rid of people, highlights sense of fear.
The Wall – symbol of control and consequences if Gilead’s rules are breached.
— ‘Six more bodies hanging’ – public display of violence and death as a warning
Offred doesn’t know what happened to her daughter, whether she’s dead or in ‘good hands’ – another possible
psychological weapon against her – a mother’s nightmare – ‘she fades … she’s gone now’ – easier for Offred to see her
as dead or a ghost.
3) Control + restriction of freedom of expression and thought
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‘We had flannelette sheets, like children’s, and army-issue blankets.’ + ‘we folded our clothes neatly and laid them on
the stools.’ – sense of being controlled, even with such menial tasks as folding clothes, childlike control as if they’re
lacking mental capacity.
‘They removed everything you could tie a rope to’ control of actions + ‘Thought must be rationed’ – complete control,
the regime is extreme, even thinking – something that cannot be heard – is restricted.
Offred rarely speaks to other people, when she does its formulaic, in order to hide her thoughts – ‘praise be’, ‘which I
receive with joy’.
Manipulation of attitudes – ‘skirts that short’, ‘nearly naked in their thin stockings’, ‘they seem undressed’ – ‘so little time
to change our minds, about things like this’ – clothing Western women take for granted now seem immodest to Offred –
the reader considers nature of freedom, how one’s attitudes and thoughts can be easily manipulated – feminists would
argue this is how the patriarchal society use media nowadays to reinforce the ideal of a modest and pure woman.
4) Dehumanization/ distortion of human relationships
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The idea of aunts – walk with electric cattle prods – ‘yesterday Dolores wet the floor. … All night we could hear her
moaning, off and on.’ – brutality of the punishment for unintentional offence, nothing tender or familial about ‘aunts’ –
distorts the idea of family relationships
‘Allotted a handmaid’ – sexual relationships are closely controlled – aren’t supposed to involve emotions + ‘He hasn’t
been issued a woman’ – women seen as a commodity
‘curiosity’ – ‘we are secret, forbidden, we excite them’ – handmaids seen as a tourist attraction – almost like animals in
cages.
Waiting Room section - Preparation for ‘ceremony’ with the commander – the medical appointment ‘now it’s obligatory’.
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At first the doctor is presented without humanity – she is ‘poked and prodded’ and her ‘breasts are fingered in
their turn’.
However, he offers to ‘help’ her – can it be seen as genuine as Offred notes his power – ‘he could fake the tests,
report me for cancer, for infertility, have me shipped off to the colonies’.