In Margaret Atwood's novel, The Handmaid's Tale, women are deprived from their normal lives and are forced to live in a society where they are looked down upon and are only living for the purpose of reproducing. It is only what is on the inside that matters, so handmaids, like Offred, have no need to look attractive in any way. Offred often expresses the want for hand or face lotion, which she cannot have since she is a handmaid. She solves her problem by replacing it with butter and using it as a replacement for lotion. Butter not only symbolizes the extent women will go to to feel like a woman again, but it also represents a sense of hope for them. Offred puts it as, "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" (Atwood 97). The sense she gets from putting butter on her skin makes her feel like a woman again and makes her feel like part of her freedom has been restored. If she keeps doing so, Offred believes the society will eventually come crashing down because the society will no longer have control over her or over any other woman.
My favorite passage in the novel is the one where Offred explains Moira's story of how she escaped the Red Center. The passages gives a better insight of Moira's personality and how she reacts to the change in the society. At the Red Center, Moira is able to trick Aunt Elizabeth into thinking a toilet has overflowed and once the aunt had her back turned, Moira took over and basically held her hostage. Once Moira locked up Aunt Elizabeth and stole her clothes, she "stood up straight and looked firmly ahead. She drew her shoulders back, pulled up her spine, and compressed her lips" (Atwood 132). Moira feels like she has all the power now; like she has total control of her fate in the society. Along with highlighting Moira's escape from the Red Center, this passage also represents the true power a woman can hold over another. Moira was not going to let the aunts tell her how to live and act, so she had to find a way to overpower them herself. Moira's character displays what a woman is capable of doing when she is deprived from her freedom. She is not afraid of the society and she will not let it take control over her and her life.
The Handmaid's Tale is a very intriguing work because of the way Atwood represents her main character's experience in the modified society. Offred is going through an experience that many women in this lifetime will never experience, so with the story being told from her point of view, we are able to live Offred's life and understand the complications of life in an alternate society. This story, like many others, acts as an escape into a parallel universe where we can view life in a new and different way. The roles of some people in the society, like Offred's, are not morally right, but I like how we can interpret those roles, compare them to those in our own society, and conclude that our lives will never be as complicated as the fictional life of Offred. Novels usually display a character who possesses an ideal life that we desire, so I like how Atwood writes her novel the exact opposite and makes us feel like our lives are ideal.
My favorite passage in the novel is the one where Offred explains Moira's story of how she escaped the Red Center. The passages gives a better insight of Moira's personality and how she reacts to the change in the society. At the Red Center, Moira is able to trick Aunt Elizabeth into thinking a toilet has overflowed and once the aunt had her back turned, Moira took over and basically held her hostage. Once Moira locked up Aunt Elizabeth and stole her clothes, she "stood up straight and looked firmly ahead. She drew her shoulders back, pulled up her spine, and compressed her lips" (Atwood 132). Moira feels like she has all the power now; like she has total control of her fate in the society. Along with highlighting Moira's escape from the Red Center, this passage also represents the true power a woman can hold over another. Moira was not going to let the aunts tell her how to live and act, so she had to find a way to overpower them herself. Moira's character displays what a woman is capable of doing when she is deprived from her freedom. She is not afraid of the society and she will not let it take control over her and her life.
The Handmaid's Tale is a very intriguing work because of the way Atwood represents her main character's experience in the modified society. Offred is going through an experience that many women in this lifetime will never experience, so with the story being told from her point of view, we are able to live Offred's life and understand the complications of life in an alternate society. This story, like many others, acts as an escape into a parallel universe where we can view life in a new and different way. The roles of some people in the society, like Offred's, are not morally right, but I like how we can interpret those roles, compare them to those in our own society, and conclude that our lives will never be as complicated as the fictional life of Offred. Novels usually display a character who possesses an ideal life that we desire, so I like how Atwood writes her novel the exact opposite and makes us feel like our lives are ideal.
