Dystopian Journal #2

Topic B:
Character= Offred

Offred is the main character as well as the narrator in The Handmaid's Tale. Offred is different from the other characters in that she tends to slightly rebel against the controlling government with little things such as her feelings, her actions, etc. She can see the beauty as well as the turmoil and destruction around her of how the system of government dehumanizes its people in Gilead. She recognizes the many differences in this world she lives in compared to her old life where she was married to a man named Luke and she had a daughter as well as a fairly normal life. But times change. The government creates this very tight and secretive society where people are conditioned into their different social classes/"jobs", but Offred is one who sometimes questions her conditioned responses and actions. She dreams of having her old life back; "Luke and I used to walk together, sometimes, along these streets.[...] Such freedom now seems almost weightless" (Atwood 32). She can remember little things like taking walks with her husband that used to seem so normal for her life and now she can barely imagine such a small freedom as simply being able to go on a walk with her husband. This saddens her, not only because she realizes she can no longer do this anymore, but also because she feels as though this will never be possible again. Even though she can remember the freedom she so badly craves now, she does not necessarily feel she can ever attain that freedom again. The fact that she is a Handmaid, a woman who is forced to bare children for upper class couples, also creates conflict in that she feels as though she has no control over her life. "[...] my own money, money I had earned myself. I think about having such control" (Atwood 33). In her old life, Offred was able to have complete control over her life, even over something as little as money, but as a Handmaid she does not even have a say in what she wears. She is part of a social class and is required to wear red signifying her rank in society, which she has no control over. Ultimately, all of Offred's rights, along with just about everyone else's, are taken away from her, dehumanizing her and them and causing them to rebel in their own way. Offred rebels in little ways such as with how she is not supposed to show people her eyes or stare at people and yet she still does because she is a very curious woman, waiting to see how other people behave and whether they are like her and reject some of the government's very precise and strict rules.

Word count: 457