Welcome to The Handmaid's Tale information page by Sarah Ellis and Tammy Brassbridge!
Characters:
*Offred- The main character of the novel. She is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She used to have a husband named Luke and a daughter but when the revolution began they were taken away from her. The job of a Handmaid is to live in the house, under the authority of a wealthy powerful commander and his infertile wife. Her first responisibilty is to become pregnant by the commander and than give the child she bears over to him and his wife. She then is transferred to another house and assigned another commander. Her other respon-
sibilities include shopping for groceries and participating in prayer rituals, both community wide and in the home. Handmaids aren't allowed to read or write.
*The Commander- The commander is an older man. He has a lot of power in the society so he is assigned two handmaids. He is allowed to read and write and he has the control of the household, including the behavior of the Marthas and Handmaids. He has gray hair and he is a little bit taller than Offred. It's his job to impregnate the handmaids because his wife is infertile.
*The Commander's wife- Before the revolution she was known as Serena Joy. She was a gospel singer who appeared on Sunday T.V. programs. She is an older woman who is incapable of having children but since she is married to the commander she doesn't have to go to the island of the Unwomen. She enjoys knitting and sometimes listens to old records of herself, even though it is forbidden.
*The Marthas- In the story there are two Marthas, known as Rita and Cora. They act as maids for the household and tell the Handmaids what to buy. They cook the dinners and if there are any children produced, they care for them. They also do all of the other household chores. Martha is their job title, not their names.
*Nick- He is a younger man and very handsome. He takes care of the outside chores, like mowing the lawn and washing the car. He kind of likes Offred and she falls in love with him later in the book.
*Offglen- She is the other handmaid that belongs to the commander. She has to accompany Offred anytime she leaves the house and they are only allowed one walk a day.
Settings:
*Most of the setting takes place in the Commander's house. The house use to be a regular house, but now it's this clean and sanatized place. All of the pictures and mirrors that were in the house before have been removed to make the house efficient. The only remnant from the past is a pillow with the word "faith" on it. All sharp objects or objects that the Handmaids could hang themselves from have been removed. The village that surrounds the house is called Gilead center and downtown is where all the markets are. The wall is also downtown. The wall is where prisioners or lawbreakers are hung and put on display. The Handmaids and everyone is encouraged to stop by on their daily walks. It also takes place in the future, around the years of 2010-2050.
Important Events (Summary):
*The book opens with Offred in the Commander's house, she talks about what is in her room, and how it is government issued. We also meet the Martha's, Cora and Rita.
*Later in the story Offred talks about her husband, Luke and her daughter and how they tried to escape when the government started control women. It started with their bank accounts being closed and all women losing their jobs. They decided to flee the country and pretended to go on a picnic. The guards didn't believe them and they tried to run, Luke got shot, but he may not have died. Offred's daughter is taken away by the Guards.
*Other important events take place at the Red Center, which used to be Harvard University. The red center is where the Handmaids are trained and brainwashed. At the center Offred meets Janine and gets reunited with her old friend Moira. Moira later attacks one of the Aunts (the women who run the Red Center, sort of teachers who train the girls), steals her clothes and escapes.
*Janine is a handmaid for a neighboring commander and one of the highlights of the book is when she becomes pregnant. She has a baby girl which the Commander's wife names Angela. Angela dies within a few hours.
*The Commander asks Offred to come to his office and play scrabble with him, he also gives her things like magazines from the past and hand lotion. One night he takes her to this place that used to be a hotel, and still kind of is. It is full of prostitutes, strippers and Commanders. Offred gets dressed up in costume lingerie and runs into Moira there who tells her what goes on at the hotel.
*The Commander's Wife suggests that Offred sleep with another man since the Commander may be infertile. She sets Offred up to sleep with Nick. Offred falls in love with Nick and continues sleeping with him, even though she is not permitted to.
*The Commander's Wife finds out about the night at the hotel and plans to discipline her.
*A black van pulls up and Nick comes to her room and tells her it's okay they are part of the underground organization, but they look like Angels or Eyes that take criminals away to the wall. Offred goes with them, and the Commander and Commander's Wife think the government is taking her away.
*Hundreds of years later, a university studies the tape of all the events and tries to find out who the story teller (Offred) really is.
Themes:
*One of the major themes in the story is control of birth, reproduction and women. The society limits who is allowed to have children, and controls women by making them attend salvagings, prayvaganzas, and ceremonies where they pray to become pregnant. This is contrasted by flashbacks of a time when women empowered one another and the feminist movement was strong and lively.
*Language is also very powerful in the novel. The women have a set of accepted greetings that they are allowed to use such as "Blessed be the fruit", and "May the Lord open." This control on the most widespread freedom is very evident in the book and represents how controlled the society is.
Symbolism:
The Handmaid's Tale-Biblical Influences.webarchive
*The eyes are symbols that appear throughout the book. This symbol represents the all-seeing God and the ruling government that watches over the society with floodlights and guards, who are referred to an Angels, which is another symbol itself.
*Angels, as the guards are known, represent the biblical presence in Gilead. They also symbolize the power the society gains through use of God and the bible.
*Red is a prominent part of the novel. The Handmaids are completely dressed in red at all times. This could symbol fertility, as the passage of a girl into womanhood is marked by their beginning of menstruation. The blood shed represents an ability to create new life. It could also be a reference to another book, in The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne had to wear a bright red A to symbolize her adulterous acts. The Handmaids have sex with the married commanders which is adultery.
Background Information: The novel was written by Margaret Atwood. Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 on the 18th of November, in Ottawa and grew up in northern Ontario and Quebec, and Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the of Toronto and her master's degree from Radcliffe College. She is Canada's most eminent novelist and poet, and also writes short stories, critical studies, screenplays, radio scripts and books for children. Margaret Atwood - Table of Contents.webarchive
There is also a movie that is based on the novel and it stars...
THE HANDMAID'S TALE-Movie Information.weebarchive
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