The Development of Offred’s Psychoanalytical Profile Through Literary Devices in “The Handmaid’s Tale”

The Commander brings Offred to the secret club for elites. Image Courtesy of Hulu.

Introduction

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is a cunning dystopian masterpiece. Atwood’s literary expertise can be examined throughout the novel; however, one passage in particular demonstrates how she skillfully combines pathetic fallacy, symbol, and motif to develop the protagonist’s psychoanalytical profile. More specifically, her use of literary devices compliments the three central aspects of Freud’s Structure of Personality: the Superego (moral values and laws developed by society), the Id (unconscious mind that disregards societal rules), and the Ego (the link between the Superego and Id; the ability to reason and decide on what actions will be pursued).

The Passage

Context: Chapter 40, page 259. The Commander has just brought back Offred from Jezebel’s, a hidden club for elites. Now, she prepares for the Wife to take her to Nick so she can secretly have sex with him in hopes of getting pregnant.

The heat at night is worse than the heat in daytime. Even with the
fan on, nothing moves, and the walls store up warmth, give it out
like a used oven. Surely it will rain soon. Why do I want it? It will
only mean more dampness. There‘s lightning far away but no thun-
der. Looking out the window I can see it, a glimmer, like the phos-
phorescence you get in stirred seawater, behind the sky, which is
overcast and too low and a dull gray infrared. The searchlights are
off. which is not usual. A power failure. Or else Serena joy has
arranged it.
          I sit in the darkness; no point in having the light on, to advertise
the fact that I’m still awake. I’m fully dressed in my red habit again,
having shed the spangles, scraped off the lipstick with toilet paper.
I hope nothing shows, I hope I don’t smell of it, or of him either.
          She's here at midnight, as she said she’d be. I can hear her‘ a
faint tapping, a faint shuffling on the muffling rug of the corridor,
before her light knock comes. I don't say anything, but follow her
back along the hall and down the stairs. She can walk faster, she’s
stronger than I thought. Her left hand clamps the banister, in pain
maybe but holding on, steadying her. I think: she's biting her lip
she's suffering. She wants it all right, that baby. I see the two of
Us, a blue shape, a red shape, in the brief glass eye of the mirror as
We descend. Myself, my obverse.

Nick and Offred in his bedroom. Image Courtesy of Hulu.

Superego - Pathetic Fallacy In The Weather

In this passage, the weather generates a suspenseful and anxious mood in order to demonstrate Offred’s internal conflict between her actions and her Superego (moral values and rules developed by society). First, the approaching storm represents the Offred’s unease and fearfulness towards secretly seeing Nick. Not only is she terrified of the punishment of getting caught sneaking into his room, but also she’s afraid of developing feelings for him. Offred refuses to validate her growing affections Nick because she feels like she’s supposed to only love her husband, Luke. She chastises herself for growing fond of Nick by saying, “Nick for Luke or Luke for Nick. Should not apply” (192). Therefore, the approaching storm indicates her trepidation regarding the development of an inappropriate relationship with Nick (note that her desire to pursue Nick also provides a glimpse into her Id). Similarly, William Shakespeare’s Macbeth uses pathetic fallacy in order to foreshadow the protagonist’s amoral actions in pursuit of their inappropriate desire. In the play, Macbeth states, “[s]o foul and fair a day I have not seen” (Shakespeare 1. 4. 38) before he meets the witches who present him with a prophecy that ultimately leads to his corruption and consequent downfall. Heat in this passage of The Handmaid’s Tale has a similar effect of generating discomfort by representing Offred’s shame for going to the club with the Commander and later going to Nick’s. This embarrassment for past and future conduct is paralleled in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, where the excessive heat in chapter seven represents the rising tension due to Daisy’s affair with Gatsby and her plans to leave Tom. In short, the suspenseful and anxious mood created by the weather demonstrate Offred’s overwhelming guilt for breaking moral boundaries which consequently reveals Offred’s conflict with her Superego.

Offred applies lipstick in a mirror before heading to Jezebel’s, a club for Elites.

Id - The Symbolism Behind Mirrors

The mirror at the end of this passage demonstrates Offred’s Id (unconscious mind that disregards societal rules) by revealing her internal desire to not bear a child, despite the societal pressures attempting to convince her. In literature, mirrors are known for their ability to reflect the truth. For example, in the Greek mythological story of Narcissus, Narcissuses fell in love with his reflection not knowing it was merely an image because it looked so real. The truth reflected in mirrors allow them to symbolize the threshold between the conscious and the unconscious. (For more about the importance of mirrors, see here) Therefore, when Offred states that her reflection shows herself and her obverse, the Wife, Offred is declaring that she does not desire a child like the Wife does. This lack of desire to bear children is also shown in the prayer scene, where Offred begs God to tell her if “what’s going on out there is what You meant” instead of reciting what the Aunts taught her: “Oh God, obliterate me. Make me fruitful” (194). Together, these insights into Offred’s secret desire not to get pregnant reveal her Id by highlighting the differences between Offred’s wants and the wants of the Gileadean society.

The Commander and Offred in his study. Image Courtesy of Hulu.

Ego - Light as a Motif

As demonstrated throughout the text, Offred’s psychoanalytical portrait is highly complex. Light as a motif in the selected passage further enhances this idea by revealing aspects about Offred’s Ego (the link between the Superego and Id; the ability to reason and decide on what actions will be pursued). Light is symbolic of vision and insight, and therefore the absence of light represents the inability to see and discern the correct paths of action. Accordingly, the darkness that surrounds Offred as she sneaks into Nick’s room represents the conflict between moral rules and her desire for Nick, or, her Superego and her Id. Her decision on whether or not to follow through on seeing Nick is challenging, and thusly requires the intervention of her Ego.  According to Freud, the Ego “has the task of self-preservation” (Freud, 1940:18), so Offred is forced to rely on Ego in this situation in order to make the right decision. By eventually deciding to see Nick, Offred successfully selects the proper choice because their relationship later helps her maintain her sanity and helps her escape the Commander’s house at the end of the novel. Similarly, in Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness, the intense omnipresence of darkness serves to reveal the workings of the innermost facets of human nature. As Marlow travels further and further into the depths of Africa in search of Kurtz, he penetrates deeper and deeper into the raw human psyche and learns about the ongoing struggle of power between the unconscious mind and the conscious mind. Therefore, the darkness in this scene of The Handmaid’s Tale, along with the darkness in the last scene wherein Offred “step[s] up, into the darkness within; or else the light” (295) to escape from being a Handmaid reveal how her Ego positively impacts the decisions she makes. (To learn what other bloggers have to say about Offred’s Ego, click here)

Final Notes

Critics argue that The Handmaid’s Tale has been one of the most recognizable and influential works of modern fiction. This popularity is likely due to Atwood’s development of a complete Freudian protagonist using pathetic fallacy, symbols, and motifs. As a result, artists have been working to emulate her success since the release of her novel. To illustrate this imitation, watch Justin Timberlake’s video for his 2002 song Cry Me A River. Just like The Handmaid’s Tale, his music video features stormy weather, mirrors, and darkness. No wonder it was such a hit!

Works Cited

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. New York: Anchor Books, 1998 ed. Print.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart Of Darkness. New York: Signet Classic, 1997. Print.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Penguin Group. 1950. Print.
Freud, Sigmund. An Outline of Psychoanalysis. Wiltshire: Redwood Press Ltd, 1940.
          Print.
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Toronto: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich Canada, 1989.
          Print.
The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Narcissus.” Encyclopædia Britannica.
          Encyclopædia Britannica, inc.. 6 April 2015. Web. 16 December 2017.

“Seedless” Sexual Tension in “The Handmaid’s Tale” and Other Aspects of The Literary Masterpiece

Scrabble™ is a word game that Offred and the Commander regularly play during Offred’s private visits to his office. In my scene, this game is being played when Offred begins to flirt with the Commander, hence the mildly-suggestive “LETS PLAY” spelled out in the photo above.

Image Courtesy of Hasbro Inc.

I think I’ve fallen in love with Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. In her novel, she skillfully applies a unique writing style to bring a complex and relatable protagonist to life. She has inspired me to write my own scene that stays true to the style and plot of the original novel while portraying the depth of Offred’s character. Below, I’ve included my new scene and a description of how I modelled my piece to match Atwood’s expert manipulation of stylistic devices, representation of Offred’s insight and character duality, and vivid realization of a sex-deprived totalitarian society.

New Scene:

Love? He laughed as I drew more tiles from the bag. He watches me with an expression of amusement, as if I were a small child that he had caught lying.

I shook my head. What word had he expected me to put? Almost all the good spaces on the board had already been filled.

Another loss, I shrugged. I should give you a prize for winning.

And what would that be? He laughed, eyes glittering with interest.

I slowly swept the tiles off the board. I diverted my attention to my fingertips, bare, which traced the top of the board gently. He leaned forward and set his elbows on top of his knees.

I have a few things in mind, I whisper to the board. I realize that I have his full attention.

Is that so? He smirked, raising an eyebrow. I circle and stand behind his chair, placing my hands gently on his shoulders. He flinches at my touch. I was toying with him, I knew it, but I had just flipped a switch and wouldn't stop now. I knew the Commander longed for love. His lingering desires, extinguished long ago by his wife, were now flaming with a need for passion. I wanted to simultaneously wrap my hands around his throat and strangle him, and massage his shoulders at the same time. I went with the latter.

His shoulders loosened under my tender touch. I wanted to do more. I wanted to make him feel like he had made me feel. Vulnerable, powerless, and under someone else’s control. I leaned my head down towards his, and his lips parted in anticipation. My fingers froze.

I stepped back. He dropped his head. I sensed that he was disappointed. I returned to the table and finished packing away the game, avoiding his gaze.

He leaned back into his chair.

The Handmaid’s line up in their distinctive red robes and white hoods, preparing for a government-ordered event. Note how they are present in body, but their physical position indicates an absence of awareness of their surroundings. This psychological isolation is similar to what Offred demonstrates in response to her harsh reality.

Image Courtesy of Hulu.

Style - Syntax and Punctuation

Atwood’s choice of literary style has a distinct impact on the effect The Handmaid’s Tale has on its readers. More specifically, the examination of the novel’s syntax and punctuation reveals the sensitive nature of Offred’s character and furthers the story’s development as a retold account of Offred’s life. Throughout the novel, Offred’s narrative fluctuates significantly in sentence and paragraph length. She retells pre-Gilead memories using complex sentences and long paragraphs, but only uses short, succinct paragraphs when describing the present. This variance in syntax demonstrates how Offred used to capture events in her life vividly, not wanting to forget any details, but she now limits herself to simple observations, avoiding complex thought as a means of protecting herself from her harsh reality. In addition to the novel’s unique syntax, The Handmaid’s Tale shows an interesting choice of punctuation through the lack of quotation marks for dialogue. According to this student in New Brunswick*, the lack of quotation marks is meant to reinforce how Offred is only able to paraphrase her conversations from the past. As a result, Offred’s story is reconstructed from her memory and the dialogue is permanently tinted by her perspective. The syntax and punctuation use in The Handmaid’s Tale is an important component of the novel because it demonstrates Offred’s sensitivity to her harsh living conditions through her selective memory and supplements the framed style of narrative of the book as a whole. Therefore, when writing my new scene, I made sure to apply a similar writing style using short paragraphs and no quotation marks so that the stylistic devices in my scene reinforce the meaning communicated in Atwood’s novel.

* If the link doesn't work in this blog format, here it is: http://wh.rutgers.edu/creativecwriting/student-writing/353-jacqueline-pelliccio-language-of-oppression-in-the-handmaid-s-tale

Offred meets her walking partner for her daily outing. Despite their similarity in circumstance, the Handmaids have different thoughts and values, just like how Offred’s character presents two distinct internal desires.

Image Courtesy of Hulu.

Character - Offred’s Duality and Insight

In my scene, my focus was the enhance the duality demonstrated by Offred’s character in the book. Offred constantly battles between her desire to take risks and gain power and her apprehension of consequence. She nearly attempts to steal a withering flower from the wife's bouquet just to feel in control of something, and she daydreams about using her only match to "burn the [Commander’s] house down" (209). However, she always fails to act on these desires out of fear of punishment This internal conflict between two opposing forces is similar to how the protagonist of E. L. James’s Fifty Shades of Grey struggles between her desire to seek immediate sexual gratification and her understanding that her current relationship is unhealthy and unsustainable. My scene reflects this major aspect of Offred’s character by revealing how she considers teasing the Commander sexually and later strangling him to death but instead retreats into herself as opposed to taking action.

Also, in order to make Offred’s personality consistent with the rest of the novel, I reviewed her thought process during several other situations she encounters during the book. Firstly, the comment I included about the Commander’s desires being extinguished by his wife is factually true. In the novel, Offred comprehends that the Commander and his wife fail to connect anymore. Secondly, the familiar manner that Offred and the Commander converse is another aspect of my scene that is faithful to the text. They do in fact speak to each other casually during their later encounters. Lastly, Offred understands that “[i]t isn’t a lack of sex we die from, it’s the lack of love” (104). In my scene, she successfully evaluates the Commander’s desperate need for affection and uses that to manipulate him to her advantage.

Offred lies on her back once a month for the Ceremony, hoping to become pregnant. However, the Ceremony itself is notably less sexual than the other examples of tension between Offred and the Commander in the novel.

Image Courtesy of Hulu.

Plot Events - Setting Selection and Sexual Tension

My creative response fits the novel’s plot in context and in content. In my scene, Offred makes her routine visit to the Commander’s private office where they play Scrabble and there is an abundance of non-sexual sexual tension. Both of these aspects are prominent in The Handmaid’s Tale. In the novel, Offred regularly visits the Commander’s office where they play Scrabble. In addition, Atwood always italicizes the words that the characters place on the board and those words often allude to the motifs of the play. Therefore, the context of my scene and my selection of the word “love” are both completely appropriate for the novel. The non-sexual sexual tension between Offred and the Commander in my scene is also a skillful inclusion of plot aspects from the book. The society of Gilead has been deprived of expressions of sexuality for years. Lingerie stores have long been shut down, porn magazines have all been burned, and women now dress to hide their skin. As a result, the world that Offred lives in is highly sensitive to anything remotely sexual. Often, Offred uses this sensitivity to her advantage. For example, she decides to move her hips a little while walking past some young Guardians, hoping “they get hard at the sight of us and have to rub themselves against painted barriers, surreptitiously” (22). My emphasis on the movement of Offred’s bare fingertips against the Scrabble board aligns itself with the same style of barely-sexual sexual tension included in the book. Furthermore, the tension between Offred and the Commander is also appropriate because in chapter 25, the Commander teases and lures Offred using a Vogue magazine. This example shows that this form of sexual tension is not only present in the streets of Gilead, but also in the context of my selected scene.

Work Cited

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. New York, USA: Anchor Books, 1998 ed. Print.

Real-World Criticism in a Dystopian Fiction: A New Historicism Analysis of Margaret Atwood’s "The Handmaid’s Tale"

Image Courtesy of Hulu.

*** Note to readers: The passage I analyzed is included at the end of this post ***

Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale is a criticism of the real-world global subjugation of women and racial minority groups. Set in the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian version of the United States, the story follows a woman named Offred and her experiences as a Handmaid for the ruling class. As one of the only fertile women remaining in the age of declining births, Offred is subject to monthly state-sanctioned rape by her owner, the Commander, in hopes that she will become pregnant. Old enough to remember her adult life before the rise of the current tyrannical regime, Offred regularly contrasts her memories of freedom with her current world which is coloured by oppression and fear. Through the story of a woman pinned in the confines of a dystopian patriarchy, Atwood excoriates the brutality and oppression faced by minority groups. In particular, the examination of Offred’s conversation with a doctor through a New Historicism lens allows for the emergence of Atwood’s revulsion towards discrimination and her consequent call-to-action for social justice.

Social activism in the United States and Canada in 1980s was not as vivid as it had been in the 1960s and 1970s. Some historicists claim that citizens were more interested in pursuing personal economic success following the end of the United States recession, while others claim that the general population had simply grown tired of protesting. Either way, support for various social campaigns like the Civil Rights Movement in America and Second-Wave Feminism began to diminish. As a result, Atwood’s criticism of various power injustices in her novel was very likely influenced by her personal opposition to the slowing of social progress in Canada and in the United States in the 1980s.

One passage in particular thoroughly demonstrates Atwood’s advocacy for justice. In chapter 10, Offred is taken to her obligatory monthly fertility checkup where her doctor offers to secretly have sex with her in order to help her increase her chance of getting pregnant. In this passage, the protagonist's internal commentary provokes the audience to reflect on the severe oppression of women and minority groups. At the start of the passage, Offred rejects the doctor’s offer in fear of getting caught and killed. However, she considers the requirements for prosecution and realizes that the crime is not easily punishable; she needs to be caught by two witnesses while performing the act. Here, Atwood highlights the improbability of receiving punishment for committing rape in order to criticize the judicial system in America and Canada for its inability to protect rape victims, as sexual assault cases have historically been overlooked by courts. Furthermore, Offred’s hesitation is enhanced by her fear of government spies. By describing Offred’s paranoia and inability to trust others, Atwood is helping the audience understand the perpetual terror experienced by those who face systemic racism and under authoritarian rule. As the passage continues, Atwood intensifies her criticisms of the social injustices that exist in the real world. She uses the doctor's ability to manipulate Offred’s test results as an indirect way to accuse figures of authority for corruption. She also uses the Colonies and Unwomen to refer to the exploitation of minority groups at labour camps. However, the conclusion to the passage contains the most important statement of all. While Atwood’s protagonist is considering rape to be her salvation, she still requests to have the assault delayed. Once granted the extra month, Offred experiences shock at having her wishes respected because she is not used to having a choice. Here, Atwood steps beyond criticizing the social issues in society and instead begins to provide the audience with a powerful solution: respect. Effectively, she eradicates all excuses for inequitable actions by showing readers that the way to end discrimination is to simply to listen to the voices that need to be heard. Therefore, through this passage and her novel, Atwood’s examples of inequitable power dynamics aim to facilitate a social justice call-to-action for her readers.

Works Cited:

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. New York, USA: Anchor Books, 1998 ed. Print.

Janowiecki, Michelle L. Protesting in the 1980s and Beyond. American Archive of Public

Broadcasting. Web. Dec 2, 2017.

Burkett, Elinor. Women’s movement. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2016. Web. Dec 2, 2017.

History.com Staff. Civil Rights Movement. A&E Networks, 2009. Web. Dec 2, 2017.

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Excerpt from page 61, chapter 10.

“It’s too dangerous,” I say. “No. I can’t.” The penalty is death.

But they have to catch you in the act, with two witnesses. What

are the odds, is the room bugged, who’s waiting just outside the

door?

    His hand stops. “Think about it,” he says. “I’ve seen your chart.

You don’t have a lot of time left. But it’s your life.”

     “Thank you,” I say. I must leave the impression that I'm not

offended, that I’m open to suggestion. He takes his hand away,

lazily almost, lingeringly, this is not the last word as far as he’s

concerned. He could fake the tests, report me for cancer, for infer-

tility, have me shipped off to the Colonies, with the Unwomen.

None of this has been said, but the knowledge of his power hangs

nevertheless in the air as he pats my thigh, withdraws himself be-

hind the hanging sheet.

     “Next month,” he says.

     I put on my clothes again, behind the screen. My hands are shak-

ing. Why am I frightened? I've crossed no boundaries, I’ve given

no trust, taken no risk, all is safe. It’s the choice that terrifies me.

A way out, a salvation.