Works Cited

  "Katherine Hepburn." Wikipedia, Web.
                                 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharine_Hepburn>.

Knight, Kevin. "Deuteronomy 28." New Advent Bible. New Advent, n.d. Web. 30 Aug  2010.              <http://www.newadvent.org/bible/deu028.htm>


 "Lauren Bacall." Wikipedia, Web.
                     <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Baca



Mieder, Wolfgang. A Dictionary of American Proverbs. 1. 1. New York: Oxford University              Press,     1992. Print. 

 Orwell, George. 1984. Secker and Warburg, 1949. Print.

"Story." Scrabble. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Aug 2010. <http://www.hasbro.com/scrabble/en_US             /story.cfm>.









Van Kasteren, John Peter. "The Eight Beatitudes." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York:                   Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 30 Aug. 201030 Aug. 2010 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02371a.htm>.

"Vogue." Wikipedia, Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vogue_%28magazine%29>. 







 

"People will do anything rahter than admit that their lives have no meaning. No use, that is. No plot." (215)

           By saying this, Offred is admitting in a way that her own life has no meaning. She feels that the lives of the Handmaids in general have no meaning- other than reproduction. Their lives are simple, dull, and repetitive, with no other purpose than to have children for those who cannot. However, many of the Handmaids are in denial. They will not admit that their only purpose is to reproduce. Atwood is using this as social commentary, to show how important it is for women to lead fulfilled and eventful lives. She does this by showing how the lack of meaning in Janine's life causes her to inflict misery on herself.

"A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere as long as it stays inside the maze." (165)

       This symbolism forces the reader to take a look at what freedom truly is. Rats in mazes think they are free because they can move about, when in reality, they are trapped. They are unaware that they are in a maze, they consider themselves free. The handmaids are free to go anywhere within town that they want, as long as they stay within the boundaries- their own "maze." Like the rats, many of them are oblivious. They do not have any desire to go elsewhere, nor do they realize how much control they are under. Escape is something that does not cross their minds. Atwood is saying that there are many levels of freedom, and that slight freedom and total freedom are not the same. She is making the point that one should not settle for only slight freedom.

"We are not each other's anymore. Instead, I am his." (182)

        Offred points out that when she lost her job, she lost her sense of equality in her relationship with Luke. Rather than it being a balance where they both supported and depended on each other, she was now entirely dependent on him for support, comfort, and finances. She could no longer take care of herself, or him, which meant that he was entirely in control of her. Atwood is arguing against this, stating through Offred's concerned tone that women are not meant to simply be the possessions of men. In healthy relationships, each partner should depend on the other, and there should be a balance.

"All the women having jobs: hard to imagine, now, but thousands of them had jobs, millions." (173)

          Atwood points out here that while it takes a long time to achieve equality (decades where women did not work,) it only takes a few moments to tear it down. Offred can hardly imagine a time where women, including herself, were equal. Yet, that equality took decades of women fighting for their rights to achieve. Atwood's message here is that it is essential to keep fighting for, protecting, and appreciating the rights we as Americans and women have.

"...nobody dies from lack of sex. It's lack of love we die from." (103)

            Offred's point here is that love is what their society is missing. Even though the women have sex, it is only for reproductive purposes, and they do not enjoy it. The men do not enjoy it either, because there is no love. Even in marriages, there is no love, because all marriages are arranged. There is no happiness, no natural falling in love. What Atwood is saying is that love is essential to life- without love, society would be miserable and empty. This ties in well to 1984, where sex was basically the same- only for reproduction. Both authors seem to agree that love is necessary for a good society.

"Pen Is Envy, Aunt Lydia would say..." (186)

         Here, Atwood uses a play on words (Pen Is Envy spells "p**** envy" when the spaces and capital letters are removed) to show how the women in The Handmaid's Tale, even the Aunts, secretly envy the men's privileges of being able to read and write freely, and have other freedoms that men have.  The Aunts are not allowed to express how they feel openly, so this is likely their way of saying it to themselves so that no one else catches on. This also shows how oblivious the Handmaids are to their own treatment- even Offred does not understand the true meaning of the Aunts' slogan. The capital letter of the I makes this a clever hidden note in the book for anyone observant enough to notice and analyze.

"She did not believe he was a monster. He was not a monster, to her." (145)

               Atwood uses exemplification (the interview) to show that when in love, people overlook the negatives in others and only see the positives. Even though the man ran a Jewish prison camp, she only focused on the endearing traits she saw in him. She overlooked the things he did and only saw the root of his persona, or at least what she wanted to see. This woman was so in love with the man, that the horrible things he did hardly mattered. Atwood is saying that when in love, it is easy to be oblivious to negative qualities and actions.

"She said: 'Because they won't want things they can't have.'" (117)

          Offred's tone in this passage is defiant, especially with the earlier line "She did not say: Because they will have no memories, of any other way." This shows how important memories are. Without memories, people will never know if they are getting what they truly deserve. Offred feels that women deserve better than submission and control by men, and that they should know that there is another way.

"A Vogue. This like a wine connoisseur dropping a name." (157)

        Atwood's allusion to Vogue, comparing it to a fine wine, shows how ordinary objects can become treasures when they are scarce and forbidden. The use of Vogue as a reference is symbolic for femininity, culture, and knowledge- it was dubbed "the world's most influential fashion magazine" by the 2006 New York Times. All of these things- culture, art, fashion, and femininity- are missing in Offred's life. When the Commander offers her a Vogue, he is giving her back what was taken away.



Source: "Vogue." Wikipedia, Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vogue_%28magazine%29>.

"We play two games. Larynx, I spell. Valance. Quince. Zygote." (139)

         Atwood's allusion to Scrabble shows that even in troubling times, people can bond over simple things such as a game. The Commander was lonely, and looking for someone to keep him company, to keep him intellectually stimulated and entertained. This shows that appearances are not always what they seem, and that everyone needs human company.
           In the book, there are suggestions that their meetings were sexual. While their kissing hints at such, perhaps the Scrabble is another hidden meaning. According to the official Scrabble website, the name means "to grope frantically."


Source:  "Story." Scrabble. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Aug 2010. <http://www.hasbro.com/scrabble/en_US             /story.cfm>.

"'Blessed be those that mourn, for they shall be comforted.' Nobody said when." (89)

     This quotation contains an allusion to the Third Beatitude, a Catholic prayer. The Third Beatitude suggests that the "mourning" is not for the loss of material things or people, but for the evil and lack of piety throughout the world. Offred disagrees with this, as stated by the line "nobody said when." This quotation does tie into her life however- her own mourning is for the negative treatment of women, and the loss of her husband and daughter. She wants to know when she will be comforted- when she will see them again.




Source: Van Kasteren, John Peter. "The Eight Beatitudes." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York:            Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 30 Aug. 2010 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02371a.htm>.

"This name has an aura around it, like an amulet, some charm that's survived from an unimaginably distant past." (84)

         Offred's reference to her former name shows that she still has an attachment to her former identity- a strong, independent, free woman with a husband and child. A woman with choices and decisions, with a future ahead of her. Her name is the only tangible thing she has from the time before, the time she longs to return to. Her comparison of her name to an amulet shows how much she treasures it.

"...it's the rooms themselves I miss as well, even the dreadful paintings that hung on the walls..." (51)

     Offred's description of the hotel rooms she once stayed in uses sensory details to create a picture of carelessness and freedom  in the reader's mind. The sight of the paintings and wastebaskets and the idea of writing whatever one wants on a postcard evokes a time when women were treated as equals. In that time, women went to hotels for all kinds of things- meeting men, business trips, vacations - all of which are now forbidden for Offred.

"...with Lauren Bacall or Katherine Hepburn, women on their own, making up their minds. " (25)

          These allusions to Lauren Bacall and Katherine Hepburn recall a time that Offred is longing for- a time when women had the choice of their career, clothing, and relationships. These particular allusions were chosen because of what each celebrity represents. Lauren Bacall was unique, a dark voice in a world of high-pitched squeals.She was sultry and intriguing, known for her affair with Humphrey Bogart. She was independent and successful, with a signature look- her head tilted down and her eyes peering upward at the camera. She was incredibly smart and feisty, and was known to turn down scripts that did not interest her. Offred longs to be as decisive and unique as Lauren Bacall, rather than just another red cloaked body in the crowd. Katherine Hepburn was admirable to her for many of the same reasons. Hepburn was well-educated, ambitious, and rebellious- often breaking curfew to smoke cigarettes and swim naked in the fountain at her prestigious school. Offred admires how Katherine Hepburn breaks the rules- how she has the freedom to make the choice to break the rules.She pines for the same freedom herself.

Sources:            "Katherine Hepburn." Wikipedia, Web.
                                 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharine_Hepburn>.

"Lauren Bacall." Wikipedia, Web.
                     <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Bacall>.

   

" 'Blessed be the fruit,' she says to me, the accepted greeting among us." (19)

        This is an allusion to a section of the Bible, called Deuteronomy : 4. The line it is alluding to is "Blessed be the fruit of your womb, the produce of your soil and the offspring of your livestock, the issue of your herds and the young of your flocks!" The meaning behind this prayer is abundance, and "the fruit of your womb" means abundance of children. This is the Handmaids' greeting because they are hoping that their companions become pregnant and have children, so that they will not become Unwomen and be forced to live in the colonies. The Biblical greeting shows just how much of a theocracy society has become- the women were brainwashed to learn Christian values whether they truly believed in them or not.

Source: Knight, Kevin. "Deuteronomy 28." New Advent Bible. New Advent, n.d. Web. 30 Aug              2010. <http://www.newadvent.org/bible/deu028.htm>

"Waste not want not. I am not being wasted, Why do I want?" (7)

      This allusion references a phrase that was common in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Its meaning is that those who waste will want- people who expend extra resources will naturally want more to expend. It was often said by women trying to conserve household supplies. This allusion was used in The Handmaid's Tale because handmaids like Offred were considered resources to increase the population. She is only "used" as needed, so she is not being wasted. However, Offred does not understand why she wants more than the simple life of a handmaid. Everything is provided for her, yet she still misses the old days when she had freedom.


 Source: Mieder, Wolfgang. A Dictionary of American Proverbs. 1. 1. New York: Oxford University              Press, 1992. Print.