Vocabulary Oppression

The Republic of Gilead in The Handmaid’s Tale rules with words. The theocracy takes words and twists them to their own meanings so that it can justify the oppression that takes place. In the passage, the word “freedom” is mutated into a frightening, highly-structured ideal.

Aunt Lydia’s (as well as all the other Aunts’) constant insistences that the Handmaids are free and happy are sign enough that what they are saying is false. By constantly stating that Gilead is good, Gilead saved women from oppression, the Aunts themselves are oppressing the women (but especially the Handmaids) out of the freedom to feel unhappy. Aunt Lydia’s statement of “freedom to and freedom from” then takes on another meaning: Women now have the “freedom from” unhappiness. This is also illustrated at the end of the chapter when Offred and Ofglen encounter the Japanese tourists. When asked if the Handmaids are happy, Offred feels as if she has to answer yes because, “I have to say something. What else can I say?” (29.) For most modern readers, the word “freedom” connotes endless choices; however, Offred implies that the freedom offered by Gilead leaves no room for interpretation. No one in this society has a choice, not even the men. Everyone has their own place and their own function for the sake of Gileaden’s twisted freedom.

This idea that one word can be forcibly evolved to suit an agenda is chilling. The passage is the fast way for Atwood to show the terrifying power that Gilead holds – not over people’s bodies and places in society, but also their minds.

What is Freedom?

The first half of The Handmaid’s Tale is centered on a loss of freedom that has occurred as a result of a change in society.  But as Aunt Lydia points out, “There is more than one kind of freedom”. (Atwood 24) The idea of freedom and loss of freedom continues to be an important theme within the first half of the novel. Offred and the other women affected by the Republic of Gilead’s laws have lost many of the freedoms they previously knew. They are now enslaved for their uteruses, and with the sighting of a pregnant woman they are reminded “showing us what can still be done: we too can be saved”. (Atwood 26) The fact that the only thing that can save the woman is the same thing that is enslaving them is highly ironic.

The handmaids should take Aunt Lydia’s advice and not “underrate it”. (Atwood 24)  Most of the time Offred, does not keep this in mind, but rather reminisces about the ways things used to be. However she does realize the freedom she has within her own mind, as she partakes in plays on words and pleasure in the cross-stich pattern.

Chapter 5 serves as an appropriate place to do a close reading because it is a culmination of the many themes we have seen in the novel thus far as it accounts for Offred’s mere existence. Analyzing the passage on freedom allows the book to open up because it forces us to not only consider the loss of freedom that has occurred, but what freedoms do still exist for these women? Perhaps this could foreshadow what the handmaids plan to do utilize the freedoms they have now to gain back their freedoms of the past as well.  When discussing freedom it is important to take into consideration who is it defining freedom and what is freedom?

 

Freedom From is No Freedom

I think that “freedom to and freedom from” in The Handmaid’s Tale is a nicer way of saying that the women in this dystopic society actually have no freedoms at all.  Whatever life they were living before they were handmaids, the women are now entirely “free” from them.

It is very difficult for the reader to understand what Aunt Lydia means by “freedom”.  Life for the handmaids is obviously anything but “free”.  The handmaids are not allowed to read, they are not to address people unless spoken to, and they cannot even walk around town alone- they must be accompanied by another handmaid!  I think that what Aunt Lydia is referring to when she says “freedom” is that the handmaids have been liberated from all the “obligations” of their former lives.  When Aunt Lydia says “Ordinary, is not what you are used to.  This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will.  It will become ordinary” (Atwood, 33).  It sounds to me as if Aunt Lydia is telling the women they have been liberated from their former lives, which were not at all unlike the Japanese tourists that Offred encountered during her shopping trip.  After a time, the handmaids will not even miss their former lives.  The womens’ new lives will become ordinary, and normal for them.

I think the passage at hand opens the book wide open to the horror that the book is expressing.  Yes, in this “new life”, the women don’t have to walk alone at night, or go into a laundromat by themselves, but they also do not have basic rights.  The Republic of Gilead is taking many steps backward, which is certainly opposite than a future society would hope to be doing.  Women are not meant to be just a uterus.  They can benefit society in so many ways, which is not at all true in this story.

 

The Republic of Oppression

In The Handmaid’s Tale, the perversion of power over individuals is exemplified. One of the main aspects of the Republic of Gilead is its removal of personal liberties, both palpable and intangible, which is thus displayed in the prompt quote. The novel explores the idea of freedom from the past, from personal decisions, and from the impending pressure of the future.

In order to depict the impact of the prompting quote and to impress its importance as a thematic element in the text, the first section of the novel entitled “Night” (the first “Night” section, as there are multiple) can be read as an ironic description of the quotation through close reading. The entire first chapter of the novel centers around the past and its liberties. Beginning with defamiliarization, Atwood applies personal knowledge of the reader such as the familiarity of the idea of a gymnasium and corrupts the image, morphing the gymnasium and all of the memories and sensory aspects into an army barracks. Additionally, the past of the gymnasium is juxtaposed with the future of the encampment. “There was old sex in the room and loneliness, and expectation” (Atwood 3). This quote, although pertaining to the environment of the gymnasium, foreshadows the Ceremony during which the Commander attempts to impregnate Offred. The loneliness depicted in the quote is applicable to the loneliness Offred feels in the oppressive and detached world she finds herself in, while the expectation of a child is ever-present. By alluding to the Ceremony, the opening passage depicts the removal of the freedom of one’s own body- Offred is seen as nothing more than a means to repopulate the Republic. Instead of having freedom to choose the one to be with, she is being granted freedom from making that, or any other, decision.

Every freedom taken away or “granted” throughout the novel can be explained by the prompting quote. Even suicide, the greatest and most final freedom to control oneself is taken away in the Republic and is instead morphed into the freedom from taking ones own life. Because of its relevance to the novel, this quote would justly fit into the opening.

What Makes Us Free?

This passage is important because it reveals a basic foundation of the new society in which Offred lives: individual freedoms, such as freedom of speech, must be sacrificed in order to create a “safer” society that does not contain many of the uncertainties of the previous society. Everyone has an assigned place within Gilead – they are Handmaids or Marthas or Wives or Angels or one of the many other positions created and maintained by the society. There is not the uncertainty of being unemployed or of finding one’s calling in life. They are free from fear of attacks that are common in today’s society: rape, mugging, random acts of violence, etc. As Offred says in reference to having to go shopping in twos for “protection”: “the notion is absurd: we are well protected already. The truth is that she is my spy, as I am hers.” (Atwood 19). The fear of being out alone, left over from life in the previous society, is being played in order to disguise the fact that the women are not trusted on their own. These freedoms they have, the “freedom from”, come at the expense of the “freedom to”, of their natural human rights and others we take for granted. If the women were not spied upon by each other, they might try to run away, to seek out those freedoms they are denied. This passage opens up the book by prompting the reader to examine the differences in the freedoms that Gilead offers and the freedoms it has taken away, and to consider which is more important to have – freedom to or freedom from.

Appreciating Freedom

Freedom can be defined in many different ways, and used for many different things. In our society, and the society that Offred used to be a part of, we have “freedom to”, freedom to do what we want with our time, money, and bodies. The Republic of Gilead, however, is a society based on “freedom from”, freedom from fear, choice, and control. This is what Aunt Lydia was referring to with the passage “There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and freedom from.  In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to.  Now you are being given freedom from.  Don’t underrate it” (Atwood 24), and this is the central idea in the first half of this novel.

Offred’s narration of her life shows that she is now part of a society where she has very little freedom, but those adjusting her try to make it seem beneficial that she has freedom from control over her own body and actions, as well as freedom from thought. Offred describes how she “used to think of (her) body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation, or an implement for the accomplishment of my will… one with me” (Atwood 72) but now she feels as if her body isn’t even hers. This shows how even the very basic freedom to control one’s own body has turned into a “freedom from”. She subjects to this control that is telling her this is right, thus turning herself into an object. She thinks back throughout this narration on her previous life, before The Republic of Gilead, when she had freedom to do with herself whatever she wished. As a young adult, she might have been promiscuous according to some standards, but she had the “freedom to”. I feel like Atwood’s message is everyone, especially women, should appreciate the freedoms we have over ourselves, because it can be too easy to turn the “freedom to” into the “freedom from”.

 

The Meaning of Freedom in The Handmaid’s Tale

When looking at this passage, it’s interesting to consider the concept of freedom and how it plays out and is considered in the rest of the novel. Aunt Lydia claiming that Offred is “given freedom from” is an odd ideal when thought of it in the standards of her society. So far in the novel, Offred is restricted in many ways, making it hard for the reader to see her life as anything but free. Perhaps this type of “freedom to” that Aunt Lydia is talking about refers to the freedom for women to protect themselves from danger and question male figures. Offred describes a time in her past life when women could “keep the locks on and keep going” (Atwood 25). In her past life, she had control—“freedom to” control perhaps; however, now Aunt Lydia claims that she has “freedom from” the life of the past. The classification of her current life as freedom is difficult to understand for the reader because her life seems for confined than ever. Although she doesn’t have to worry about being attacked by men, she is merely a servant in the Republic of Gilead. The current controlled way of life that Offred faces may be considered freedom from worry by some people, but when read in present day, I thought that her current state was completely away from a state of freedom. This passage gives an opening to the rest of the novel in that it shows the oppressive viewpoints of the other women in the republic who are trying to make the best of their current situation, as it is the only option they are left with.

 

Aunt Lydia Highlights a Tradeoff

Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, seems so far to be a novel about a protagonist (Offred) who is restricted in almost all aspects of her life. She must censor her speech, wear clothing that hinders her movement and line of sight, eat only what food she is given, and speak only to a handful of people. This is why Aunt Lydia’s statement is so interesting: “There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia.  Freedom to and freedom from.  In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to.  Now you are being given freedom from.  Don’t underrate it” (Atwood 24). It seems as though the “freedom to” during the days of anarchy refers to Offred’s freedom to do anything she wanted; she didn’t have to worry about any of the previously mentioned restrictions. Now, in the days of post-anarchy, Offred has the freedom from certain things. For instance, Offred reflects on the differences between her previous life and her life now as a handmaid. Perhaps she now has the freedom from having to be concerned for her safety. She reflects, “Now we walk along the same street, in red pairs, and no man shouts obscenities at us, speaks to us, touches us. No one whistles” (Atwood 24). Now, Offred is free from the burden of being careful around the opposite sex. She has no concern with her own safety in this respect. Aunt Lydia’s statement seems to suggest the differences between Offred’s current and previous lives. There is a tradeoff, however unwanted it might be, between what she was free to do in her past life and being protected in her current life.

Freedom from is under control

“Freedom from” in “A Handmaid’s Tale” is just a nice way of saying “under control.”  Aunt Lydia was just trying to get the girls complacent by saying that instead of “freedom to,” they had “freedom from”:  freedom from all the things that before they actually had freedom to do.  As Offred remembers in her past life; “I think about laundromats.  What I wore to them . . . what I put into them:  my own clothes, my own soap, my own money, money I had earned myself.  I think about having such control.”  (Atwood 24)  Now she has no control.  In the past, these women had the freedom to do certain things, and these things granted came with such danger as there is danger for everyone—such as going certain places at night alone, motorists who are really criminals pretending to be stranded, etc.—but at least the women had a choice in the matter as far as what they could do, where they could go.  Now they are being controlled and liberated (according to Aunt Lydia) from those things they did before.  This new government of the Republic of Gilead obviously decided that they knew what was best for people and assigned living “slots” that people could fit into (men and women).  The Aunts were really trying to brainwash the girls into thinking that this new way of life was actually better than the life they had before.  In some ways the life women had before could be debated as to whether or not it was really good in some aspects, but so could the life of all men, women, and children be considered not good in some aspects.  Unfortunately in the Republic of Gilead, the new option for women wasn’t really an option at all, and it wasn’t better but worse. 

Instructions for Blog Post #6 – The Handmaid’s Tale

For the blog post #6, the first (of two) on Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, perform a close reading on Chapter 5, specifically regarding the following passage: “There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia.  Freedom to and freedom from.  In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to.  Now you are being given freedom from.  Don’t underrate it” (Atwood 24).  How could this passage open up the first half of the book?  What about this passage is important?

As usual make sure to do the following:

• Give your post a good title.
• Add tags (keywords) to the post.
• Posts must be at least 250 words.
• Posts must include at least one quotation from Atwood’s text.
• Stay focused on answering the prompt. Avoid repeating the question and be as specific as possible in your answer.  Remember to clarify the importance of your post.  Don’t just tell us that something is “important”; rather explain why it is important.
• Make an argument.  Don’t summarize the text.
• Use specific moments from Atwood’s book to support and illustrate your argument.
• Be sure to introduce, quote, cite, and comment on all quotations.

This response is due before class on Tuesday, February 22nd. Blog comments (at least 2) are due before class on Thursday, February 24th.