Memories Of Offred In The Handmaid's Tale

Throughout the novel Offred is reminded of past memories by things she sees or smells around her. She remembers the gymnasium in chapter one and wishes to remember its smell. She becomes sentimental as she recalls the smell of sweat but describing it as a strong scent as sweat is usually not describe as a desirable scent. Offred remembers her life before the coming of Gilead, when she had a job, a husband, a daughter and a life. “She had been a witness to the dissolution of the old America into the totalitarian theocracy that it now is, and she tries to reconcile the warning signs with reality”, "We lived in the gaps between the stories.". Offred often lapse into past memories. “These memories provider her with relief from the brutality of

She is reminded of the way she used to dress when she sees some Japanese tourists who are dressed in skirts that reach just below her knee compared to the long and heavy red gowns all handmaid's wore. She also looks at the high heeled shoes the tourists are wearing, describing them as “delicate instruments of torture” . Offred is already becoming used to the ways of Gilead and is slighted shocked by the obscure dress of the tourists. To describe the shoes as “delicate” suggests that she once cared for shoes like it. However, describing them as “instruments of torture” suggests that she wants to forget about these type of shoes as she is no longer allowed wear them. This painful battle between memory and reality is what Offred and the other Handmaids have to deal with. An example of how memories can be a curse to the handmaids of Gilead is Janine, another handmaid, who after witnessing and partaking in the killing of a traitor at a Salvaging, who is accused of raping a woman. She forgets where she is and remembers her past life as a waitress. The line between fantasizing about the past and the harsh reality of her new life breaks