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Examples Of Rebellion In The Handmaid's Tale

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Rebellion in The Handmaid’s Tale Imagine not being able to do what you used to do because some actions are forbidden in this new society. In the Handmaid's Tale, Gilead is a dystopian society where people are limited to certain actions. Throughout the story, Offred’s actions are rebellious because she has broken so many rules. Atwood demonstrates that restricted expression leads to rebellion by showing the Commanders and Offred’s affair developing throughout time and the actions of both characters. The Commander and Offred’s relationship is non-existent at first, but then it develops over time. They start initiating a secret affair in his office which is forbidden against both of them. They are not allowed to be near each other because it’s …show more content…

The Commander takes Offred to Jezebel, treating it as a date. The Commander starts showing off to a group of men and Offred knows he’s breaking the rules. His obvious actions are seen by Offred as noted in this quote, “He is breaking the rules, under their noses, thumbing his nose at them, getting away with it.. when he thinks no one is looking he winks at me” (Atwood 236). The Commander draws attention to himself by showing his mastery of the world. His power allows him to do anything he desires and that’s what he’s doing with Offred. Another broken rule, the Commander showing Offred off to the group of men. Another example of a rebellious action they both commit is the exchange of gifts. The Commander awards Offred with gifts like magazines, lotion, books etc. “Staring at the magazine, as he dangled it before me like fish bait, I wanted it. I wanted it with a force that made the ends of my fingers ache” (Atwood 156). These gifts remind Offred of how life was back then, when Gilead didn’t exist. Now they are forbidden which is why she craves having these rewards in her hands. These items were supposed to be burned because they aren’t allowed in Gilead. Yet, the Commander owns one and is sharing it with

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Outward conformity along with inward questioning, that is what the main character, presented in Margaret Artwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, has to undertake in order to survive in a theocratic society. Stepping out of line in any way risks your life, so in a place where freedom of speech and basic human right’s no longer apply, Offered must comply with whatever rules they have in place and pretend to agree with the system, but in the inside, she cannot help but think about her past life, her husband, her daughter, before everything began. Flashbacks are integrated in the novel to not only compare the old society with the new one, but to also demonstrate this fake conformity Offred has to display to others and her internal struggle with giving up on escaping the Republic or just accepting her fate and playing by

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One of the factors used by the characters in the two novels for their survival is conformity. An example of conformity that plays an important role in the two novels is clothing. In The Handmaid’s Tale, the classifications of each individual are conformed by different clothing. The Handmaids wear red dresses, Marthas wear green, Wives wear blue, Ecowives wear stripes dresses of the three colours, and Commanders and the Angels wear black clothing. According to Offred from The Handmaid's Tale, “The wings too are prescribed issue; they are to keep us from seeing, but also from being seen” (Atwood 9).

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