The Handmaids Tale Analysis

Secrets Held in The Handmaid’s Tale Essay In a utopian world in which the main character has to do what they are told, there would have to be secrets among the people around them. The Handmaid’s Tale is a novel by Margaret Atwood in which a Handmaid by the name of Offred lives in the home of her Commander and his wife and she, along with other Handmaids, have specific roles to play and are forced to do those roles. As a Handmaid, Offred has to lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, due to the fact that the story takes place at a time in which births are declining, the Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are fully functional. Secrets lead to guilt or mistrust in oneself as shown through Offred’s interactions with other characters, behavior changes of characters throughout the story, and by the significance of “Mayday” as used by Atwood. Secrets lead to guilt or mistrust in oneself as shown through Offred’s interactions with other characters because in the novel, Atwood writes “Perhaps it was a test, to see what I would do. Perhaps he

The significance of “Mayday” is one of the most significant secrets in the novel because at the beginning chapters of the novel, Atwood puts “From m’aidez. Help me.” (Atwood 44). At this part of the novel, Ofglen and Offred talk about the meaning for the word “Mayday” which was once used by the pilots at that time. This makes it a secret because if the word’s definition is hardly known by anyone, then it must have an actual meaning behind it. A second way in which “Mayday” takes place is at the final chapters in which Atwood wrote “It’s all right. It’s Mayday. Go with them.” (Atwood 293). At this final part of the novel, Offred spots a black van in which she believes that it has come for her and Nick appears at her room and tells her that everything was going to be okay. This is secretive because how is it that Nick knew about this word that was used as a code for certain