The Handmaid's Tale Six

"There are other women with baskets, some in red, some in the dull green of the Marthas, some in the striped dresses, red and blue and green and cheap and skimp, that mark the women of the poorer men. Econowives, they're called. These women are not divided into functions. They have to do everything; if they can." (33) 

The similar wardrobes of the women in the world created by Atwood and known as Gilead strip them of of their individuality completely. At a glance, one could determine their purpose as well as their rank. The Wives wear blue, the Handmaids wear red and so forth. It is interesting that these colors are chosen for a number of reasons. Red represents birth and death, sex and vitality; achievement. It also represents maintaining physical energy and health, which is extremely important for the Handmaids. Blue is a color used to protect one's reputation, and is the least appetizing of any food color. The Wives generally tend to be middle aged and unappetizing. The term "blue blooded" also comes in to play, because it represents upper-class folks, of which the Wives are. In the American government, red and blue tend to battle it out quite often (red states vs blue states). And on the flag, Red represents valor and hardiness, while blue signifies justice, perseverance, and vigilance. The stars on the flag are like the silver stars above Serena Joy's bed, and they represent the heavens and all the good that people strive for.


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The Handmaid's Tale Five

"Ordinary, said Aunt Lydia, is what you are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary." (33)

People are used to living a certain way, and are familiar and comfortable with their own culture. Because Offred and the other Handmaids at the time were old enough to remember life before Gilead, the changes that had occurred several years earlier were very unusual. Aunt Lydia prescribes that in time, the ways of the new world will become ordinary, maybe not for them, but for the other generations to come. At the time when that life becomes ordinary, the different and forgotten ways of the past become unusual and different, as the new ones once were for Offred. It all depends on the ways of life that you are used to; without ordinary, there is no unordinary. Atwood's novel poses an interesting question: What exactly is ordinary? It is what people believe to be, at the time, normal. It is interesting that Atwood would indeed pose such a question though, because it makes the reader believe that life will continue on in that manner; that every generation to come would become more and more used to the new ways of life. This however, is proven untrue by the historical notes at the end of the book.

The Handmaid's Tale Four

"The tulips are red, a darker crimson towards the stem, as if they have been cut and are beginning to heal there." (12)

Atwood uses tulips here to signify a woman's menstrual cycle, with the red coloring of the flower representing blood. The tulips above represent the early stages in the cycle, in which the cork has been released and discharges have begun to flow. The tulip refers to the uterus, while the "darker crimson stem" is meant to be the tract leading from the uterus through which the menstruation travels. Being a Handmaid, this stage must always be difficult, because it is when they first know that they have not become impregnated during the last Ceremony. Atwood may use the tulip because it signifies love. Not love for the Handmaids, but love that would be given to the child if a Handmaid were to conceive.

The Handmaid's Tale Three

"...and another plate with an eggcup on it, the kind that looks like a woman's torso, in a skirt. Under the skirt is the second egg, being kept warm. The eggcup is white china with a blue stripe."

Offred is brought a hard-boiled egg every morning on her breakfast tray. It could very well have been a fried, scrambled or sunny-side egg, but the shape of a hard-boiled, intact egg resembles that of a pregnant woman's stomach. Throughout Atwood's book, subtle reminders bring attention to what Offred is subconsciously thinking about, and thus re-hinting to the reader her purpose in life. The sight of the eggcup reminds her of a woman with child, her utmost goal in life. Over the course of the story, similar descriptions crop up, as if the mental game Offred plays with herself as a Handmaid will make her more fertile. It is also interesting to note that the "skirt" of Lady Eggcup is said to be white with a blue stripe, white being the color of purity and blue the color of the Wives attire.

The Handmaid's Tale Two

"The Commander knocks at the door. The knock is prescribed: the sitting room is supposed to be Serena Joy's territory, he's supposed to ask permission to enter it. She likes to keep him waiting. It's a little thing, but in this household little things mean a lot." (pg. 86)

In moments like this, it becomes clear who wore the pants in Serena and Fred's marriage before Gilead and the new way of life (the period of degradation of women) was established.  In Atwood's book, Serena likes to abuse the little bit of power she is still able to maintain, possibly so no one thinks any less of her. It also builds and hypostatizes the tension between the couple. The last sentence hints that in the household that Offred lives, little things really do mean a lot, and therefore does a bit of foreshadowing of minor events. Later in the book, Serena decides to show Offred a recent picture of her daughter, as a reward for secretly trying to become impregnated by Nick. The Commander takes similar actions by rewarding Offred with old magazines after she'd spent the evening playing scrabble with him. And then he lets her use hand cream instead of the butter she saves from her meals. Perhaps minor details, but in the end, it was a minor detail like the lipstick Offred accidentally left on the clothing that Serena used to catch her.

The Handmaid's Tale One

"Every month there is a moon, gigantic, round, heavy, an omen. It transits, pauses, continues on and passes out of sight, and I see despair coming towards me like famine. To feel that empty, again, again. I listen to my heart, wave upon wave, salty and red, continuing on and on, marking time." (pg. 74)

With so many books out there these days about vampires and werewolves, one may automatically associate a sentence that uses "the moon" and "monthly" to be relating to the topic. Written in 1865, The Book Of Werewolves describes that lycanthropy becomes tangible at the full moon. In Atwood's book, The Handmaid's Tale, Offred could be perceived as Little Red Riding-Hood in her crimson frock during the Ceremony, a monthly ritual where The Commander becomes almost beast-like in his ways. The ritual has prophetic significance and is treated almost as an omen; if the Handmaids feel empty, again, again, and do not become pregnant, they are liable to get shipped off to the colonies. Perhaps this relation suggests how fragile the Handmaid's are, and how liable they are to be taken advantage of.

Baring-Gould, Sabine, The Book Of Were-wolves, Smith, Elder & Co., London, 1865