Assignment Problem: Please read essay and fill in comments about the essay in response to the questions below.
In a future dystopia, the United States of America has been replaced by a nation called the "Republic of Gilead". Within this violent and totalitarian country, Handmaids, are women that are assigned the role of bearing children due to a widespread inability to conceive. In a religious type of ritual, the handmaids are forced to have sex with their captors to try and conceive children. The narrator, Offred, is a handmaid who received her name by combining the word 'of', with her commander's name, Fred. The day to day lives of the handmaids is highly restricted to the household except for shopping trips, the bedroom door of the handmaids can never be fully shut, and the secret police called "the Eyes" keep a watch on the handmaids when they are in public. The government of Gilead came to rise during a time of rampant crime and vice. When Offred was captured and assigned to the commander's house she discovers that some of the other handmaids are members of a secret group called Mayday attempting to take down the government of Gilead. Offred eventually develops a relationship with the commander's chauffer/gardener, Nick. In the end Nick assists Offred's rescue by Mayday when she is taken away. In the epilogue of the story the Gilead has fallen and Offred's story is being told by a professor in which he states that Nick helped her escape. Aunt Lydia, the woman in charge of the handmaids, suggests that people are lucky to live in a society like Gilead because it provides the freedom from the impulses of others. Her twisted idea of freedom highlights the dangers of seeking safety over liberty in a society. The difference between the 'freedom from' and the 'freedom to' illustrates the inherent problem in this line of thinking that inevitably leads to totalitarian rulership.
As the central character to this story, Offred does not behave as any sort of hero and does little to take her destiny into her own hands. Although Offred is oppressed and enslaved by the commander and his wife, she does not attempt to join Mayday and remains as a prisoner throughout the story until she is rescued. This aspect of the story is not intended to make Offred appear weak, however, because she is more so meant to represent how the average person would react under these circumstances. Most people would not behave as though they were a hero in this situation and the most that one could hope for is just to simply preserve the person that they once were. Offred's most noticeable action of rebellion was when she has sex with Nick since doing so could have gotten both killed. Offred says,"I would like to believe this is a story I'm telling. I need to believe it. I must believe it. Those who can believe that such stories are only stories have a better chance. If it's a story I'm telling, then I have control over the ending. Then there will be an ending, to the story, and real life will come after it. I can pick up where I left off."(Atwood 31) Here she shows the uncertainty that she feels towards the level of control that she has over the outcome of her life. She expresses a desire for self determination and freedom but has to sacrifice a large degree of freedom to continue her life in the safety of being a handmaid in the commander's house.
While it is not as if Offred was being given a choice regarding her freedom and the alternative life outside was uncertain. She could just as easily escape and be recaptured, ending up somewhere worse than the commander's house. This turns out to be the case with her best friend Moira who was able to escape the Red Center and ends up getting recaptured. This decision to escape led Moira to end up working at Jezebels where Offred finds her later in the story and after which is never seen again."Alreadywe were losing the taste for freedom, already we were finding these wallssecure." (Atwood 93) Offred said in response to Moira's free-spirited attitude, "Moira was like an elevator with open sides. She made us dizzy." (Atwood 93) Aunt Lydia says "In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don't underrate it." (Atwood 20) It is clear in the example of Moira that she chose to gamble by escaping and unfortunately ended up in worse circumstances relative to where she would have been if she stayed at the Red Center with Offred.
It is understandable when looking at the example of Moira why Offred decided to stay at the commander's house for as long as she did. With choosing the safety of staying instead of escaping, Offred sacrificed the freedom to leave Gilead and pursue her own self-interest. The commander demanded a high level of sacrifice for what he tried to convince the handmaids was a life in which they were better off. Only with the help of Nick, who is just protecting himself, is Offred able to escape in the end. The authors lack of conclusion telling us the fate of Offred is intentional as it leaves us questioning if her decision to leave paid off or if it ended in more suffering such as with Moira.We are left wondering because freedom is also meant to be elusive and not guaranteed to be worthwhile much like the outcome for Offred, we do not know if the bravery she eventually mustered was worth it or not. In a similar sense we must acknowledge the risks of choosing freedom to vs. freedom from in our own lives and how it can be both empowering and endangering.
Peer Review Questions:
1. Introduction/Summary: Does the writer do a good job of summarizing The Handmaid's Tale in the first paragraph of the essay? Does this summary include enough details from the novel and does it do a good job of leading to the thesis? Type your answer here.
2. What topic does the essay cover? What thesis does the writer include in addressing that topic? Is the thesis clearly expressed?
3. What specific scenes from the story does the writer discuss in the body paragraphs of the essay? Does the discussion of these scenes include enough actual details from the novel?
4. Does the writer do an adequate job of explaining how the specific scenes discussed apply to the topic and thesis of the essay?
5. Has the writer included enough quotations from the novel? Are these quotations well introduced and explained?
6. Are there any other details and/or quotations from the novel that you think should also be added in order to better develop the topic and thesis of the essay?
7. Does the writer do a good job in the conclusion of the essay of generalizing from his or her discussion of the novel to a discussion of how these elements of the novel can apply to the real world?