The Role of a Handmaid

My first thoughts when reading the first page of "The Handmaid's Tale": I love the language and description, but what is going on?

The first page immediately caught my attention and caused millions of questions to soar through my head. The setting brought an immediate gloom and prison-like feeling to the book. I could immediately feel the absence of freedom and choice. Although I knew nothing of the plot at the time, I felt great empathy for the narrator and the situation she found herself in.

After the first chapter, the book turns to present tense and a woman tells the story from her perspective. This woman's name is "Offred", or at least now it is. What I know about Offred is that she is what is called a "handmaid" and she can only wear red and white, just like all of the other handmaids. She has just moved into a new Commander's house for a specific job. Her job as a handmaid is to bear children. That is her role in this society. Every so often, the Commander, his Wife and the handmaid participate in what is called "The Ceremony". Offred describes what takes place at the Ceremony as this, "my red skirt is hitched up to my waist, though no higher. Below it the Commander is fucking....I do not say make love, because this is not what he is doing."(p. 104) The Ceremony has taken all of the beauty and joy out of sex. The Ceremony is awkward, impersonal, and awful for everyone in the room. "This is not recreation, even for the Commander. This is serious business. The Commander, too, is doing his duty."(p. 105) Such an event dehumanizes the handmaid and makes her into a machine that's only use is to make babies. Offred even calls herself, "a national resource"(p.75), not a woman, not a wife or mother, but a resource.

What this society has done is take something personal, beautiful, and natural and turn it into a vulgar and dehumanizing event. Love is gone in this society. There is nothing personal, it is only business. There are no connections or interactions between people, especially for handmaids. Handmaids are meant to keep there heads down, be silent, and do what they are told. It's just disgusting what this society has done to manipulate and control every move of every person. It's barbaric.

The one freedom Offred has left is her thoughts. She has the power to tell her story. It is what keeps her sane in this corrupted and destitute world. And no one has the power to take away thoughts.

It will be interesting to see how Offred copes with this new life. Will she go along with it, or will she defy the rules? I can only hope she will stay strong.