Women appear the most oppressed social group in Gilead; they are relentlessly exploited as ‘natural resources’. All women are categorised, for example: the Econowives, the Handmaids (for breeding), Marthas (too old for Handmaids), Commanders’ wives and lastly the infertile women who are sent to the colonies. Handmaids are deprived of their own names and legal rights. Assigned to a specific Commander for reproductive purposes, they are virtually prisoners in their own household. Their basic, sole use is to breed and thereby attempt to continue the race. A similar sense of oppression is the extent to which, the Handmaids are forced to adhere to a strict dress code, which consists mainly of the colour red; “I get up out of the chair, advance my feet into the sunlight, in their red shoes…I never looked good in red, it’s not my colour. I pick up the shopping basket, put it over my arm.” Red is very distinctive, making them obvious and symbolising who they are. Freedom of choice even in clothes is not allowed. Before the ceremony, Offred has to take a bath “there were incidents in bathrooms at first; there were cuttings,
drownings…Cora sits on a chair outside in the hall.” Once more in the misogynistic society the Handmaids are not allowed to bath alone. A Martha must accompany them and so becomes a symbol of oppression while ensuring that the Handmaids do not attempt to harm themselves. Clearly social oppression on these women is so great that it has led to self inflicted mutilation on occasions.
Offred suffers great oppression within herself. She does have a slight amount of freedom, which is the freedom of refusal: she refuses to believe in Gileadean doctrines, she refuses to forget her past life and crucially she refuses to be silenced. In the Red Centre the Handmaids are taught to forget the past, another act of oppression however, Offred rebels against this. She continuously reminisces about her past life with Luke, her daughter, her Mother and Moira. Offred’s, stories about her Mother and Moira appear similar because they are both an act of female heroism. Offred is asked to visit the Commander secretly at night to play games such as scrabble and read magazines, activities, which are forbidden to Handmaids. “It was a magazine, a woman’s magazine it looked like from the picture…I though such magazines had been destroyed, but here was one.” The Handmaids oppression is graphically portrayed in that reading either for pleasure or education is prohibited. The Commander may feel some sympathy for Offred having so little to do and being stripped of so many rights, therefore he rebels against the system allowing her to read and talk in comfort to him as a release for her social oppression.
Atwood uses a variety of techniques, which reinforce the nature of oppression within the novel itself. The Handmaid’s tale is a fictional autobiographical narrative, which disputes the authority of Gilead, and it highlights the significance of storytelling as an act of resistance against oppression. The story is told like a diary or letter, in the first person. The point of view is of Offred; therefore everything she speaks about is her own, personal opinion. Consequently, it could be a biased view, because she is a Handmaid and their apparent oppression may not be as severe as she suggests. On the other hand, the literary technique is effective as it emphasises the overbearing tyranny or harshness of oppression
The time shifts, between past and present are very noticeable. This unravels the story slower therefore parts of Offred’s past and present life is only gradually revealed. It is in the “Night” chapters where the flashback technique is most obviously used and the other chapters are usually set in the present tense. Offred becomes pre-occupied with recalling her past, which symbolises the freedom she no longer experiences in the oppressed Gileadean society. “Lying in bed, with Luke, his hand on my rounded belly. The three of us, in bed, she kicking, turning over with me.” This is Offred remembering her past with Luke and wanting to return to “the time before.”
Atwood uses language as a powerful instrument both for resistance and at the same time, oppression. There appears to be an obvious difference between the language Offred uses to record her muted everyday life and the language of her real life of feeling and memory. In addition, there are recurrent images which Atwood uses. There are many which derive from the human body, such as hands, feet, faces, eyes, blood and womb, also from non-human nature like flowers, gardens, colour and light. All these images are related to nature and Atwood’s use of ‘feminine’ language opposes the structure of the repressed Gileadean society.
The novel is anti-utopian and through Offred, Atwood allows the reader to interpret often contradictory views – past and present, freedom and resistance, night and day. While facing tyranny and oppression in public life, Offred relates a rebellious story of her personal life and relationships. Clearly, the most obvious oppression is that of women by a male dominated society yet through her story, Offred reveals that women have a power of their own within Gilead.
