Gilead says the time before couldn’t protect people properly from things like rape or murder, so Gilead tells people that Gilead is the correct way to live. Now, people stay like stones, nothing can grow or develop. This relates to the way Gilead falsely tries to brainwash people into thinking they are being protected by the bad things in society. They remind people of the time before, exaggerating on the bad things in that society such as women not feeling safe to go out at night. Women wanted more protection and now, they are locked away from freedom and independence so they cannot be harmed.
When the handmaid’s greet each other they say, “Blessed be the fruit” which comes from Luke 1:42. Instead of a sign of a religious reference, the hidden meaning behind the phrase is a reference to fertility.
Another example of religion being abused is the advice Aunt Lydia gives to the handmaids on how to conduct themselves. She says, “Blessed are the meek” which describes qualities of Christian perfection. She’s instructing the handmaids to accept their position in society and obey Gilead’s regime. However, she fails to finish the remainder of the sentence, “for they shall inherit the earth” which is the bit about having hope and something to live for, which the handmaids obviously do not.
Offred’s visit to Jezebel’s is significant because the word ‘Jezebel’ is a name taken from the Bible who was a wicked scarlet woman. (Kings 21:15.) The name has different meanings in which Atwood wants us to interpret. The name refers to how women are treated in Gilead and how men abuse Gilead’s regime in which they invented. ‘Jezebel’ was wicked and so therefore, in a sense, men are naming the prostitutes wicked even though the women didn’t have much choice in whether they wanted to be there. Women had little choice in which status or role they would choose as part of Gilead’s regime. If they were fertile they should choose the role of a handmaid because eventually they would get an element of freedom if they were able to conceive. If they were infertile then they were better off being a prostitute because their job is to please, not produce. If women rejected these roles then they were more or less signing themselves up for the colonies.
Another point is the emphasis on ‘scarlet’. Perhaps this makes Offred feel even worse because her handmaid uniform is red. The Commander took her there for his benefit so this is significant because men are abusing their own regime and humiliating women at the same time.
The shop names are an important factor to contribute to the way that Gilead abuses religion because Gilead has used them to have a completely different meaning to what their actual purpose is. For example one of the stores is named, ‘Loaves and Fishes’ which is a reference to when Jesus fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fishes. Gilead’s message to people is that their society is sharing, but ironically, the store is hardly ever open. Perhaps it illustrates that God has turned his back on Gilead because if he liked the regime then there wouldn’t be a problem.
Gilead manipulates the Bible as a source of brainwashing the community. They aren’t even considering religion; they are trying to control people by it. One example is, “Gilead is within you” which has been developed from “God is with you”. Gilead is seen as ‘God’. By telling them to obey God, they are really telling people to obey Gilead.
A big way in which religion is abused in Gilead is the fact that it is a profit making business. ‘Soul Scrolls’ is the place where prayers can be ordered. It is described as a ‘franchise’ which illustrates how impersonal the statements are. They have been thoughtlessly been made up by Gilead. This is their propaganda in a way, because it is a way of brainwashing them by telling them what to think and what morals and values they should have.
The prayers are printed out by machines, ‘row on row of them’ which is impersonal and ‘disrespectful’ because it is as the store is like a take away ordering service. Everyone has the same prayer, like everyone has the same meal at McDonalds. The fact that the machines are not even run by humans portrays the sheer selfishness of Gilead because they aren’t putting any thought or effort in to it. Offred says, “Ordering prayers from Soul Scrolls is supposed to be a sign of piety and faithfulness, to the regime” so, people aren’t ordering them for what they are; their ordering them because that is what they are there for. Even the wives conform to the fact that “It help’s their husband’s careers”.
The machines have a logo on them that happens to be an eye. This is evidence to show how much the prayers are used as a business scheme. The eye could represent Gilead how people behave and if they are following the regime correctly.
After the prayers are used, the paper is recycled. On the surface, this may seem like a good thing but in reality if people truly believed that the regime was important and the prayers were sacred, then they wouldn’t throw away holy documents. People wouldn’t read the Bible and then dispose of it.