The women in the gymnasium live under the constant surveillance of the Angels and the Aunts, who guarded and taught them, patrolling at night with electric cattle prods and leather belts allowing no interaction with one another. The Angels and Aunts portray a hierarchy image with biblical name titles clearly implying that they are more powerful than the other women. The Aunts use, ‘cattle prods’, conveying the impression to the reader that they are treated like animals also suggesting a lack of identity to the women. The Angels, however who are even of a stronger status than the Aunts, ‘aren’t allowed inside the building’, and stand with their backs facing to the other women, wherefore we see their yearning and longing for communication and contact with the Angels. The narrator tells that if only, ‘something could be exchanged…some deal made, some trade off’, between the women and the men suggesting sexual tension and the lack of privacy, and personal status which they want to own. The women cannot look at the Angels to avoid the sexual temptation in this surrounding prison-like set-up.
The second main setting in which describes is in a room that seems at first like a pleasant change from the harsh atmosphere of the gymnasium, ‘relief ornament in the shape of a wreath’. However, her description of her room demonstrates that the same rigid, controlling structures that ruled the gym continue to constrict her in this house. The room is like a prison in which all means of defence, or escape by suicide or flight, have been removed. For example, anything you could tie a rope too’ suggests torture and suicidal behaviour. The window, ‘-it opens partly-‘. The quotation which importantly follows, ‘waste not want not’, and ‘I am not being wasted’ signifies that she classes herself as useful. ‘Why do I want?’ is the questioning to herself that why and what does she want when she should be happy to be used but the natural human desire is to always want more and the need for transcend. Here we can see a clear definition of utilitarianism. She wonders if women everywhere get issued exactly the same sheets and curtains, which underlines the idea that the room is like a government ordered prison, ‘government issue?’
Furthermore the regime continues as we see the main character starting to rebel against this isolation and confinement in which they wish to get rid of. ‘Thinking can hurt your chances and I intend to last’, implies that she is stubborn and determined. She also realises that most of the women who she is with are all lucky to be there seeing as not many always survived the prisoned lifestyle as she bitterly quotes, ‘for those who still have circumstances’. Apparently there are no mirrors also, indicating identity as a whole for the handmaid’s and getting rid of vanity which would be making them individuals. The uniform in which they must wear is red, ‘the colour of blood’ which defines them again as a whole, not as a unique person. ‘The door of the room, not my room’ again suggests her rebelling and refusal to conform. The outline of the portrayed regime is now that these women have almost no status, ‘unwomen’ which is lower than low are showing small signs of rebelling and willingness to be free after living on only rational amounts. An example of this is ‘the black market’, where illegal and expensive goods were sold so the handmaid yearns for a cigarette but ‘like liquor and coffee, cigarettes are forbidden’, eventhough she hints that she might therefore she is fusing to conform to the rules again.
The hierarchical triangle now lies that the Martha’s who are infertile women who do not qualify for the high status of Wives work in domestic roles, followed by the new character in Chapter two and three which is the Commander’s wife. She wears blue suggesting connotations of the Virgin Mary, holiness, purity and virginity as she works in the garden with a ‘detailed Guardian’ at her side. The Guardian is used to help aswell as being a Guard which indicates that the Regime of where the handmaids lie is considerably low compared to the Commander’s wife who has her own helper because she is too powerful to be doing jobs for herself, therefore she behaves cruelly towards the Handmaids in her household. The Commanders’ wife has arthritis therefore she is old yet able enough to have such control. She knits to pass her time, ‘maybe is just something to keep them busy. The handmaid is envious of the Commander’s wife because she has no hobby or purpose to pass time, ‘What does she envy me?’ The Commander’s wife also is evil as the handmaid quotes ‘ I am a reproach to her and a necessity’, implying that she is avoided by her.
The handmaid later reveals that she has only been there for 5 weeks indicating that the regime is new and things aren’t settled yet and that the women there are playing hierarchical roles already. The Commander’s Wife however is very well looked after and implications of vanity are portrayed as ‘her fingernail filed to gentle curving point. She wears ‘diamond rings’ connoting wealth and her knuckly fingers suggest she is old and also that she is unhappy; ‘fingernails mocking her…. ironic smile’. She is an elderly woman with blonde hair, ‘her chin clenched like a fist’, and gives the impression that she is sterned faced and hard featured. The handmaid’s are continuously being bought down so that no hopes are held high for them to gain any power, for example the Commander’s wife quote to her, ‘You’re not a Martha’ signifying that she is even lower than that.
Throughout the first four chapters we see that internal monologue is expressed, where no speech marks are present during speech, this is probably because it is a ‘stream of consciousness’ or to portray a memory. The underlying message that nature carries on regardless of human life is implied as human imagery such as, ‘fertility of soil’, referring to the creation of life. We then meet another Guardian, Nick who whilst washing the car is not conforming to the rules either, he is ‘tanned with dark hairs’ representing he is more rebellious than the other Guardians and suggesting he is always outside. His hat is at an angle and also he ‘has a cigarette’. Therefore he is higher status than the handmaids and Martha’s who cannot get them. ‘He hasn’t been issued a woman, not even one’ signifies that the regime throughout contains complete lack of sexual communication. The narrator explains that she is longing to touch ‘Nick’ therefore she sees him as a ‘man’ and ‘then he winks’. The fact that he has made eye contact is against the rules showing that not only do the handmaids’ long to escape freedom but also so do the Guardians. She suggests that ‘perhaps he is an Eye’, gives us the impression that she always knows she is at risk and to be aware of everyone because they may not truly be who they appear to be. This also relates to sudden disappearances of people that come and go very quickly, ‘on a certain day she simply wasn’t there anymore’. The Guardians which guard the entrance are called ‘The Guardians of Faith’, signifying that they are in secret and undercover, also named ‘Eyes incognito’.
When little communication is made between the handmaid’s and the Guardian’s all that can be transferred is eye contact and nothing more. The handmaid suggests this by, ‘Such moments are possibilities, tiny peepholes’. The handmaid constantly brings up the thought of this desired wish for freedom and individuality becoming true as she questions whether the guardians think about it too. She then proves a hierarchy point by involving all the groups of characters met so far, ‘Commanders of the faithful, their blue wives and white veiled daughters…. or their dumpy green Martha’s, or their red handmaids, on foot’. The narrator has purposely put them in order of their power status leaving herself last as she knows that if it were to happen, it wouldn’t be the handmaid’s who are the lowest and own no power. The regime theme of torture and unhappiness is explored further when the ‘black vans’ are mentioned which pass through the entrance and she says, ‘if there are sounds coming from inside we try not to hear them’. The black vans give the reader the idea of prisoners and people facing torture whilst being taken away. The handmaid lastly suggests that handmaids can be allotted to Angels for if they were to gain enough power so that they can marry, ‘allotted a Handmaid of their own’ because she knows that if the regime was different and the orders were less demanding and if lack of freedom was restricted, then she could have her desire and so could the Angels and guardians. Overall if their positioning of status and importance were to change then the handmaid’s know that they wouldn’t be kept and controlled in the same restricted and managed way and they would gain identity in order for themselves to have to freedom and privacy when they choose.
