Freedom For Offred example essay topic

In the novel "The Handmaids Tale" written by Margaret Atwood, the main character Offred uses language as an act of rebellion against the state. This rebellion is caused because the state and government of their society Gilead has banned freedom of speech among the lower class, but in particular women. This leads to many citizens in the Gilead society to find ways to rebel using language, without getting caught. Gilead is a male dominated society where women have very few if any rights.

The main character Offred belongs to a group of women called handmaids, who sole purpose is to become impregnated with the help of an important leader in the society, a commander. The commander also used communication and language as act of rebellion against the state. He did this by playing a game of scabble with Offred in a room which Offred called the forbidding room, the game had been banned because of its language content in most ways this in some point is why most language had been banned. The game between the two was somewhat of a trade off between the two, with the commander getting someone to spend time with and Offred being able to rebel by playing this game that to us is a common game. She enjoyed playing the game, using words that she had nearly forgotten, a language having to do with customs that had long before past out of the world. In return for Offred playing scabble with the commander, he decided to give her a small treat for playing with him.

He pulled open the top drawer of his desk and took something out, it was a common magazine, but in the society of Gilead these types of things were completely forbidding. There weren't many reading materials that Offred could get her hands on, and the commander knew this that's why he use it to get Offred attention. She was amazed how she could want something which had been had in her former life been used to fill in empty time then when finish end up just throwing it away. The magazines to her weren't just some type of reading material they were also a form of protection from the commander, with the magazines she had something on him, but she knew that even that wasn't enough, the commander knew what he was doing he knew that he was safe, Offred couldn't risk getting caught for she could end up in the colonies. Another type of rebellion written I the novel "The Handmaids Tale" was when Offred secretly sings to herself in side her head, something lugubrious, mournful, Presbyterian such as "Amazing Grace" she doesn't know if the words she is singing are right.

Such songs are not to be sung in public anymore, especially songs that use words like free or freedom. They are considered too dangerous, words like these belong to the Gilead outlawed sects. Nobody sings songs such as these in public anymore its too dangerous; there is too much fear from each other of someone report on your behaviour. Offred often hears Rita humming while kneading or pealing a wordless humming, tuneless. There isn't much music in the house that Offred stays at, except for the opportunities that they hear while watching T. V but even then it's not music, but what the Gilead authorities want you to hear. The main form of rebellion written in this novel is the way that the Handmaids communicate with each other, by talking to each other silently in there beds also with hand gestures and with eye contact.

They were able to develop a way of communicating without getting noticed for their rebellious acts against the state. An example of this rebellious acting was shown when Offred was talking with her pre-Gilead life, friend Moira in the toilet. The two were able to sneak out of their activities and were able to get to remember of the times that the spent together while they were free in normal society before the Government was taking over. This small moment of communication was a small defiance by Offred towards the Gilead society. Rebellion is caused when something that rightfully belongs to you is taken away from you; such as for the women of Gilead, this something was their freedom of speech.

If you " re told that your not aloud to do something the natural thing that you would do is go against what they say to prove that you can, but in the society of Gilead they used certain tactics to combat these types of rebellious acts such as, public demonstrations of people who have gone up against the state and failed. The consequences for they failure was public display on the wall, this was use to put fear into the minds of the lower-class citizens of Gilead that this is what will happen if you go against the state. Taking away a groups freedom of speech is a great weapon it takes away the risk of groups coming to giver to communicate a plan to rebel, and take back there freedom, for Offred these small acts of rebellion were used to, I believe "keep herself sane" every minor act of rebellion that Offred committed I believe gave herself a small sense of freedom..