Red As The Color example essay topic

Everything except the wings around my face is red: the color of blood, which defines us". Color is the main character in The Handmaiden's Tale written by Margaret Atwood. I believe that this new world is a division of color. It is used to define each persons station in their new life, sets them apart from each other at a glance. Gilead is a new culture that is being used to build on a new way of life for men and women alike. Each has their own place in this new society, which sets them up as persons of a particular sect.

The handmaidens wear red gowns that are described as "A Sister, dipped in blood". The shoes they wear are red, the gloves they use to cover their hands and arms are red. The only part of the outfits they are forced to wear that is not red is their wings. Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love. Red is a very emotionally intense color. It enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood pressure.

This may be the reason that Margaret Atwood chose to use red as a form of representation for the handmaidens in her story. The red is a symbol of the power to procreate for a new generation. It is a color of strength and passion. The passion of the color is an oxymoron as none of the handmaidens were allowed to show emotion during the ceremony but yet these women do have an inner passion, it is called survival. Danger is a clear indication of Atwood's choice for choosing red as the color of her handmaidens. Handmaidens were considered conniving, a threat to all men, and for this reason they had many restrictions that were the controlling factor in their lives.

The wings the handmaidens wore were white and used to block out their side vision and their faces from being seen. The wings are a part of the outfit that shows the female as a child breeder. She is not virginal, nor an innocent in the ways of the flesh but a body that is being used to perpetuate the next generation. The color of white is associated with light, goodness, innocence, and purity. It is considered to be the color of perfection.

It is seen as a means of safety, purity, and cleanliness. As opposed to black, white usually has a positive association. White can represent a successful beginning. This was a great choice for Margaret Atwood to add the wings into the outfits of her characters as they depict the need for a new beginning for a society as Gilead. The other characters in the story are the Commanders, the commander's wives and the Martha's. The Commanders are the men that were selected to be sexual partners for the handmaidens.

The book does not explain the reasoning behind the choice of who is chosen to be a Commander. The Commanders wear black. Black is a color that is associated with power, elegance, formality, death, and mystery. Black is a mysterious color associated with fear and the unknown.

It usually has a negative effect on society. Black symbolizes strength and authority; it is considered to be a very formal, elegant, and prestigious color. The color black tells those who see Commanders in public that they hold a higher station in life then other men. They are the men who run the household from a desk, are depended on for the birth of a new generation and are allowed to live richly compared to others in Gilead. They have special privileges that people like the guards do not have. They have their own clubs, can come and go from their homes as they please but with a driver as nowhere in the book does it say that he has ever driven.

They are allowed to read and own books. The Commander does not have an easy life, as he is not allowed any emotional feeling for his bedmate. He leads a solitary life where he finds the need to bribe his handmaidens for companionship. The black as a power source is not really the right color for the commanders. Atwood should have chosen another color for this title, as these men are silent, part of the background and not clearly visible to the people in their homes.

It is true that black is a power color and their is some mystery to the way the Commander thinks and he is really good at hiding his true feelings. But this color is a representation of evil, and I do not really see evil coming from the Commander in the story. The Commanders wife is always in blue. She is described as wearing light blue veils; dark blue gowns are cut the same as those that the handmaidens wear. The color blue is often associated with depth and stability.

It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, and truth. Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect. Blue is strongly associated with tranquility and calmness. Many of the color meanings for the commander's wife fit her role in life.

She is said to be the stabilizing force in her home. She is not seen as a calming person to those members of her household but she herself holds in her emotions and keeps herself calm. She is not a sexual person but a person seen as the vocal partner in the dealing of her household staff. She is seen as the threat to all handmaidens as she is the one who holds the reins of their lives in her hand. The trust that is a representation of the color blue is found nowhere in the story.

The Martha's in the story of the Handmaidens tale are described as women past childbearing age. They wear green and this is a color that is associated with nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. Green has great healing power. It is the most restful color for the human eye.

Green suggests stability and endurance. Green also is said to represent growth and hope for the future. Green, as opposed to red, means safety; it is the color of free passage in road traffic. For this reason the Martha's are considered safe. They can be trusted above all others for a handmaiden.

They are known to keep to themselves and not to deal directly with the household members. They exchange information with each other and keep the home running smoothly. The handmaiden learns of the household's inner lives through the Martha's and also they are a good source of information on what is going on in their neighborhood. There are black vans in the tale told by Atwood. The black vans are the evil that is a part of the handmaiden's life. The vans hold a mystery that no one wants to recognize.

The government runs these vans and for this they are a sign of the unknown. No one really knows where the vans take people or what happens to them once they are taken away by the black vans. The characters in the story just know that they represent the end of the life as they now know it. Te Handmaidens Tale is a story full of color, in its description, the attitudes of the characters and the overall effect it has on its readers. We recognize the character without a name by the descriptive color that is used to describe the next sentence in the book, without a name to the face. Atwood, Margaret Eleanor, 1939.