Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Grew Up… in “normal” America, with a feminist mother. Our unnamed protagonist led a fairly typical life before a super-religious group, called the Sons of Jacob, took over the United States. They formed a theocratic military dictatorship called The Republic of Gilead. Overnight, her husband, daughter, and her job as a librarian were ripped away.
Living… in the Commander’s house, in a tiny plain room. She doesn’t own anything. She doesn’t have any rights. She doesn’t even get to keep her original name – she is now called Offred, or literally “Of-Fred,” for the man she is supposed to be bred by.
Profession… Handmaid. Because of chemical pollution, only about 1% of women can become pregnant. These child-bearing women are called Handmaids. Our protagonist is one of them – she has been forcibly trained and placed in a high-ranking official’s house. The official’s wife, Serena Joy, is not able to conceive, so it’s her job to do so.
Interests… she used to have some. Now she isn’t allowed to read, sing, make eye contact, or even talk to anyone beyond standard greetings.
Relationship Status… widowed. Back in the “old America,” she used to be married. Now, she’s more or less a “two-legged womb.”
Challenge… dealing with an oppressive world. She desperately wants to find her daughter, but she’s not even supposed to have any desires. The Republic of Gilead has trained her to only worry about getting pregnant. She would try to escape, but every day she sees hanged corpses of those who committed even minor infractions. To survive, she puts on a compliant face: “I wait. I compose myself. My self is a thing I must now compose, as one composes a speech.”
Personality… full of life, loving, and intellectual – at least she used to be. Now she keeps her head down and does not show any expressions. Internally, she remains keenly observant, realistic, and somewhat hopeful. She sees through the Republic of Gilead’s hypocrisy, but knows that open rebellion would mean immediate death. She tries to appreciate what she can – any informal human contact, flowers, and anything else she can find.
Get to Know her in...
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This 1990 film adaptation of Margaret Atwood's novel brings to the screen the painful struggles of Offred in the repressive Republic of Gilead. The all-star cast includes Natasha Richardson as Offred, Faye Dunaway as Serena Joy, Robert Duvall as The Commander, and Elizabeth McGovern as Moira.
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Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the days before, when she lived and made love with her husband Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now?.
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Overnight, Offred's husband, daughter, and her job as a librarian were ripped away. Because of chemical pollution, only about 1% of women can become pregnant. Since Offred is one of the fertile women, she has been kidnapped to conceive a baby for a high-ranking official in Gilead. She would try to escape, but every day she sees hanged corpses of those who committed even minor infractions. For now, she is putting on a compliant face until she can find a way out.
