THE HANDMAID'S TALE by Margaret Atwood (chapters 11 - 16)

I think that chapter eleven is a really interesting chapter in the book, because it really opens up a whole new side to Gilead that the reader hasn't yet been able to see, because of Offred's restricted view of the world. Looking back in previous chapters, we have seen that there have been rebels who have been executed for going against the system, and naturally you would think that this would deter people from committing these 'crimes' however in chapter eleven, it is more than apparent that this is not the case. There are definitely those who still attempt to rebel against Them and their new society.

Even the medical professionals who are responsible for making sure the handmaids are in full health as to be able to carry out their job; are not allowed to look at the handmaid's faces. This goes to show the restricted nature of Gilead; many medical professionals from our own time have admitted that they can only present a very restricted medical diagnosis is they cannot see the face of the patient. However, we later learn that for anything more than a sexual health check-up, the Handmaids are taken to a hospital which we hear incredibly little about. We are told nothing about what goes on in the hospitals, this is because Offred has so far never been to one of these hospitals and has possibly never been in contact with anyone who has and/or wishes to share their experience.

It is also in chapter eleven when Atwood really hammers it home how important getting pregnant to these women is. Offred genuinely considers accepting the help of this doctor, who is offering himself and his services to her so that she might conceive and not receive the fate of an Unwoman. Despite it being illegal and extremely dangerous, she still considers risking it to make sure that she fulfills her duty as a handmaid.
However, Atwood lures you into thinking that Offred is going to accept so when she turns his offer down, it comes as a slight surprise, not enough to throw you but just enough to make to have to step back and review the situation. This shows us that Offred is afraid that by accepting the doctors offer she will be giving in to the new world she is being forced to live in, doing anything to please her commander and fulfill her job; but by rejecting it, she is holding onto the little bit of her self control and herself. For Offred it can't all be about getting pregnant in anyway possible because then she does what she has tried not to do for so long; give in.

I think it is really effective that chapter twelve starts in the bathroom, as if the events at the doctors have left her feeling dirty and unclean. That she has had a bath immediately afterwards to wash away the unclean and illegal actions of the doctor. To remove every last speck of their conversation from her conscious.

The way she describes 'my nakedness is strange to me already' allows the reader to understand that not only has Gilead managed to alter society's view of women, but it has managed to to change women's view of themselves. In what appears to be a fairly short period of time; one, maybe two generations, women have stopped being comfortable in revealing clothing and makeup and now they are uncomfortable even in the bath with only themselves there. This is a really good example of what Aunt Lydia meant when she said 'This may not seem ordinary to you know, but after a time it will. it will become ordinary'. For so long, all the women have been forced to cover themselves from head to foot that now they cannot stand to be uncovered, even in front of themselves.

This bath time event acts as a trigger for Offred, causing her to think about her own daughter from the time before. However these are not happy memories. Initially she remembers her daughter being stolen from her in a supermarket, which allows us to sympathize with Offred because we know that her daughter has not been the only thing that was taken from her, but also her freedom and the rest of her family. She recalls thinking at the time that it was an 'isolated incident' which we know wasn't the case. This backs up the idea of the unreliable narrator, admitting that she got it wrong, so how do we know now, that elements of her life now are not being recalled incorrectly or that she wrongly informing us of things that are happening.

About half way through this interesting chapter, we learn that Offred has a small tattoo branding her with her new life and role, at the time when I read this I thought little of it, however in chapter twenty-four, Offred talks about the Nazi concentration camps and this allowed me to make the link. Prisoners in the concentration camps were branded with a tattoo of a number just as Offred has been in her world, signifying that Offred is in fact a prisoner, with orders to carry out and strict rules to stick to, or suffer the consequences.

Chapter thirteen is a nap section, which I believe in itself is unusual, throughout the rest of the book, it has always been Night sections that have been slotted in between the rest of the story, allowing us to alternate between the two, however this time rather than night, it is a nap which we are welcomed into by our narrator. Letting us see that they have some 'freedom' during the day. The same sort of freedom that Offred always seems to take full advantage from and her we are informed about the arrival of Moira; and the arrival of Moira also reveals even more information to us about the strict culture that has been forced upon them. She talks about how friendship are frowned upon and suspicious and her secret meeting with Moira reveal how strict the Aunts are even about small things like going to the toilet.

I find it interesting how, during her nap time, Offred is thinking about a nap time along time ago from when she initially started as a handmaid. Through out the rest of this Nap, Offred recalls (or dreams) about a number of different memories, she remembers being in her old apartment with everything packed into boxes apart from her clothes which are hung up in her wardrobe. I feel this is a really important part in showing Offred's current emotional and mental positioning. The fact that she doesn't recognize her own clothes in the wardrobe, isn't because she couldn't recognize them at the time, but because now, in Gilead, Offred has been conditioned to the ways of the world to such an extent that she can no longer remember or imagine herself wearing such clothing. Also the way she calls out to Luke and then as a side, say that it 'Occurs to me that he may not even be alive.' You would only think something like that looking back on it, not at the time the memory took place.
This in turn, triggers another memory, of her running through a forest with her daughter trying to escape, however she had drugged her daughter to keep her quiet, but that made it difficult to travel with her, it showed her that doing WHATEVER it takes doesn't always payoff, this could have been one of the reasons that she turned down the doctor on his offer, but this isn't the only time she admits to drugging her daughter as we see later on in the book.

Offred also reveals; whether on purpose or not, that she has been having the same dreams over and over again: Of all the dream, this is the worst.

Now then, I feel that chapter fourteen, fifteen and sixteen should be tackled as one element,especially as it is all part of the same Ceremony.

Before the Commander arrives, we see for the first time the smallest glimmer of compassion from the Commander's Wife; Serena Joy. Despite the fact that they are not aloud to read or watch any form of television, Serena Joy allows them to watch the news before the ceremony begins properly, however the way that she switches it off before the Commander arrives suggest that he himself is unaware of this that his wife is doing causes us to think that maybe, he also is hiding things from his wife, however at this point it is just an assumption. While all this is happening, the seemingly unimportant Nick (the car man) suddenly makes a move on Offred, Touching his toes to her and stirring a reaction in her which takes her by surprise, not only because what he is doing is forbidden, but also because she didn't realize that she could still respond to men in this way.

After the commander enters, the atmosphere seems to change quite dramatically, it goes from silent excitement and gratefulness to being extremely formal and serious. The commander has arrived and therefore, the proceedings can begin.

I'll admit that I'm struggling as with what to write in terms of chapters fourteen and fifteen, a lot of it is just seems to be Offred trying to postpone telling us about what happens in chapter sixteen. Its almost as if Offred is trying to get out of telling us what she has to go through by explaining the first part of the ceremony in such detail that it takes up two chapters.

I think this is very clever of Atwood because she has drawn out the wait for this moment for so long that when we do finally find out what Offred's purpose in this life is for, it hits us like a bomb shell.

When I initially read chapter sixteen it made me feel incredibly awkward and almost embarrassed at what I was reading. Sex is something that traditionally is kept between the two people involved, so the fact that three people are there is uncomfortable in itself, but as a reader I felt like I had walked in on something that I shouldn't have done. I think we can all agree that in this case, Atwood has definitely succeeded in creating some rather Avant Garde emotions in her reader.

The thing that made this the most uncomfortable for me was Atwood use of the word f**k. However, even though it is a word that I myself am uncomfortable with, I believe that it was the right word for Atwood to use and she explains it beautifully in the chapter itself.

I do not say making love, because this is not what he's doing. Copulating would also be inaccurate, because it would imply two people and only one is involved. Nor does rape cover it: nothing is going on here that I haven't signed up for.

I think that sums this point up to be honest with you.

Another point of interest for me was when Offred talks about the Commander not being as bad as the last one, which suggests that there is more than one man that she has been made to have sex with, which seems to contradict the so called christian nature of this society. So if this society is so religious, how can they permit it that woman can be forced to have sex with multiple men whoever they are assigned to? But then she talks about how this is the life she chose, it's almost like she's hedging it a bit, because in fact, it was either this life, of being sent to the colonies which was almost certainly resulting in a slow and painful death from radiation poisoning.

I think I will be glad to move away from this section of the book and move on, in a hope that something more positive is to come for Offred.... one can always hope.