- Offred's mother was a strong advocate of feminism judging by examples in the text like when she was burning pornographic magazines. She resembles everything that the creators of Gilead are against in having in their society.
- Gilead's supposed purpose is to protect women from being disrespected as they were in "the time before", but in reality it is degrading women and antagonizing the idea of feminism. It is forcing the females into taking on traditional roles such as reproduction, cooking, or nursing children.
- The character, Moira, is a lesbian feminist. Her purpose in the novel is to symbolize female independence. Gilead crushed her potential of pursuing her dreams because they did not believe she could be able to, so she was put into the Red Center. After escaping there, she was then caught and punished by putting her into prostitution.
Favorite Line: "I go to the window and sit on the window seat, which is too narrow for comfort. There's a hard little cushion on it, with a petit point cover: FAITH, in square print, surrounded by a wreath of lilies. FAITH is a faded blue, the leaves of the lilies a dingy green. This is a cushion once used elsewhere, worn but not enough to throw out. Somehow it's been overlooked" (Atwood 57).
- There is no faith in the society anymore. The print and the lilies are worn, symbolizing the past times of Gilead. The faded cushion is a symbol for how their society is in despair. Individuality, hope, religion, and especially faith are lost.
- The phrase "worn but not enough to throw out", is a metaphor for faith because the people know of faith and what it is, but they no longer recognize what it means and it is not practiced anymore in Gilead.
Thoughts: The novel, "The Handmaid's Tale" by Magaret Atwood, is bizarre. I personally do not enjoy stories about utopian societies or science fiction novels. But, I understand Atwood's attitude and reason for writing the novel. She attempts to use it as a warning to society and traditionalist views so our own society does not go into a downward spiral, ultimately moving in the direction of the extremes in the society of Gilead. Having one gender controlling a whole society can never turn out well or in every ones favor.
