Symbolism and Loss of Identity in The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwoo

Symbolism and Loss of Identity in The Handmaids history by Marg atomic number 18t AtwoodIn Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale, Off tearing recounts the story of her life and that of others in Gilead, but she does non do so alone. The symbolical meanings found in the dress tag of the women, the names/titles of characters, the absence of the mirror, and the smell and hunger imagery aid her in telling of the repugnant conditions in the Republic of Gilead. The symbols speak with a vowelise of their own and in decibels louder than Offred can ever dare to use. They convey the brotherly structure of Gileadean society and carry the theme of the individuals loss of identity. All the women in Gilead wear color-coded uniforms. The colors parade their affable status and/or economic consumption in the reproductive process. The Aunts who run the Rachel and Leah Re-Education Center wear brown they are responsible for the indoctrination of the handmaids. The Marthas, who wear green, are the servants. The Wives wear a type of Virgin-Mary blue, which signifies their unfitness to bear children. The handmaids wear red robes and white peaked hats which resemble nuns habits. Thus, they incarnate a religious sacrifice they are like temple prostitutes lost to a kind of purdah in perpetuity (Rigney 117). In addition, the red color of their clothing symbolizes their fertility. The color-coded uniforms that the women wear does more than just signify their functions. on with the names/titles of characters, they symbolize the individuals loss of identity. No distinguishing mark of a woman is considered rather, she is lumped with a group in which she is defined only by her companionable and reproductive function. Essentially, the color-coded uniforms strip each woman of her i... ...litical enemies. The foul and suffocating strain of Gilead symbolizes the claustrophobia as well as oppression of its inhabitants (Rubenstein 109-110). In The Handmaids Tale nearly symbolic tools such as dress codes and characters names reflect the social standings of individuals in the Gilead society. These same symbols and others such as the mirror draw circumspection to the loss of individual identity, a theme present throughout the novel. calm down others like smell or hunger convey the atmosphere&emdashboth physical and psychological&emdashin Gilead. Whatever their different purposes may be, the symbolic devices achieve the same result they enlighten the reader on vulnerable social tendencies and compel him/her to take action in order to proscribe the outcomes they depict. Works CitedAtwood, Margaret. The Handmaids Tale. Anchor Books New York, New York, 1985.