THT - Rebellion AO1+AO2

thesis of rebellion

Rebellion is ubiquitous to the novel; almost all characters engage in some form of rebellion, yet for different reasons. This idea of who can rebel, why they rebel, and what defines rebellion is important, as it provides insight into broader structures of power, survival, and human nature.

Some people, like the Commander and Serena Joy, defy Gilead's rules because they benefit from doing so. They don't rebel against Gilead in a way that would actually improve the situation for Offred and the other Handmaids, but instead go against Gilead only when it suits them; Offred is an instrument through which they can rebel.

Other characters, like Moira and Ofglen, are activists who directly fight and rebel against Gilead's oppression because they want to fight injustice.

Offred

Offred is neutral and subtle; she is not the traditional rebel and does not rebel on her own, due to the risks it poses to her safety: she intends to survive; thus, she commits small acts of self-preservation (fantasies, butter, thoughtcrime) to maintain sanity, but, that being said, in doing so, Offred is able to tell a story, which, in a society seeking for the erosion of individualism, is, in fact, an act of rebellion. Before Gilead, she did not rebel; her attempt to flee is an act of self-preservation.

Within Gilead, she is relatively complicit in her oppression and does not outwardly rebel against her oppression like Moira, because of the risks to survival, but finds ways to make her life more tolerable, thereby maintaining her sanity e.g. her passive acts of subversion (stealing butter for personal well-fare) which does not pose huge risk to her survival.

Note the change, though: Offred's rebellions become increasingly more active when other individuals are involved e.g. her relations with Ofglen. This is because the risk is reduced, especially because those who she rebels with are meant to be the ultimate symbols of authority e.g. her daring relations with the Commander.

Moira

Moira is the most rebellious character in the book; she takes direct action to resist Gilead, and thus provides hope for the other handmaids. But, because she is a lesbian, she is labeled as a "Gender Traitor" and threatened with death. Therefore, her rebellion against Gilead isn't just for comfort or power like The Commander or Serena Joy: her rebellion is for her own survival. Despite this, Moira ultimately ends up at Jezebel's with her rebellious spirit broken. While this shows that Gilead's oppressive environment often breaks the spirit of even the most rebellious people, Moira is an important character because she epitomises the classic idea of a rebel.

• "thought must be rationed"

• "thinking can hurt your chances, and I intend to last"

• "I hunger to commit the act of touch"

ch 2

• If thinking is being seen as something which could 'hurt' the 'chances' of survival, then Offred's thoughts, her entire narrative, is a form of subversion.

• Offred outlines her determination to survive from the outset; hence her resistance from outwardly rebelling.

• Atwood emphasises the struggle in suppressing interior thoughts and desires, despite consciousness of potential punishments.

• "What if I were to peel off my red shroud and show myself to him"

• "I enjoy the power; power of a dog bone, passive but there"

• Offred fantasises about the power of her body and gains satisfaction she gets out of teasing the young guard at the gate.

• It is this sharpness of mind which informs her mischievous character.

latin phrase: "it pleases me to think I'm communing with her, this unknown woman"

This small act of rebellion connects her to the previous Handmaid, but eventually Offred repeats the phrase to herself in C35 and thinks that this act of rebellion was futile and merely jeopardising survival, thereby justifying her own passivity to herself: why would I rebel if it means I'm just going to die anyway?

• "it's too dangerous I say"

• "it's the choice than terrifies me. a way out, a salvation"

ch 11

Despite knowing that the doctor's offer could help her, Offred denies it and does not rebel against the rules of Gilead. Offred's outward conformity prevails against her inward questioning which reveals the ineffectiveness of rebellion. Offred wants a salvation, however "'It's too dangerous,' I say.

• "as I have done before"

• "I will use the butter later tonight"

ch 12

• For Offred, the small feat of nourishing her dry skin is an act of defiance against the systems that oppresses her.

• Recognising that her body is still worth caring for encourages her spirit and keeps Offred's pre-Gilead identity as a mother, wife, and generally liberated woman in tact.

• Despite her position as a slave-like vessel for childbearing, Offred refuses to surrender her true identity. The act of stealing a pat of butter and caring for her body is both a gesture of remembrance and an act of defiance. Small forms of activism such as the butter theft serve as a link between her prior state of liberation and current state of oppression.

• "I would like to steal something from this room"

• "But such feeling would be an illusion, and too risky"

ch 14

Offred fantasises about being more rebellious, but is willing to choose her own safety over her own sense of empowerment.

• "this journey of darkness composed of women"

• "I bow my head and close my eyes"

• "I pray silently"

• "we stole extra packets of sugar for her"

ch 15

• Offred fantasises about the reversal of gender roles, which can be seen as subversive against Gilead's patriarchally-rendered ideals.

• Note the juxtaposition between Offred's subversive mind and her complaint physicality; Atwood demonstrates the struggles in acting upon desire in a society as rigidly authoritarian as Gilead.

• Note the further minor activism; Offred engages in small acts of subversion, but does not outwardly rebel.

• "I rub the butter over my face, work it into the skin of my hands"

• "I want to steal something...this is entirely illegal"

• "I want to reach up, taste his skin, he makes me hungry"

ch 17

• Self-preservation rebellion.

• Stealing butter is not hugely risky, thus Offred rebels.

• Note the shift; her relation with Nick is increasingly more active and subversive- this is because other, more powerful, individuals are involved.

• "I would like to strangle her"

• "Pearls are congealed oyster spirit"

• "I shove this thought away almost as soon as I think it"

ch 19

• Offred's interior thoughts differentiate her from the compliant, idealistic handmaid.

• She instantly suppresses them, thus showing her immediate compliance.

• "Larynx"

• "Zygote"

• "The feeling is voluptuous"

• "I think about how I could approach the Commander [...] I think about the blood coming out of him [...]"

• "In fact I don't think about anything of the kind. I put it in only afterwards. Maybe I should have thought about that, at the time, but I didn't"
  

• Offred restores her sexuality through sexually-charged language.

• Murdering the Commander would certainly be a direct act of rebellion but, again, Offred doesn't act on her fantasy; these thoughts are self-preserving, to provide hope for survival.

• Moreover, she also says that she didn't think about killing the Commander until long after the fact, therefore showing that Offred, while she's able to have rebellious thoughts, doesn't act on them because she knows it would be dangerous.

• "light blue, light mauve, and the darker ones, velvet and purple"

• "the swelling genitalia of the flowers? The fruiting body"

• "ripening fruit like a "melon on a stem"

• "metamorphosis run wild. Goddesses are possible now"

ch 25

• Offred explores the overtly sensual and sexual connotations of flowers and their importance in the reproductive process Her remarks suggest that the flowers have in themselves a dissenting quality and she considers their silence to be a sign of their strength and powers of endurance. It is for these reasons that she refers to Serena Joy's garden as 'subversive', and hence it becomes a location to which she is drawn and which has an uplifting effect on her. This garden is represented as a feminised emblem of sexual desire.
  - It is a kind of nature mysticism where Offred herself undergoes a "metamorphosis", changing from Handmaid to ripening fruit like a "melon on a stem" attached to a natural life-giving source, as she becomes for a moment a part of this pulsating world filled with a yearning for love and the energy of desire.
  - This extract shows Offred's characteristic mixture of lyricism and irony, for she knows that this erotic fantasising is an escape from her real circumstances, which are bleak and deathly as winter. However, her impressive energy defies Gilead's master narrative of phallic power underpinned by the Bible.

• "We have crossed the invisible line together"

• "Even this meeting of eyes holds danger"

ch 27

Note how Offred's rebellions are becoming more active, because other individuals are involved, thus making it less 'risky'.

• "I didn't go on any of the marches"

• "I started doing more housework, more baking."

• "I try not to cry at mealtimes"

ch 28

• We learn that even before Gilead, Offred did not like to rebel; she likes to preserve her safety.

• "I went back to Nick"

• "I took stupid chances"

• "Ofglen is giving up on me...I feel relieved"

• "I wish this story were different. I wish it were more civilized. I wish it showed me in a better light, if not happier, then at least more active, less hesitant, less distracted by trivia."

ch 41

• Note the change: Offred is becoming increasingly more active, increasingly more defiant; this is because other, more powerful, individuals are involved, and thus the risk if reduced.

• Note that when Ofglen speaks less, Offred feels relieved; this is because the level of risk posed to her life is reduced.

• Offred regrets not being more active and rebellious in Gilead.

• By acknowledging her own passivity, Offred also acknowledges that she's a flawed character.

• Compared to people like Moira or Ofglen, she is definitely not as heroic and as she's telling her story after the fact, she wishes that maybe she had been.

• This quote also asks the reader an important question: is it more important to take action, even if it costs your life and safety? Or is it more important to stay safe so you can tell your story?

When faced with the possibility of being tortured by the Eyes, Offred says that she will "say anything they like, I'll incriminate anyone" and "I want to keep on living, in any form".

ch 44/45

• Offred is willing to do "anything" to survive, even if it means remaining as a Handmaid in Gilead.

• Her priority, as always, is keeping safe.

• "maybe he can't"

• "women do it frequently"

• "a picture"

• "find yourself a match"

ch 31

• Due to Serena's transactional relationship with Offred, she never has to do any of the rebelling herself.

• Serena strategically uses her small acts of dissent (e.g. implying that the Commander is infertile, offering pictures of Offred's daughter, and cigarettes) to persuade Offred to rebel on her behalf.

• This illuminates the wholly self-serving nature of Serena's rebellion.

• Note also how Serena says 'women do it frequently': the entire system is corrupt; the ultimate symbols of authority are, in fact, symbols of corruption.

"If my life is bearable, maybe what they're doing is all right after all"

ch 29

• The Commander expresses that he feels guilty about Offred's situation and wants to improve it through their illicit meetings. However, this is disingenuous.

• His acts of rebellion are also just a way to justify to himself that the society he created really isn't that bad so he can absolve himself of any wrongdoing.

• Therefore, Offred becomes a tool that The Commander uses to relieve his guilt and reassure him that "what they're doing is all right after all."

• In this case, The Commander is willing to rebel against Gilead to make Offred's life "bearable" and yet, he directly benefits from her oppression.

• "He is demonstrating, to me, his mastery of the world"

• "Nature demands variety for men"

ch 37

• When the Commander takes Offred to Jezebel's, she is again used for his benefit.

• The Commander's hubris is another reason why he rebels; "breaking the rules" is almost a game for the Commander, compared to people like Ofglen and Moira, who rebel to resist injustice.

• In other words, he wants people to understand how powerful he is. By bringing Offred with him to Jezebel's, he is using her as a way to demonstrate his power.

• The Commander also justifies his rebellion through the patriarchal idealism: subordinating women and stripping them of their identity is not enough for men; they need the variety of different women to feel sated.

• "she'd been set loose, she'd set herself loose"

• "Moira was like an elevator with open sides"

ch 22

• Moira takes direct action to resist Gilead; she is both the subject and the object.

• She is also a lesbian; so she rejects Gilead's heteronormative expectations. However, because she is a lesbian, she is labeled as a "Gender Traitor" and threatened with death. Therefore, her rebellion against Gilead isn't just for comfort or power like The Commander or Serena Joy: her rebellion is for her own survival.

• Moira is able to take some of her "power" back by escaping from the Red Center, which is seen as a "fantasy" for the rest of the Handmaids who are being indoctrinated into submission and complacency.

• By escaping, she takes back some of her power, but she is also able to ensure her survival.

• "I want gallantry from her, swashbuckling, heroism, is single-handed combat, something I lack"

• "I don't want her to be like me. Give in, go on, save her skin"

ch 38

• Moira's rebelliousness had been an essential guide to Offred's survival.

• The discovery that Moira resigned to her fate diminishes Offred's hope and frightens her.

• Atwood demonstrates the difficulties in maintaining rebelliousness when living under a regime as rigid and authoritarian as Gilead.

• Note how Offred recognises and acknowledges her own passivity; Moira demonstrated something which she could never herself embody. So, the discovery that Moira's resigned to her fate is extremely frightening; it diminishes the world of Gilead, rendering the possibility of escape less likely.

• “you can join us”

• “You were always so stinking pious”

ch 27

• Ofglen also provides Offred with a sense of security and hope, like Moira.

• However, Ofglen isn't able to survive Gilead. She is revealed as a rebel and commits suicide instead of facing torture by the Eyes.

• Knowing that Oflgen is a member of Mayday and that there is a group resisting Gilead, Offred finds herself relaxing. In other words, the pressure to rebel against Gilead herself is gone; she can rely on other people to do the direct action.

• The comfort of knowing that there's someone who is resisting gives her a sense of hope, and she feels as though she doesn't need to do anything herself to rebel against Gilead.

• Note the change in ch 41, Offred feels "relief" when Ofglen no longer expects her to rebel against Gilead directly, because it ensures that she does not have to put herself in harm's way.

What is the impact of Moira and Ofglens absence on Offred?

• Knowing that Oflgen is a member of Mayday and that there is a group resisting Gilead, Offred finds herself relaxing. In other words, the pressure to rebel against Gilead herself is gone; she can rely on other people to do the direct action. The comfort of knowing that there are people who resist gives her a sense of hope, and she feels as though she doesn't need to do anything herself to rebel against Gilead.

• But once Ofglen and Moira are gone, Offred feels as though she is no longer safe. She recognises the impact that Gilead's consistent and violent oppression can have, as many of the people who directly rebel against Gilead are not able to survive. From the beginning of the book, Offred says that she "intend[s] to last"; ultimately, Offred's complacency and reluctance to directly engage in rebellion may have been the thing that saves her life.