Character research-Offred

Character Research for November 4^th, 2010

Offred

The main character in The Handmaid’s Tale is Offred. Offred is not her original name but it is the name given to her by her owner, The Commander. His name is Fred and the adverb, Of, is before this to show his possession of her. Her real name is not mentioned to the reader but then does say it to her later lover, Nick.

Offred tells her story as she is going through it but frequently has flashbacks about her life before Gilead. It’s usually about her friend Moira, husband Luke, Mother or Daughter. “If it’s a story I am telling, then I have control over the ending” This quote illustrates how Offred thinks of what she tells in her flashbacks and reality. The verb, control, connotes power which she does not have in her circumstance.

She started off disliking all what Gilead stood for at the beginning of the novel but then slowly started accepting its ideologies. “They can do what they like with me. I am abject”. The quote shows how Offred has become submissive to the role of Handmaid. The adjective, abject, connotes shame and being despicable. This is what Offred has ‘reduced’ herself to and she is openly admitting this to the reader.