The Handmaid's Tale- How About A Filler

Although we’ve found out that the Handmaid’s name is Offred, we are still not allowed a revealing insight into her real name, her original name in her “previous” life. That name is still lurking between the lines of the subsequent pages, waiting to be detected with a mocking smirk on its face, as we desperately continue to read, hungry for more information.

This ought to be quite typical of a modernist literature style of writing, as the writer does not let us into her story right from the very beginning of the book but slowly allows us to take steps towards it, by not revealing every bit of information at once and making us settle for our own predictions. That is indeed a very favourable method for motivating a reader to stick to a book, but perhaps not in my case, since I’m obliged to post an entry after every forty pages of reading, which forces me to repress my enthusiasm to read further (in which I failed gravely, as I am already half way through the book).

Conceivably, the situation in which the reader finds himself in, after reading the very first page of the book, plays an essential role in provoking the reader’s interest. For, we find ourselves in the present time, having no clue whatsoever about how the things turned out that way in the first place. It has been established that the deterioration of the system was creeping up on the people and that it was too late for them to step out of that circle once they realised that they were cornered. After all “nothing changes instantaneously: in a gradually heating bathtub you’d be boiled to death before you knew it.” The whole country must have been aware of this ongoing tragedy but how come they took no notice? Such ignorance is astounding. This displays the general tendency of people for reluctance towards the events which do not affect them. However, eventually they realise these events’ proven relevance to their own lives. Unfortunately we also witness how easily the people get accustomed to this drastic change and the ideologies that it bears.

You would expect Offred, having seen only 5 or 6 years of this new reign, to reflect her opposition not only in her thoughts but also in her actions. On the other hand perhaps one can implement ideas into the younger brains more easily, as they are more vulnerable to outside interferences. However this provides us with no satisfactory explanation of why the people are appealed by retrogressive ideologies instead of progressive ones. Aren’t the elderly people usually the ones, who develop a stronger commitment to the religion? If all the people, regardless of their age, are surrounded by these regressive beliefs, there wouldn’t be anyone to support innovations for advancement of the country, would there?

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