Offred
A narrator named for the man who owns her use—and who keeps a secret voice.
Postwar & Contemporary · Novel · 1985
The Handmaid’s Tale
Margaret Atwood
In Gilead, Offred is reduced to reproductive function and narrates what remains of a self. The future is assembled from familiar American pieces.
Dystopia
Characters
The Commander
Architect of the system who still wants a night off from it.
Serena Joy
Wife whose power is real and still a form of captivity.
Themes
Bodily sovereignty
The state writes its law on fertility and speech.
Complicity
Survival requires small bargains the novel refuses to prettify.
Motifs
A uniform that marks, warns, and isolates.
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum—resistance as a scratched joke.