Looming Uncertainty
"Whether this is my end or a new beginning I have no way of knowing. I have given myself over into the hands of strangers, because it can't be helped. And so I step up, into the darkness within; or else the light."
The last few sentences of The Handmaid's Tale are, in essence, the theme of the entire novel. Life in Gilead is surrounded by uncertainty. No one knows who they are, no one knows who they can trust, no one knows what is going to happen next. Everything is based upon the inability to know what's going to happen next.
Offred lived her life as any normal human would until one day everything changed. She was thrown into completely new way of living in which all of what was previously considered acceptable and appropriate ways of living where altered. She had no knowledge of what this new society and way of life would withhold, she just had to blindly intermix herself within it and adapt.
She had to learn to live without her husband and daughter, she had to learn to live without emotion, she had to learn how to be submissive and blend into the background. Offred on a daily basis has had to, "give myself over to the hands of strangers." She lives with random people she has never known before. She had to completely abide by their wishes and rules because she had no choice; it, "simply can't be helped." Offred has no choice or influence in her life she can only follow what others have instructed her to do or be killed.
Each decision Offered makes comes with the consequence of not knowing how that decision will influence her life. There is no way of knowing what the future holds for her and there is relatively nothing she can do to control it. There's no one to trust so she can never be confident in whether or not her actions will lead her to her freedom or to her death. Every decision she makes either leads her, "into the darkness within, or else the light," the theme is that there is never any way of knowing.
The last few sentences of The Handmaid's Tale are, in essence, the theme of the entire novel. Life in Gilead is surrounded by uncertainty. No one knows who they are, no one knows who they can trust, no one knows what is going to happen next. Everything is based upon the inability to know what's going to happen next.
Offred lived her life as any normal human would until one day everything changed. She was thrown into completely new way of living in which all of what was previously considered acceptable and appropriate ways of living where altered. She had no knowledge of what this new society and way of life would withhold, she just had to blindly intermix herself within it and adapt.
She had to learn to live without her husband and daughter, she had to learn to live without emotion, she had to learn how to be submissive and blend into the background. Offred on a daily basis has had to, "give myself over to the hands of strangers." She lives with random people she has never known before. She had to completely abide by their wishes and rules because she had no choice; it, "simply can't be helped." Offred has no choice or influence in her life she can only follow what others have instructed her to do or be killed.
Each decision Offered makes comes with the consequence of not knowing how that decision will influence her life. There is no way of knowing what the future holds for her and there is relatively nothing she can do to control it. There's no one to trust so she can never be confident in whether or not her actions will lead her to her freedom or to her death. Every decision she makes either leads her, "into the darkness within, or else the light," the theme is that there is never any way of knowing.
I think that these last few lines are so powerful and your analysis of them is perfect. For the reader to read these lines at the end of this tale, it forces the reader into a new perspective, in my opinion. I personally felt that after the books conclusion, there was nothing I could not handle. We are left to make our own assumptions about what happened to Offred after she left in the van, and I believe that she was rescued- she went through so much and chose not to end her life regardless, to finally be taken away from her place of oppression and pain. I think these last few lines serve as a message to empower the reader, to have hope when all is lost, and to keep fighting even when it seems as if there is no hope in doing so.
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