The Two Faces of Offred *

This close-reading is focused on Chapter 15, page 292, when Offred states “I consider these things idly. Each one of them seems the same size as all the others. Not one seems preferable. Fatique is here, in my body, in my legs and eyes. That is what gets you in the end. Faith is only a word, embroidered.” This is just prior to her being taken away in the van, leaving the reader to question what her fate may be. She sits, considering ways of avoiding the fate she anticipates: ways of fighting back or ending everything, including her own life.
Throughout the book, we see two sides to Offred. The side that is adamant on survival for the sake of her daughter. The faith that she mentions is key to this side of Offred, as faith is all that keeps alive the idea that she may escape this and lead a normal life with her daughter in the future. This side holds close the statement left by the last Offred: ‘Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.’ The other side to Offred consists of her desire to end her life of suffering and injustice. This side is void of faith.
We are given a depiction of these two sides of Offred previously in the book, with the two contrasting desires, when she sees the red smile of blood on the deceased hanging from the wall and compares it to red tulips. She claims there is no connection between the red tulips and red smile, but I believe that the red tulips she thinks of are symbolic of her new life that refuses her the right to parent her child and the red smile symbolizes her desire to find peace in death.

As she sits, waiting, considering ways to physically escape but chooses not to act on them, we see the end of the side of Offred that is full of faith in a better future. The reader witnesses her acceptance of defeat. She believes that the arrival of the van symbolizes her death among the Unwomen, and her failure to act suggests that the side of her that is content with dying has fully taken over. She states “faith is only a word, embroidered,” showing that she has drained herself entirely of her fight. She is tired, and the bastards did indeed grind her down.

Comments

  1. UnknownDecember 3, 2017 at 12:34 PM

    The relationship between the two very different depictions of Offred's personality that we see here is very unique. I agree that the contrast may be of her two desires, to return to her true self and to remove her whole physical existence from the suffering in Gilead- and I interpreted it as a very familiar conflict between that which she feels burdened to do, whether rightfully or not, as a mother; and that which seems to be the easier way out. Much of this novel is the clear fight... but it is a fight which is personal and societal, which makes it that much more challenging.

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