The Handmaid's Tale: Offred is a Dissapointment

     After reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, I am very interested in the character, Offred. Atwood seems to have a lot a feminist values an ideas throughout the novel, but the main character does not seem to display these ideas, or even seem to care about them. This is why I have decided to focus on Offred and feminism for this post.

     Feminists in our current century still have a lot of fighting in them, and a lot of things that they believe should be changed having to do with gender in our society. Specifically, gender typing femine and masculine roles and jobs are a big part of the issue. Many people are trying to stop the stereotyping and look beyond just gender in individuals. Equality between the sexes with relationships and jobs are still an issue in our society. Feminism is still a big deal today obviously, and it is a big contrast in the ideas and thoughts of the main character in the novel, Offred. 

     One of the first things I noticed in Offred as being disappointing in a feminist aspect is the embarrassment and contrast she felt for her mother. Her mother was explained to be a riot lover and was concerned with women's rights. She lived in a time where women were only supposed to cook and take care of children, and was still shocked at how much change has been made in her lifetime. We see that she was fighting for women's rights when the narrator takes us to a flashback. Her mother is setting fire to magazines that had "a pretty woman on it, with no clothes on, hanging from the ceiling by a chain wound around her hands" (Atwood, 38). So, when Offred is embarrassed of her mother, she shows no interest in these movements. 

     It also becomes apparent Offred is not very interested in women's freedom when she doesn't try and join or help the resistance as Ofglen does. Though she supports it, she doesn't seem to want to be apart of it. This is showed when she refuses to look for the Commanders secrets that could lead to an escape for many women, including herself. She states "I scarcely take the trouble to sound regretful, so lazy have I become" (Atwood, 271). Even when she it comes to her own freedom, Offred doesn't show much interest. 

     Lastly, she is a very big disappointment in my eyes, and in the eyes of feminists I would believe, is when she starts to have a romantic relationship with Nick. She says "The fact is that I no longer want to leave, escape, cross border to freedom. I want to he here, with Nick, where I can get at him" (Atwood, 271). With this, she is actually able to be happy again and stops contemplating suicide or escape from her constraints, all because she is having sex. His just gives power to Nick, and any other men in the situation.

     Offred's lack of concern for women's rights and freedom throughout the novel is a disappointment to me as a reader, and also a contrast to the book as a whole. I see the authors feminist perspective through the characters of Offred's mother, Ofglen, and Moira being included in the novel. This is what's most interesting about the narrator and main character, Offred's ideas. Though I do not know exactly why the author chose to write Offred in this way, I think it may have to do with showing he wrongness and weakness of the character. This is why I thought the novel as a whole was very interesting.