The Republic of Gilead overpowers woman and minimizes handmaid’s as offred to sexual slavery. The government has excessive amounts of power and control over the handmaids. The Handmaid’s are forced to follow the laws of gilead and to act accordingly or they are put in a position of punishment. The Women operate by fear. Fear of not being able to give child birth which would result in them being sent to the colonies…..
“Remember for our purposes your feet and your hands are not essential (91)” Hands and feet are not required for giving birth. Aunt Lydia implies that only the womb is necessary for giving birth. Which explains when Moria was attempting to escape and was caught her feet were beat with steel cables. The beginning of this passage starts with “our purpose.” In this context those words are ironic because the handmaid’s have no purpose other than giving birth. Those over them only care about sex so why should your hands and feet matter. The words “Feet… hands” goes back to the lack of control and power. If the handmaid does something that’s out of line with the government she’s more than likely to be punished which may result in her hands or feet being beat.
Everyday each woman has to walk around in constant fear. All women have to be careful in terms of what they say how they communicate it and who receives what they say. The woman are manipulated by the fear of punishment which the government has instilled in them since the start. The government takes advantage of everything they can just to gain power and create authority over the woman. The only “essential” thing is the womb of a woman. The womb is the most important part and the only part of a woman Gilead cares about. Your hands aren’t necessary for intercourse just like your feet aren’t necessary. Now if your unable to become infertile then your truly useless and no one wants anything to do with you. Once you become fully useless everyone considers you useless and you go and work in the colonies.
“The three bodies hang there, even with the white sacks over their heads looking curiously stretched, like chicken strung up by their necks in a meat shop window; like birds with their wings clipped like flightless birds, wrecked angels.(277)” Of the three bodies that were hanging one is a wife and the two others were handmaids. Wives are only salvaged for two things: adultery or attempting to escape. The beginning of this quote refers to lifelessness, death, and brutality by using the word “hang.” Before continuing the passage, the reader is given the impression that someone has died. The lifelessness in this section transmits the absence of movement and control which is linked to the handmaid’s which represent the lack of control, power and freedom they have.
The government often abuses their power to take advantage of the woman to inflict fear on others. The term “white sacks” makes it more bearable for those who walk pass to see the unknown lifeless bodies hang there. The phrase “white” creates imagery in the form of color. The fact that the sacks are white gives a sign of purity as if there is no longer violence in terms of the bodies. The bodies are at peace. The choice of the animal “chicken” is a form of dehumanization. The bodies are compared to an unimportant animal which makes them less human like. The saying “meat shop window” represents how the bodies are on display as meat is on display in meat shop windows. The woman are stripped of their freedom which is demonstrated in the term “wings clipped.” when birds wings are clipped they are no longer able to wander around in the sky like they once were able to which is demonstrated through the hanging bodies. This gives about the sense of destruction because they have become useless to the government.
