Power

Power is explored throughout the novel in both overt and subtle forms. Overtly, Atwood creates a dystopia in which the world is governed by a totalitarian regime. This style of dictatorial government is shown to be one that can only be sustained by force, such as the Angels and the Eyes of God (Secret Police). Furthermore, we are presented with a society in which people are stratified and thus power is and repression is also in the hands of the civilians themselves

Power
This subtle level, of power within the confines of repression is more interesting. Atwoods character show power of themselves and others. Offred demonstrates this power in teasing the Angels. Furthermore, she demonstrates power in her relationship with the commander. It could be argued that she was in certain ways more aware of the power inherent in being a women than she was in her preGiliad life.

Power
This power is also seen in other characters such as Ofglen and Moira, who achieve (albeit unsuccessfully) rebellion within the system. The Marthas and Aunts further demonstrate an ability to have power over others around them. We also see the power to make the choice to not participate in the new society. This is achieved by several characters through suicide.

Language and Power

Of the more critically acclaimed themes explored through the novel is that of language. The use of word play, double entendre (double meanings), and allusion are all prevalent in the story.

Starting from the title of the book The Handmaids Tale is a play on the homophone The Handmaids Tail, as explained by in historical notes (which indicates a objectification of women in the future).

Language and Power

In the society of Gilead, Atwood uses language to create labels for people that represent roles in society and thus there associated power. As seen in many dystopian novels, the idea that language is used to control thought is prevalent in Atwoods novel. When she goes about town and interacts with other handmaids, her language is carefully chosen and mechanical. Praise be We have been sent good weather Which I receive with joy

Language and Power

This censorship of conversation highlights the subversive nature of speech. Offred makes many observations regarding language and possible meanings from what people say, to the multiple meaning of words like Chair (seat, leader, execution, charity, flesh). The scrabble games highlight not only empowerment of language (Offreds ability gives her power), but also the elicit almost sexual nature of language, as in she realizes the games are some kind of kinky sex game.

Moral Relativism
Through the Historical Notes, Atwood raises the general question of whether it is possible to judge a culture outside of its boundaries. It seems clear that she believes that the answer is "yes. Atwood seems to justify this judgment, for while she teases out Gilead's differences, the narrative also reveals that there are many similarities between cultures, no matter the social or cultural mores that divide them. In other words, the same kinds of relationships and the same kinds of power differentials underlie all societies. Atwood seems to suggest that those similarities are what allow outsiders to make judgments. A greater question is whether Atwood's novel is political: is she alluding to specific cultures that she feels her readers have excused themselves from judging.

Sex Roles
Atwood creates a novel in which the traditional roles of the sexes are extended to the extreme. This contradictions and hypocrisy in the society serve to not only highlight the implication of these traditional paradigm, but also to raise the question as to if they are natural or instead tools used by men to maintain their dominance in society and social orders.

Sexuality
Gilead is a society that is trying to separate sex from sexuality. This is partly (apart from biblical reasons) why homosexuals are extinguished from the society. Their sex cannot produce children. This compartmentalization and separation of sex and sexuality is presented as problematic in this story, as humans are portrayed as inherently sexual beings. This underestimation and fear of human sexuality is seen (through historical notes) as a system that cannot sustain itself.

Feminism
Atwood is often seen as a feminist author. This book however, creates a complex commentary on the feminist movement. In fact, Atwood explores feminism from several different viewpoints highlighting its flaws and need.

Moira espouses the idea of an all female society. This is however, what Gilead is. Women are segregated from men and therefore live in a female world. The interaction of the new society challenge some feminists notion that women will naturally stick together.

Feminism
Likewise, her mother is anti-pornography. Pornography is indeed illegal in the world of Gilead, along with the freedom of choice. This links into the Aunt discussing, freedom to and freedom from. Offred as a character is well formed to highlight the need for feminism. She is not a feminist, and in fact is embarrassed by this. Her and many women's inability to recognize that rights must be fought for and can be lost, is in many ways make them culpable of the way society turned out.

Womens Body as a Political Instrument

The use of the environmental subplot allows Atwood to emphasis the idea of the womens body as a political instrument. This polarizing of the body is seen in society in terms of abortion right, arranged marriages, culture and society progeny, falling birthrates. Atwood highlights this societal intervention onto womens body by reducing women (Handmaids) to one facet of of their potential.

Complacency and Society

This novels portrays a society of complacency, in which people are willing to except their given place in society in exchange for a small rights or power. Offred remembers her mother saying that it is truly amazing, what people can get used to, as long as there are a few compensations. All characters are guilty of complacency including Nick, Serena Joy, Moira, and especially Offred!

Guilt and Innocence

For a situation that causes such misery, none of the characters in this novel are presented as evil or specifically guilty. Aunt Lydia seems to believe that her brainwashing will help her students stay safe from assault, Janine is mercilessly pressured by her peers into compliance, and even the Commander, who comes closest among all of the characters to wielding control, is such a pawn of the situation that he takes risks just to talk with the narrator, listen to her, and play games with her. None of these characters is particularly admirable, but none can be pointed to as a specific example of what has caused the problem in Gilead.

Guilt and Innocence

This shows Atwood to be a fair, even-handed writer, willing to examine bad behavior and negative results without losing empathy or creating a two-dimensional villain. It also gives a more accurate depiction of a complex society.

Motifs
Rape and Sexual Violence Sexual violence, particularly against women, pervades The Handmaids Tale. The prevalence of rape and pornography in the pre-Gilead world justified to the founders their establishment of the new order. The Commander and the Aunts claim that women are better protected in Gilead, that they are treated with respect and kept safe from violence. Yet, while Gilead claims to suppress sexual violence, it actually institutionalizes it. Most important, sexual violence is apparent in the central institution of the novel, the Ceremony, which compels Handmaids to have sex with their Commanders.

Religious Terms Used for Political Purposes Gilead incorporates religious terminology and biblical references. Domestic servants are called Marthas in reference to a domestic character in the New Testament; the local police are Guardians of the Faith; soldiers are Angels; and the Commanders are officially Commanders of the Faithful. All the stores have biblical names: Loaves and Fishes, All Flesh, Milk and Honey. Using religious terminology to describe people, ranks, and businesses whitewashes political opportunism in pious language. It provides an ever-present reminder that the founders of Gilead insist they act on the authority of the Bible itself. Politics and religion are joined in Gilead, where the slogan God is a National Resource predominates.

Symbols
Cambridge, Massachusetts The choice of Cambridge as a setting symbolizes the direct link between the Puritans and their spiritual heirs in Gilead. Both groups dealt harshly with religious, sexual, or political deviation. (Salem Witch Hunts) Harvard University Gilead has transformed Harvards buildings into a detention center run by the Eyes, Gileads secret police. Bodies of executed dissidents hang from the Wall that runs around the college, and Salvagings (mass executions) take place in Harvard Yard, on the steps of the library. Harvard becomes a symbol of the inverted world that Gilead has created.

The Handmaids Red Habits The red color of the costumes worn by the Handmaids symbolizes fertility, which is the castes primary function. Red suggests the blood of the menstrual cycle, childbirth, and sexual sin. A Palimpsest A palimpsest is a document on which old writing has been scratched out, often leaving traces, and new writing put in its place. It actually symbolizes all of Gilead. The old world has been erased and replaced, but only partially, by a new order. Remnants of the pre-Gilead days continue to infuse the new world.

The Eyes The Eyes of God are Gileads secret police. Both their name and their insignia, a winged eye, symbolize the eternal watchfulness of God and the totalitarian state. In Gileads theocracy, the eye of God and of the state are assumed to be one and the same. Eggs The idea of eggs comes up frequently in the book. With each mention we're reminded that they're part of a human woman's reproductive cycle, even though usually what the narrator is doing is eating them. When, one night, she falls asleep in her closet and terrifies Cora into dropping her breakfast the next morning, it's an egg that falls to the ground and has to be thrown away.

Flowers Throughout the book, the narrator makes references to or compares women to flowers. For example, the Commander and Serena Joy's house is completely doused in floral imagery: there's a "watercolor picture of blue irises. The first thing the narrator finally works the nerve up to steal is a daffodil from one of Serena Joy's arrangements. Even Jezebel's, where the Commander takes the narrator, is decorated with flowers. Flowers are often considered symbols of beauty or fertility. In The Handmaid's Tale they're given special attention as objects that can bloom and grow at a time when few women can. From a technical standpoint, flowers are also the part of a plant that hold the reproductive organs. It seems the older Wives are seeking to hang onto their attractiveness and fertility by decorating themselves with flowers and tending gardens: "Many of the Wives have such gardens, it's something for them to order and maintain and care for.