Offred Quotes Flashcards
‘I am alive, I live, I breathe, I put my hand out, unfolded, into the sunlight’ - Chapter 2, Page 8
Offred reminds herself that she is still alive despite the removal of her autonomy, she uses this as a coping mechanism in order to ground herself.
‘A small defiance of a rule, so small as to be undetectable, but such moments are the rewards I hold out for myself, like the candy I hoarded, as a child, at the back of a drawer. Such moments are possibilities, tiny peepholes.’ - Chapter 4, Page 21
Offred’s life is so monitored, rigid and joyless that she relishes in tiny moments of rebellion like showing a man her face. The simile she uses highlights human curiosity and longing for connection and love. Offred treasures morsels of defiance to keep herself alive.
‘I enjoy the power, power of a dog bone, passive but there’ - Chapter 4, Page 22
Offred is unashamed of her desire for power, she has been stripped of it for so long that she uses her sexuality, clinging to what she still possesses.
‘The smell of nail polish has made me hungry’ - Chapter 5, Page 29
Offred’s brief interaction with the Japanese tourists reminds her of what she has lost. She craves the past, she is hungry for change.
‘The night is mine, my own time… as long as I am quiet. As long as I don’t move. As long as I lie still… But the night is my time out. Where should I go?’ - Chapter 7, Page 37.
Even Offred’s free time is restricted, she has the freedom of her mind, she can travel back to where she wants to but her body is still controlled.
‘You’ve killed her, I said. She looked like an angel, solemn, compact, made of air’ - Chapter 7, Page 39.
Offred is ambiguous - does she mean that her daughter looks like one of Gilead’s angels (indoctrinated, trapped) or like death or like she has been saved?
‘The kitchen smells of yeast, a nostalgic smell… it smells of mothers… it smells of me, in former times, when I was a mother’ - Chapter 8, Page 47
The sensory language shows how small things like scents can transport people back into their memories, unlocking feelings and desires. Offred is reminded of motherhood, of being young and of having a daughter herself.
‘It could mean attack, it could mean parley, it could mean the edge of something, a territory’ - Chapter 8, Page 49
In a male dominated setting, Offred is unsure of what the Commander’s presence means. This feeling of uncertainty evokes fear, worry and an undercurrent of excitement and anticipation.
‘My room then. There has to be some space, finally, that I claim as mine, even in this time’ - Chapter 9, Page 50
Offred has accepted the room as hers, in an attempt to preserve her identity. If there is nothing she can say is her own then it is like she doesn’t exist.
‘I am like a child here, there are some things I must not be told. What you don’t know won’t hurt you’ - Chapter 9, Page 53
Offred is infantilised as if she couldn’t comprehend the dangers that are implied. Her mind is treated like a child while her body as an object - she isn’t treated as a human.
‘If I could spit, out of the window, or throw something, the cushion for instance, I might be able to hit him’ - Chapter 10, Page 57
Offred has an urge to retaliate against those who oppress her, the only figure she could target is the Commander. This reveals her inner desire to let out her rage, sorrow and pain in some way.
‘I ought to feel hatred for this man. I know I ought to feel it, but it isn’t what I feel. What I feel is more complicated than that. I don’t know what to call it. It isn’t love’ - Chapter 10, Page 58
Offred has a tangled mess of complicated feelings for the Commander. She feels guilty for her inability to loathe him but also cannot love him.
‘Why am I frightened? I’ve crossed no boundaries, I’ve given no trust, taken no risk, all is safe. It’s the choice that terrifies me. A way out, a salvation’ - Chapter 11, Page 61
Offred’s fear of choice shows how in some ways, Gilead’s indoctrination has been successful. Rebellion seems to pose a larger threat than staying in the familiarity of her current life. The risk is too dire.
‘My nakedness is strange to me already. My body seems outdated… I don’t want to look at something that determines me so completely’ - Chapter 12, Pages 62+63
Gilead’s conditioning has made Offred feel as though her body is alien to her. It is ‘outdated’ as now she is purely a vessel for childbirth, the only valued parts of her body are her womb and sexual organs. She has become detached from her body.
‘She’s there with me… I put my face against the soft hair at the back of her neck and breathe her in’ - Chapter 12, Page 63
Moments of comfort for Offred, (like a warm bath or the freedom of nighttime) allow memories of her daughter to come to the surface. Offred has an irrevocable longing to have her child back, the impossibility of this leads to Offred using her memories to keep her daughter alive in her head. Motherhood is ever-present, once you become a mother, the feeling cannot be erased.
