In part three to part eight of the book, the limitations were expressed everywhere, especially for the women which seemed to be restricted on sexual expressions, whether they are feminists or the religious conservatives. The sexuality seemed to be extremely limited, especially the women’s sexuality. Women living in the country of Gilead lost most of their freedoms and unable to do what you really want to, not only on activity, but also on the thoughts.

Pregnancy seemed to be a big problem for the women living in Gilead. The society rejected about the modern beliefs and put all problems on the women but not the men upon sterile. Men would never be judged on the sterile officially which only some people knew about this. Even though it was illegal, but the doctor was still desired for the strange women. Illegal activities always happened under the surface of Gilead’s surface society, just like the women fertile by the lower-class men such as the doctors.

Another aspect which indicated the unequal treatments occurred in Gilead. When Janine shared the story about the gang-rape which happened in fourteen. None of the women felt sympathy on her but judge on her that she let them go on, and the god allowed this happen and teach Janine a lesson about this. However, normally women should not go against with women on such sensitive problem and leave out sympathy, this did not happen in Gilead. They enjoyed putting the condemnation on Janine on what happened on her and never care about what she truly felt on this and call her a crybaby instead. They despised on her weakness which greatly expressed how the world in Gilead was changing, the unequal were going deeply into these women’s mind and affected what they thought about themselves or the other women.

Basically the women in Gilead were used as a tool for the purpose of reproductions, they seemed to have no life but just used for other benefits of the society. Sexual love and romantic love will never exist among them. The government in Gilead were controlling the women’s bodies for the next generation reproduction which the narrator greatly complained about.

In “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood, our main protagonist, Offred is a handmaid who serves her commander. They are seen as the lowest in the hierarchy and is demanded the most, as they have the potential to give birth to a deprived nation. Given the circumstances that their life is no longer what is was before, they’re trying to blend in. Those who cannot give birth are seen as useless to society, while man is seen as the dominant figure. Man will not be questioned, unless they associate themselves with abortion or homosexuality. Those who live in Gilead, are living under extreme rules. Women are being oppressed by men and is seen nothing more than a mere tool for reproduction.

In Gilead, women do not have a voice unless she is her social ranking in high in the hierarchy. While women aren’t able to voice their opinion, women like Offred, is trying to get impregnated. Being impregnated in this society is seen to be a blessing to their society. I was shocked when reading this: “It’s Janine, telling about how she was gang-raped at fourteen and had an abortion. She told the same story last week. She seemed almost proud of it, while she was telling” (71). She seemed so proud of being a rape victim but was immediately shut down by Aunt Helena.

Given the situation in Gilead, it seems like society has reverted back to a more older past. Women are seen as tools for men to use and are unable to speak their freedom. Their wings are clipped and literally feels like they are trapped in a cage. Those who are able to give birth, are see as dominant and is shown better care than those who cannot.

Thinking can hurt your chances, and I intent to last (Atwood 8)

From the very beginning Offred is aware of the many threats to her survival, threats both from without and within herself. Offred understands that the carefully control of her consciousness is key to her sanity and ultimate survival. I will examine some of the techniques that Offred uses to survive the forces that are the biggest threat to her well-being.

Thoughts and emotions must be carefully unspun so as not to lose self-control.  “I put a lot of effort into making such distinctions. I need to make them. I need to be very clear in my own mind” (Atwood 33). Offred constantly tries to never let her thoughts and emotions run ahead of her. The taut spring of her mind must be unwound very slowly and deliberately.

Sensory stimuli is food to the soul. “But a chair, sunlight, flowers: these are not to be dismissed. I am alive. I live. I breathe” (Atwood 8) Like any prisoner, Offred understands that the more acute her awareness of the sensory stimuli that surrounds her, the better she can create a world in which she can survive and find meaning. She can feel the sunlight, bask in its heat and allow the visual stimulus to fill her. She can internalize the beauty of a flower, its soft perfection. She can lose herself in herself, in being alive, in breathing, slowly, feeling the cool air rushing through her nostrils as she inhales. She can expel her fears as she exhales. Breathing, cycle after cycle to transcend her current difficult reality. “I hunger to touch something other than cloth or wood” (Atwood 8). Despite the availability of visual stimuli Offred yearns for tactile stimulus. She would gladly work in the kitchen, kneads dough, prepare food just to feel the food with her hands.

Offred uses the nights to escape the present by visiting the past. “The night is mine, my own time, to do with as I will” (37). Offred can take mundane memories from the past and relive them, her friend Moira being a good example. Simple, silly and banal memories can, like old movies, be rerun in her mind to escape that which does not bear thought; the present.

The past is a double edged sword. It brings escape and joy but also pain and yearning:“I step into the water, lie down, let it hold me. The water is soft as hands. I close my eyes and she’s there with me, suddenly, without warning, it must be the smell of the soap” (Atwood 63). Smell can be a particularly powerful stimulus, it can bypass our consciousness and motivate us to action before we are even aware of it. Longings for her lost daughter are never far from Offred’s heart and constantly threaten her equilibrium. “The kitchen smells of yeast, a nostalgic smell…This is a nostalgic smell, and I know I must shut it put “ (Atwood 47). The smell of cooking and baking are also powerful stimuli and must be controlled.

In The Handmaid’s Tale, Parts III-VIII, Offred the Handmaid spends a lot of time remembering parts of her past. She creates more images of her life both before and after the change of society. She has many memories of her friend Moira, who she reminisces a lot about. Moira used to be a college classmate friend of Offred’s, and she also became a Handmaid along with Offred. Offred reminisces of her time in college, before the societal change: “I had a paper due the next day. What was it? Psychology, English, economics. We studied things like that, then” (37-38). Another important memory of hers was a time at or right after the societal turning point, when people were burning pornographic magazines. “There were some men, too, among the women, and the books were magazines. They must have poured gasoline, because the flames shot high, and then they began dumping the magazines, from boxes, not too many at a time. Some of them were chanting; onlookers gathered. Their faces were happy, ecstatic almost” (38). The most revealing and surprising thing about this excerpt is that the women (who were the majority in the crowd) were very happy with burning the magazines, which implied that they were happy with the change in society.

Later on in the same chapter, Offred has an internal monologue in which she thinks about her new life as a Handmaid: “I would like to believe this is a story I am telling. I need to believe it. I must believe it. Those who can believe that such stories are only stories have a better chance. If it’s a story I’m telling, then I have control over the ending. Then  there will be an ending, to the story, and real life will come after it. I can pick up where I left off. It isn’t a story I’m telling. It’s also a story I’m telling, in my head, as I go along. Tell rather than write, because I have nothing to write with and writing is in any case forbidden “(39). This shows that Offred is very depressed with her life as a Handmaid, and she wishes that she is able to change her life at will, as she says that ‘if it’s a story I’m telling, then I have control over the ending’. She further emphasizes her lack of freedom when she describes that she has ‘nothing to write with and writing is in any case forbidden’.

In Chapter 22, Offred pieces together the accounts of Aunt Lydia and Janine to tell the story of Moira’s rebellion and escape from being a Handmaid. It is revealed that Moira had used an improvised weapon to steal the clothes and cattle prod of Aunt Elizabeth, and fled under the disguise of an Aunt. This story spread throughout the ranks of Handmaids: “Moira was out there somewhere…Moira had power now, she’d been set loose, she’d set herself loose. She was now a loose woman. I think we found this frightening. Moira was like an elevator with open sides. She made us feel dizzy…Moira was our fantasy” (133). This story had given hope to all of the Handmaids, and they now knew that escape was possible. Offred fantasized of pulling off her own escape attempt, but was it was put off when the Commander showed signs of affection towards her.