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Definition of Imagery
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After Apple-Picking" contain imagery that engages... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—The Dance:
In Chapter 1, Offred uses imagery to describe a gymnasium wherein she and other women were made to sleep on cots. It is implied that this occurred during wartime, in the conditioning/propaganda camp where Offred received her Handmaid "training":
Dances would have been held there; the music lingered, a palimpsest of unheard sound, style upon style, an undercurrent of drums, a forlorn wail, garlands made of tissue-paper flowers, cardboard devils, a revolving ball of mirrors, powdering the dancers with a snow of light.
The imagery in this scene paints the gymnasium as a former site of chaos and choice ("style upon style"), juxtaposed with the current rigidity and uniformity of the space, now converted for the purposes of Gilead's theocratic regime.
Occurring relatively early in the text, the above passage establishes a key aspect of Offred's character: resistance to rules and structure. She clearly craves the chaos and unruliness generated in an earlier, freer state, even if certain negative emotions or experiences accompanied that chaos. In other aspects of her life before Gilead, Offred courted unruliness and rule-breaking. Case in point: Luke, Offred's former lover and husband, cheated on his wife to be with Offred. Such a morally grey, chaotic action—no matter how harmful—would never be permitted in Gilead. Offred chafes against this moral and structural rigidity.
Related Themes:
Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Fairy Tale:
In Chapter 2, as Offred makes her way from her room to the door of the house, Atwood uses a series of striking images and similes to describe her protagonist's appearance and self-perception:
There remains a mirror, on the hall wall. If I turn my head so that the white wings framing my face direct my vision towards it, I can see it as I go down the stairs, round, convex, a pier glass, like the eye of a fish, and myself in it like a distorted shadow, a parody of something, some fairy-tale figure in a red cloak, descending towards a moment of carelessness that is the same as danger. A Sister, dipped in blood.
Offred describes a disconnect she feels from her physical body, using imagery and simile to compare her existence to that of a "fairy-tale figure in a red cloak." As a kind of trauma response, Offred dissociates; she does not view her surroundings or her predicament as "real life."
Curiously, in this scene, Offred is literally scrutinizing herself through a kind of microscope: the round, fish-eye pier glass reflects her image, representing both how Offred appears to herself as well as how she is scrutinized in extreme detail by society.
Related Themes:
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Ofglen:
Ofglen, as a character, appears eager to be subservient. From Offred's perspective, Ofglen is uncannily obedient, behaving as a trained animal or a robot would. Offred comments on this behavior in multiple sections of The Handmaid's Tale, using imagery and simile to paint a picture of Ofglen's obedience.
In the following example from Chapter 8, Ofglen reacts mechanically to Offred's request that they head home, presenting a perfect specimen of womanly submission:
Without a word she swivels, as if she's voice-activated, as if she's on little oiled wheels, as if she's on top of a music box. I resent this grace of hers. I resent her meek head, bowed as if into a heavy wind. But there is no wind.
Offred resents this recently revitalized societal expectation of womanly subservience. Contradictorily, she also resents herself for being incapable of presenting perfect obedience to the world—her mask, as it were, is not as steadily fastened as Ofglen's.
The imagery in the above passage builds on similar language from Chapter 4:
She walks demurely, head down, red-gloved hands clasped in front, with short little steps like a trained pig's, on its hind legs.
Again, Offred uses simile to dehumanize Ofglen, belittling her out of a kind of multifaceted resentment.
Related Themes:
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Ofglen:
Ofglen, as a character, appears eager to be subservient. From Offred's perspective, Ofglen is uncannily obedient, behaving as a trained animal or a robot would. Offred comments on this behavior in multiple sections of The Handmaid's Tale, using imagery and simile to paint a picture of Ofglen's obedience.
In the following example from Chapter 8, Ofglen reacts mechanically to Offred's request that they head home, presenting a perfect specimen of womanly submission:
Without a word she swivels, as if she's voice-activated, as if she's on little oiled wheels, as if she's on top of a music box. I resent this grace of hers. I resent her meek head, bowed as if into a heavy wind. But there is no wind.
Offred resents this recently revitalized societal expectation of womanly subservience. Contradictorily, she also resents herself for being incapable of presenting perfect obedience to the world—her mask, as it were, is not as steadily fastened as Ofglen's.
The imagery in the above passage builds on similar language from Chapter 4:
She walks demurely, head down, red-gloved hands clasped in front, with short little steps like a trained pig's, on its hind legs.
Again, Offred uses simile to dehumanize Ofglen, belittling her out of a kind of multifaceted resentment.
Related Themes:
