The Democratic Field of Relationship Choices and Freedom

Without our discussion in class today, I would have thought that The Handmaid's Tale was about relationship choices and the time associated with them, as well as freedom in a democracy, or, the lack of all of these things in a totalitarian system. In the book, Offred has the recurring urge to steal something, because she feels that she is being denied the basic human right of showing emotion. "I want to be valued , in ways that I am not..."(97).
Freedom is described in the book as being "relative"(231). Indeed, the general values of a society affect who can pratice what where. For instance, in the beginning, Offred's mother goes to a meeting where porn magazines are being set on fire. She values modesty, and so it is that she attempted, with the help of others, to hide from her chid's eyes something she deemed immodest. After the new regime came into power, magazines of all kinds were completely put away from the view of the handmaids in an attempt to create within them an extreme sense of modest behaviour. When she visits the Commander in his study, she envies him his pen, and the freedom he has to wield it.
One of my favorite symbols of choice in the book is the discussion Offred has about flowers on page 212: "I long for one, just one[dandelion], rubbishly and insolently random and hard to get rid of and perennially yellow as the sun." Here, she is symbolizing her longing for a crush of her own, a crush for someone "insolently random and hard to get rid of," and someone who constantly makes her feel good, just like the dandelion that is "perennially" yellow and bright. Blow, and you tell the time. When you blow the seeds into the air, while you are in a relationship, you have the ability to decide when your feelings change. It was daisies for love though, and we did that too. Here is a literal translation for love.
I believe the obsession Offred had with time had to do with her purpose of being on Earth. She felt that her body, which had so much emphasis placed on it as a sacred child-bearing vessel, was not as important as it was made out to be. "But this is wrong, nobody dies from lack of sex. It's lack of love we die from"(103).


I didn't think as much at first, about The Handmaid's Tale being an example of field notes. Though, apparently, there are many instances where it can be seen as so. The above, apparently, are mainly just descriptive subpoints about the values of this gender and religion-based community with a military enforcement similar to that of the Byzantines.
Over the years, the U.S. has become less and less of a religious based nation due to a rise in diversity. This has been exhibited by the recent attempts to extract the phrase "Under God" from the pledge of allegiance.
The social culture of the community described in the book is mostly made up for women. Like the Puritans, modesty is a common value. The Puritan came to accept, so long ago, a "variant of English culture that rejected as 'ungodly entertainments' the songs, dances and sports enjoyed by most Englishmen (Website)" Compliance to religious secular authority is something that can still be seen in churches today. Many people trust the interpretation of religious documents by clergymen more than they do their own. The handmaids are quiet Counter-Cosmopolitans. This is because their duty forces them to reproduce and allows them little else to do than to be "surrogate mother(s)"(305). Their duty is to birth children for the "Wives" of "Commanders." Which commander they get sent to is arranged based on the wives who cannot birth. The daughters of the handmaids have arranged marriages. Does anyone think that an arranged marriage can generate true love? The book seems to give merit to this idea, and yet, discredit it at the same time.

"Puritanism-Religious Practice." 6 Nov. 2008. http://science.jrank.org/pages/10924/Puritanism-Religious-Practice.html.

Halsall, Paul . "Introduction." 22 Mar. 2004. 6 Nov. 2008. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/byzantium/.


Stewart, David . "The U.S. Constitution and Faith In God." Dec. 2007. 6 Nov. 2008. http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Miscellaneous/faith_and_freedom.htm.