The Handmaid's Tale

Offred lives in the Republic of Gilead, where her name is not her name and her body is not her own. She is a Handmaid, assigned to bear a child for the Commander and his Wife because the ruling class has decided that fertility is a national resource. Atwood published the novel in 1985, and it became one of the most argued-about books of the late twentieth century. Offred is not a hero who defeats Gilead. She is a woman trying to keep enough of herself alive to remember, resist, or escape.

Offred is the narrator: sharp, watchful, and trained to survive by remembering what she is not allowed to say aloud. Serena Joy is the Commander's Wife, once famous for anti-feminist television, now trapped in the world she helped build. The Commander invites Offred into forbidden pleasures that are still exercises of power. Nick is the Guardian whose glances become a lifeline and then a risk. Ofglen is the walking partner who may be an ally or a trap. Moira is the friend from the Red Center whose escape story keeps hope and grief alive. Aunt Lydia is the voice of the regime. Luke is the husband from before. The daughter is the child taken.