Representation of Colors in Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale Essay

Representation of Colors in Marg bet Atwoods The Handmaids Tale Imagine if you can, living in a world that tells you what you are to fag, where to live, as well as your slope and value to society. In Margaret Atwoods novel, The Handmaids Tale, she shows us the Republic of Gilead does just that. Off deprivation, the main character, is a Handmaid, whose usefulness is her ovaries. Handmaids are ordered to live in a house with a Commander, his wife, and once a month attempt to become pregnant by the Commander. Throughout Atwoods novel, you give notice she uses different colors for her characters clothing that correspond to their localise and place in the Republic of Gilead. They become aware of peoples statuses by the color of their garments. The colors of dress that have been used are red, blue, green, white, black, and khaki. Going into detail, I will show the social rank that each color represents in the novel, and my interpretation of them. The Handmaids are the only ones wearin g red dresses, and several references are made towards the affinity of blood. When Offred is in the room, which she refuses to call her own, she hears the bell to signal her time to go to the market. Getting up she puts on her red shoes and her red gloves, all the while thinking, everything turn out the wings around my face is red the color of blood, which defines us. The dress she wears is also red, being ankle-length as well as long sleeve. The only item she wears that isnt red is the white wings around her face to keep her from seeing, as well as from being seen. Leaving the room, she walks down the hall, and heads for the stairs. She knows there is a mirror on the hall wall. If she turns her head so that the white wings framing her face direc... ... responsible for conceiving and giving birth for a Commander and his wife wear red. The Commanders wives wear blue which is the most prestigious color worn by a woman. Guardians, as well as Marthas, wear green, which is not an auth oritive color, putting them in a lower class. White is the color to be worn only by the virgin daughters until they are given to a soldier to marry. Econowives are wearing dresses that are mixed colors because they have multiple functions and little value. The Republic of Gilead believes in showing levels of hierarchy, by the color of clothing worn. Works CitedAtwood, Margaret. The Handmaids Tale. New York Anchor Books, 1986. Snodgrass, bloody shame Ellen. Cliff Notes on Atwoods The Handmaids Tale. Lincoln Cliff Notes, Inc., 1994. Websters New World Dictionary, Third College Edition. New York Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1988.