Commentary on Memory

In Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Attwood presents Offred talking to the commander about life before Gilead; and manipulates structure to portray the consequences of feminism and Offred's reliance on memory to survive in the oppressive society Gilead.

When the commander brings up an unfamiliar topic we can see Offred shut down. “I don’t have to tell it. I don’t have to tell anything, to myself or to anyone else. I could just sit here peacefully I could withdraw.” She wants to escape this conversation desperately, she seems to be trying to calm herself down with the drawn out words. The broken up structure reads slower as if she’s trying to make the most of her scarce thoughts in order to avoid facing the emptiness of her life.

When the topic changes Offred clings to the security of her knowledge. “It was the central thing; it was the way you understood yourself; if it never happened to you not ever you would be like a mutant, a creature from outer space.’’ her sentences have become much longer compared to the previous paragraph as if she sees a chance to distract herself with the past, she jumps for it almost desperately. Her memories aren’t idealistic, she doesn’t paint the old society as perfect, she mentions exclusion “you would be like a mutant” but she still would rather think about the flawed past than the present, revealing her preference for the previous society. Feminists often complained about love and pleasing men being the central thing in women’s lives, but Offred prefers this life, reflecting the author’s issues with feminism.

Offred is comforted by any memory even remembering insecurity “likely you would think at those times: what if he doesn’t love me?” she recollects the nature of the past seeing the good and bad and still feels nostalgia. The time when women fretted about what men thought of them the time when feminists complained about this was better in her eyes than the present.

Offred is addicted to her memories, but they can be hard to look at as they show the roots of her current world. “God is love the once said, but we reversed that, and love like heaven was always just around the corner.” She mentions changes that began to occur in the past that led to this dystopia, this helps give an explanation for what happened which might give her some comfort but it is also painful to face. When she says “we” she points out when her individuality began to disappear, and she didn’t really do anything to stop it. She doesn’t reflect on her memories she just narrates them, she can’t reflect for her own sanity.

Her sentences shorten towards as the topic draws to a close, revealing her complicated emotional state “who can tell what they really are? Under their dailyness.” It’s as if she’s trying to drag out her memories to avoid returning to the present. But she is also trying steady herself by trying to keep herself from getting to absorbed in the past, she tries to slow down her speech to stunt her thought to keep herself from living in the past . She’s doing conflicting things revealing her confusion with this life.
Memory is essential to Offred's survival. It gives her a distraction to keep her from facing the painful reality of her life. Her slow sentences show how she rations her memories and thought trying to make them last so she can last. Her memories also reflect Attwood’s view of feminism and the world the feminists longed to change became much worse once their dream had solidified. Her memories are the only thing she can control. Her memories are her roots all she knows the remnants of her individuality. She permits herself to think about the past but she doesn’t let herself get too excited about them or else she wouldn’t be able to face the present at all. She also refrains from reflecting on the past she only narrates it to avoid seeing where she had a chance to escape.