Language, love, and the two kinds of freedom

Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred (for lack of a proven name) toys with language despite her isolation from the written word. Especially at night, when she is alone with her thoughts, she goes on tangents and discussions of the many meanings of individual words. This emphasizes the power that language has, and the deficit left behind when we are limited in our speech. At location 2812 (approximately page 281), Offred has this thought:

“… These things were like prayers; you did them and hoped they would save you. And for the most part they did. Or something did; you could tell by the fact that you were still alive.

“But all of that was pertinent only in the night, and had nothing to do with the man you loved, at least in daylight. With that man you wanted it to work, to work out. Working out was also something you did to keep your body in shape, for the man. If you worked out enough, maybe the man would too. Maybe you would be able to work it out together, as if the two of you were a puzzle that could be solved…”

Here, Offred discusses three meanings of the phrase “to work out.” First, for a relationship to work out is for it to be successful. Second, for a person to work out is for them to exercise, to stay in shape and stay attractive. Third, for a puzzle to be worked out if for it to be solved. All of these things highlight the aspects of sex which were lost in the rise of Gilead. Most fundamentally, Offred wanted her relationship with Luke to work. She actually loved him. And for that reason, she would work to improve herself physically, in the hope that he would stay with her. Or perhaps she hoped he would improve himself for her too– this ambiguity only adds to Atwood’s statements about language, by showing the multiple meanings in context, rather than just listing them. She likens this sort of relationship to a puzzle that could be solved, as a puzzle is something which needs work, yet provides rewarding satisfaction if that work is successful.

None of this is available to Offred any longer. The only relationship she has is with the commander, and despite the practices undertaken in the time before Gilead, she has no way to avoid sex with him. The use of the word “prayers” is interesting– the prayers that seemed to save her before now have no power, despite religion being the essence of the state. Though superficially the state may prevent the need for such prayers (“Freedom from” rather than “freedom to,” as Aunt Lydia would say), in reality the loss of the “freedom to” has brought her no freedom in return.