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The significance of Scrabble in the handmaid's tale
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Balemans-Højberg 1Cecilie Balemans-Højberg
Dr. Dara Downey
Contemporary Dystopian Fiction (ENG10170)
13 December 2021
2153 words
The Duality of Scrabble in The Handmaid’s Tale
Gilead is a theocracy where women only have one function: to bear children for the nation. For
women, certain actions like reading and writing are strictly forbidden; their language, and with that,
their power and autonomy, is taken away from them (Atwood 45 & Namjoo 89). Because reading
and writing are illegal for Offred, it is kind of ironic that the Commander asks to play a game of
Scrabble with her (Atwood 144). When the Commander asks this, Offred’s initial response is
wanting to burst out laughing, as she expected to be summoned to fulfil a sexual desire of his,
instead of playing an old people’s game (Atwood 144). However, as Offred starts to think about it
more, Scrabble now brings a level of excitement. The game has become desirable as Offred is
offered something she used to have access to, and she feels empowered upon being able to use
language again (Atwood 145). There is a duality when it comes to the game of scrabble in The
Handmaid’s Tale. To Offred, playing Scrabble is a way to regain a bit of the power she used to have,
whereas for the Commander, the game of Scrabble is another means to assert his power over Offred
and subject her to his desires.
The game of Scrabble brings Offred freedom; it allows her to have power over her own
language use to the point where she feels empowered to tell her life story through the words she
plays in her games with the Commander. Namjoo notes that offering Offred to play Scrabble gives
her access to use language which was previously forbidden to her (Namjoo 92). Once Offred has
access to the language, she uses it to “overthrow the patriarchal language” by using the scrabble
tiles to spell out words that symbolise her tragic story (Namjoo 89). In her first round of Scrabble,
, Balemans-Højberg 2
Offred spells the words larynx, valance, quince, zygote, limp and gorge (Atwood 145). The words
larynx, the part of the throat that contains the vocal cords, and gorge, “the external throat,” may
represent the same message to Offred (“Larynx” & “Gorge”). As both refer to the throat, these
words may be representing the idea that women in Gilead are not allowed to use their voices
(Atwood 45). It could be interpreted as Offred using her newfound freedom, her access to language
through the game of Scrabble, to tell her story, which is something she has not been able to do
before (Atwood 145). The word valance has two definitions, which could each refer to a different
part of Offred’s tale. One meaning of the word is “[a] flap attached to a head-dress, [especially] as a
protection against the sun” (“Valance”). This could refer to “the white wings and the veil” that the
handmaids are wearing (Atwood 15). The shielding of the sun and protecting of the head could be a
metaphor for Offred needing to shield her thoughts from the outside world as she cannot speak
freely without severe consequences (“Valance”). However, a valance can also be a “drapery hanging
round the canopy of a bed” (“Valance”). This could refer to the “canopy of Serena Joy’s […] bed,
and thus the word valance could be a reference to The Ceremony that Offred’s forced to part-take
in (Atwood 100). The word zygote also ties into Offred’s referring to her role as a handmaid.
Because a zygote is a fertilised egg, think links to Offred being one of the few fertile women who is
forced to bear children of the nation as she refers to the handmaids as being “two-legged
wombs” (“Zygote” & Atwood 142). Not only does Offred tell the story of her life as it is now, but
she also tells the story of her life before Gilead through the word quince. A quince is a fruit of the
Cydonia oblonga tree, which, by itself, could refer to Offred as being the tree, the handmaid, that is
bearing fruit, children, for the nation (“Quince”). However, Applebaum notes that the forbidden
fruit in the Biblical story of Adam and Eve might have been a quince as the Latin word malum
refers to “any tree-fruit fleshy on the outside and having a kernel within” and is often interpreted as
being an apple (Applebaum 224). In the story of Adam and Eve, where they ate from the forbidden
fruit, Eve is portrayed as a seductress (Glenn 180). Like Eve, Offred was also marked as a
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