THE HANDMAID’S TALE – THEME QUOTES
THEME QUOTE ANALYSIS
Identity ‘we exchanged names from bed to Secrecy, privacy, sense of
bed’ childish togetherness, lack of
self-identity
‘this one was there in her place’ Replaceability of women
‘he deals with torso only’ Dehumanisation of women
‘my self is a thing I must now Dehumanisation /
compose’ objectification of women,
lack of emotion
‘a made thing, not something born’ Dehumanisation /
objectification
‘your name is like your telephone Lack of identity,
number, useful only to others’ dehumanisation of women,
lack of self-identity
‘a betrayal of myself’ Lack of self-identity,
dehumanised
‘if it [love] never happened to you, Sense of people as non-
not ever, you would be like a emotive, non-feeling beings,
mutant’ dehumanised and objectified
‘I am only a shadow now … a Dehumanisation, lack of self-
shadow of a shadow’ identity, fading, lifeless
‘I have been obliterated for her’ Dehumanisation, erasure of
life
‘I tell him my real name, and feel Secrecy, privacy, closeness
that therefore I am known’ because of known identity,
humanised
‘I make of him an idol, a cardboard Changing his identity,
cutout’ idealising to gain hope, lack
of reality
‘Ofglen, wherever she is, is no Replaceability of women,
longer Ofglen’ lack of identity,
objectification
‘lost, in a sea of names’ Replaceability of women,
confusion
Children ‘It’s not that bad. It’s not what Misunderstanding / denial of
you’d call hard work’ their position
‘many of the wives have gardens, its Gardens as children, a
something for them to order and method of nurturing,
maintain and care for’ showing emotion / care for
something
‘the plump shapes of bulbs … Fertile, seductive imagery,
fullness’ suggestive of children,
mothering
‘she’s a magic presence to us, an Idolisation of pregnancy,
object of envy and desire’ mystical, jealousy due to
fulfilling of position
‘give me children or else I die’ Blunt, graphic language
‘mangy with age and love’ Expression of love, emotion,