Paint It, Grey

Art by Fanzi 518

The term ‘Grisaille’ refers to a monochromatic painting technique used by artists– a technique where an entire piece is conceived using only the colour grey. To achieve this, artists mix precise quantities of black and white to produce a wide range of grey tones. And while these two colours are responsible for the definition of every shape, black and white in their purest form are scarcely present. People are much the same– never completely belonging to one side of the spectrum, or the other.

A similar grey zone was prevalent throughout chapter 28 of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. During this chapter, we watch through Offred’s eyes as the gradual fall of the United States gives way to the rise of the Republic of Gilead. There are arguably a number of things that may have provoked this turn of events, but most notably, it was the people’s indifference toward any problems that don’t concern them. For instance, even when Offred is stripped of her bank account and right to work, Luke’s sympathy seems unperturbed. Upon hearing her express her frustration and anguish, he hushes her, and tells her that “[he’ll] always take care of [Offred]” (Atwood 225). Though he loves her and wishes to protect her, the fact that he chose to tell her he’d ‘take care of her’ rather than helping her win her rights back reveals a mental inclination toward patriarchal values (where a woman’s well-being depends entirely on her husband). In other words, Luke doesn’t really understand or sympathize with Offred’s struggles because, quite frankly, they do not affect him in the least. In fact, Offred even wonders whether or not he enjoys holding this sort of power over her, because without mutual independence, “[they] are not each other’s anymore. Instead, [Offred] is his” (Atwood 229). In brief, though he plays the role of the faithful and loving husband well, Luke’s morality is not as snow white as he may have it seem.

And while they may not have overthrown the government or created any of the new laws, Offred and the general public of the United States are not faultless either. After assassinating the president and all of Congress, Gilead slowly inaugurated itself by removing civil rights, one at a time. Though they claimed that some restrictions were for “security reasons, they said” (Atwood 218), others were blatant examples of Gilead’s religious extremism and all-around ignorance. For one, they shut down all of the ‘Pornomarts’, ‘Bun-Dle Buggies’ and ‘Feels on Wheels vans’. Upon remembering this event, Offred recalls that she “wasn’t sad to see them go” (Atwood 218), because “[she and her fellow Americans] all knew what a nuisance they’d been” (Atwood 218). Here, Offred’s thoughts highlight her hypocrisy– while she and many others may have disapproved of the Pornomarts and of similar institutions, there are definitely people who depend on them for financial income. All of these people lost their jobs when Gilead shut down these places, much like Offred did some time later. However, Offred is only outraged when she is fired, and not when the Pornomart workers are. In this sense, she is much like Luke– only caring about problems that affect her personally. In simpler terms, it is the blind eye that Offred and many others turned to the growing oppression of Gilead that allowed the new regime to suppress the democratic United States. And by ignoring their gradually decreasing freedom, the Americans essentially submitted themselves to the overbearing mindset of the new Republic.

To put it simply, humanity’s selfish habit of selectively recognizing issues and only taking action when their well-being is directly involved is toxic to society, proving that equality can never truly be achieved unless we learn to extend our sympathy to others. Since the characters in The Handmaid’s Tale only acknowledged Gilead’s restriction when they were directly impacted by them, they did not notice the rise of this authoritarian regime until it was already too late. Indeed, the grey zone that defines Luke’s and Offred’s moralities has also filled our world for centuries. From governmental policies, to religious dogmas, to cultural values– most of our beliefs are laced with contradictions and hypocrisies. Throughout her novel, Atwood cautions us against both the indifference of others and our own notorious ignorance. It is, after all, when we focus only on ourselves and neglect the suffering of others that our greyscale world is tinted a little darker.