Falling Into Oblivion

    Our world is one filled with mysteries. Indeed, no one knows how life on earth came to be, nor do the brightest scientists have an accepted theory of why we dream, what is consciousness or even what makes us human. In fact, despite the multiple technological advancements of the last centuries we constantly praise, humanity is still relatively ignorant about the world in which we’ve lived since beginning of mankind. A similar kind of oblivion can be seen throughout the novel and especially in the final chapters of Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale. Effectively, these chapters (44-46) clearly depict to what extent Offred’s existence relies on fragmented and corrupted parts of reality.

To begin, while readers often like to think the narrator of a story is reliable, in this particular work, we constantly need to remind ourselves that Offred is, in fact, unaware of the majority of events happening around her. As a matter of fact, just as the “wings” of the Handmaids prevent peripheral vision, the regime’s rules are concocted in a way that prevents the lower classes from gaining an overall understanding of the situation in Gilead. For example, the afternoon after the Particicution, Offred goes shopping as usual. Everything remains the same as usual except for a small detail: the woman walking towards her, “she isn’t Ofglen” (352). Offred is surprised by this change and knows it is certainly not a good sign. She also knows explanations are never officially provided. As a matter of fact, Offred and the majority of residents in Gilead barely have any way of preventing a tragedy from occurring and even less opportunities of helping a friend; they can only try to accept the outcome. As a result, Offred often makes up different scenarios in her head and bases her fears and hopes on an uncertain story, rendering her untrustworthy.

Additionally, the regime even takes the mere semblance of individuality away from the Handmaids. For example, after realizing Ofglen is gone, our narrator begins to panic. Indeed, while Offred is the protagonist of the story, Ofglen was perhaps the true hero of the story; she was the one representing hope. Again, the regime does its wonders and with the wave of a hand, Oglen is forgotten and replaced with someone of the same name. In this way, as Offred explains, “ (...) you can get lost, in a sea of names.” (353) In fact, even the names of the characters exist only in an ephemeral reality, thus, proving at what point an individual is meaningless in the society; they don’t even have the right to a name.

Finally, Offred’s life relies on statements that might not even be true. For instance, in the last few pages of the book (chapter 46), when a black van comes to take Offred away, she realizes that, to her surprise, neither Serena, nor the Commander, were the ones to call the Eyes. In fact, both are taken aback and demand explanations but eventually don’t really receive any. The only semblance of explanation we have is Nick’s word, telling Offred to trust him, but even she, knows that that particular statement “has never been a talisman, [it] carries no guarantee.” (366). Precisely, Offred is aware of the fact that Nick might be an Eye or have denounced her. Even so, she decides to put her life into his hands and enters the van, showing to what extent her decisions are dependent on uncertainty and what could be a lie.

In the end, Offred still has no answers and often relies on the words of someone else, proving her reality is a blur, containing a fuzziness that despite her best efforts, she was never able to clear. All in all, Offred never gains a defined understanding of the world around her. Such as in a photograph where it is impossible to have everything be in perfect focus at the same time, life is full of uncertainties. Perhaps, it needs to be in order to shield us from reality’s harsh nature. In that case, can oblivion really protect us forever?