Offred: An Analysis

The book opens with a description in which women are in a difficult situation. Two women guard women that are not allowed to speak or they will be punished by the watchmen. The patrollers of the grounds are ironically known as Angels. For some strange women these people do not look at the people on the grounds. Moving forward, the main character Offred is presented in a new place and he is in a room that is not particularly nice place. Based upon the descriptions it seems very prison like. Later, there are descriptions of different characters of the book and what they wear including the Handmaids, the Marthas, and the Wives. There are even some social boundaries between the groups and restrictions on what some of the people in groups can do.
For example Handmaids cannot smoke or consume alcohol. Later in the text, Offred has a strange interaction with Knick who is a Guardian of Faith. This person winks at Offred which should be an offense, however she perceived Offred as a spy. The Guardians are like police that are not equipped enough to be in the army. We learn a lot about the Guardians as the book progresses. For example that marriage is not allowed and neither is masturbation. This group of people strive to be Angels. Not only do we learn about the people we also learn about the society that Offred lives in. In addition he remembers what it used to be like.
Chapter six opens up with Ofglen walking by an old church. We learn what the scenery is like inside the church as well. The description that Offred gives is the campus of Harvard. Near Harvard is where criminals are hanged. A description of the area is given in the text. As the book progresses Offred likes to think about how things used to be. Specially, her mother and friend from college. This is not the only time she reflects on what her life was once like because as the story progresses this happens on multiple occasions. We learn that music is banned where Offred lives however she is a big fan of Elvis. Moving forward, we learn about the living conditions that Offred had, specifically her bathroom which has no lock on it or no mirrors for reflection. A sad thing that I read was that Offred has no recollection of her daughter. That is upsetting for any mother. She has trouble regarding in what way to think of her. Finally, the section in which we read as a class concludes with a ceremony that Offred attends in which the Commander reads excerpts of the Bible.