Power and Freedom in The Handmaid's Tale Part 2

This is a continuation from the previous post.

The following will focus on the power that was given to the novel through the ending chapter, entitled "Historical Notes"

In the end of the Novel, Offred travels into the light or perhaps the dark; she doesn't know what to expect next. To clear up this confusion, Margaret Atwood adds a lecture explaining the existence of this manuscript, set approximately 200 years after the action in the novel. This chapter explains the existence of this story, and some information about the formation and fall of the Republic of Gilead.

I chose this to talk about because I believe it re-emphasises the power of language, referred to in the last blog post. We find out that this manuscript is the transcript of a series of recordings of a women's voice, done after the fact. This alone is interesting because it offers some solutions to the ending of the novel. Quite a bit of evidence is given that she did indeed escape, as she would have had to make these recordings at some point.

We know that someone spoke the words that we just read, and took the time to say them. They were not intended to be written down, but indeed intended to be heard. This was a form of protest perhaps greater than anything else that Offred, or any other had done. She recorded her story to be remembered and heard throughout the ages, and that her voice would resonate throughout time. Indeed, The Handmaid's Tale recordings outlasted Gilead itself, a seemingly indestructible thing. What is astounding is the truly indestructible power that these words ended up having. Could Offred have known that her story would've been told for the next 200 years? Would she have told it any differently?

Professor Piexioto, the professor administering the lecture, offers a series of explanations for this document's existence. He posits that the tapes were designed by a publisher interested in making a quick buck, but indeed the "super-imposition of the voice upon the music tape could not have been done in the last hundred and fifty years"(315).

Perhaps the fact that this is "post facto" (315) as Piexioto says offers an understanding into the novel. I find the idea of Offred reflecting upon everything that has happened, and recording her account in case she never escaped fascinating, and I believe adds a great deal more to Offred's narration. One always remembers things differently when looking back, and I believe that the post facto nature of these calls into question her validity. Further the manuscript is questioned as we know that the order is not necessarily correct, and we again must question what we just read. I was astonished by the power of a few words, and how that completely changed my understanding of the novel as a whole.

The concept of a pseudonym for Luke, Nick, Moira and Janine that were "adopted to protect these individuals should the tapes be discovered," (314) further forces us to question what we have just read. Names mean a lot to a identifying a character, and if these are not their true names, then we have even less knowledge of these few people. It radically changes our knowledge of the world of the book, which is odd for the last 10 pages of the book. It also has some resonance between the names that exist between the handmaids. The fact that Moira and Janine are probably pseudonyms shows that the narrator does not trust us, as the sharing of names in the Red Center was the first sign of trust.