![]() ![]() Our founder Helen is a great supporter of ambition in young girls and showcasing female small business owners. She suggests that its a benefit for these women to be free “from” free choice.This bracelet keepsake with heart chart is mounted on a card with one of many motivational quotes to help cheer on someone you care about! It’s a perfect example of Orwellian doublethink in which something that is inherently bad is described as being inherently good. Here, she speaks broadly about freedom but is specifically referring to the freedom that these women no longer have as Handmaids. Lydia is a believer, she is, by all accounts in The Handmaid’s Tale, 100% committed to the Gilead and its principles. These lines are spoken by Aunt Lydia, the woman in charge of reeducating Offred and the other Handmaid’s at the Red Center. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. There is more than one kind of freedom,” said Aunt Lydia. They are allowed to take different routes through the maze, but they aren’t allowed beyond the walls of the city. She was inspired to think these words while considering the different ways to and from the shops that OFfred and Ofglen sometimes take. These lines in The Handmaid’s Tale are part of Offred’s narration in regards to the freedom, or lack thereof that the Handmaids have as they move through their very specific “maze”. A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze. Now and again we vary the route there’s nothing against it, as long as we stay within the barriers. She’s reminded of who she used to be before Gilead. This is one example of Offred’s rebellion against Gilead as she relishes words, even though she’s not allowed to read them. Here, offred is thinking about the power of words, their various meanings, and how things change depending on context. These are the kinds of litanies I use, to compose myself. None of these facts has any connection with the others. It can also mean the leader of a meeting. I sit in the chair and think about the word chair. She looks to the future, hoping that sometime, somewhere, things will get better, and “real life” will return. ![]() ![]() This connects her deeply to the story in a way that is more moving and real than it would be if she was telling the story from a distance. She is there, in real-time, living the words that readers see on the page. In these lines of The Handmaid’s Tale, readers are reminded of the fact that Offred is experiencing the horrors of Gilead in real-time. Then there will be an ending, to the story, and real life will come after it. If it’s a story I’m telling, then I have control over the ending. Those who can believe that such stories are only stories have a better chance. I would like to believe this is a story I’m telling. It is translated into “Don’t let the bastards grind you down,” a reference to an old Latin joke. She feels a deep connection to the woman who was there before her but also a sorrow over this woman’s fate and her own. These words bring Offred equal parts joy and sorrow. The phrase “Nolite te bastardes carborundorum” was carved on the inside of Offred’s closet by the previous resident of the room, some other handmaid. As soon as people forget what a different world would be like, Gilead wins. Gilead, like other fictional and real-life totalitarian societies, succeeds when people get used to its practices. It is at this point that she recalls what Aunt Lydia told her, that the extraordinary will become ordinary over time. She tries to put aside her horror at the sight and blank out any of her emotions. There, they can see those executed by Gilead. These lines come from the end of Chapter 6 when Offred and Ofglen are looking at the Wall, where “traitors” are hung. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. Ordinary, said Aunt Lydia, is what you are used to. She also considers the things that used to occupy everyone’s time. What the buildings are now and what they used to be when the United States of America was a complete country. She isn’t only thinking about her personal past though, she’s also considering the landmarks around her. She is well aware that the past isn’t always what it seems to be as time passes and memories of hardships are lighted. There, she spends time considering what was and what is. In this moving quote about the past, Offred is lost in her own thoughts, one of the only places she has any freedom. When we think of the past it’s the beautiful things we pick out. ![]()
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