Role of Women in Society
In Gilead, the women have no power or freedom; they are forbidden from reading, going outside except for grocery shopping, not allowed to vote, hold office, or do anything that shows that they are independent. Instead, women are subjugated to becoming instruments of birth, "We are for breeding purposes: we aren’t concubines, geisha girls, courtesans. On the contrary: everything possible has been done to remove us from that category. There is supposed to be nothing entertaining about us, no room is to be permitted for the flowering of secret lusts; no special favors are to be wheedled, by them or us, there are to be no toeholds of love. We are two-legged wombs, that’s all; sacred vessels, ambulatory -chalice" (Atwood 136)
Totalitarian Government
In the country of Gilead, all aspects of life is heavily controlled by the government. The government rids people of their individuality by giving them titles instead of names. The different titles for people also make it easier for the government to persecute a group of people, like the Children of Ham or the Gender Traitors.
Consequently, the government's control on the lives of people has a heavy impact on their way of thinking. Moira, who used to be very independent and headstrong, is reduced to a dejected prostitute after being captured. Likewise, Offred, who used to think highly of her body, now sees it as merely a tool for fertility, "I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation, or an implement for the accomplishment of my will . . . Now the flesh arranges itself differently. I’m a cloud, congealed around a central object, the shape of a pear, which is hard and more real than I am and glows red within its translucent wrapping" (Atswood 136)
Sexuality and the act of Sex
Sexual intercourse is viewed as a duty in Gilead. With the role of the handmaids and the declining population, the act itself no longer holds meaning. During one of the ceremonies, Offred says, "Below it the Commander is fucking. What he is fucking the lower part of my body. I do not say making love, because this is not what he’s doing." (Atwood 93) The desire and passion that comes with intercourse is lost.
Suicide
In the story, suicide is seen as means of freedom from the totalitarian state of Gilead. When the secret police finds out that Ofglen is part of the resistence group against the government, she decides to kill herself before she gets captured. Similarly, when Serena finds evidence of the Commander and Offred's relationship, Offred contemplates suicide to free herself from the situation.
