The+Handmaid's+Tale+Response

Question: The end of the Handmaid’s Tale raises several questions as to what becomes of Offred. Why do you believe Margret Atwood chose to create an ambiguous conclusion? What do you believe happened to Offred?

The Handmaid’s Tale: Ambiguous Conclusions //The Handmaid’s Tale// by Margaret Atwood concludes just as Offred’s world is spiraling out of her control. Her secret friendship with the commander has been discovered, she has lost hope of ever being reunited with her husband, and her shopping companion has selflessly committed suicide to save others in the Mayday community. In the midst of all this, a black van with a painted Eye arrives, ready to whisk Offred away. The van promises a change, but it is unknown whether it will be for better or for worse. Nick, the household laborer whom Offred has befriended, tells her it is safe, but still Offred worries, and consequently, the reader does as well. This event raises a series of questions: did Nick report her? Are they Eyes? Is this the resistance? These unknowns stir up feelings of unease, which is exactly what Atwood wants the reader to feel.

This novel is not about Offred. It is about Gilead and the problems that arise when ideological beliefs are taken to extremes. Offred is merely a vehicle for telling the story. Without this ambiguous conclusion, it may be easy to forget this or to misunderstand Atwood’s intentions. Atwood wants the reader to remember that Offred is not the only person negatively affected by the customs and practices of Gilead. If at the end of the novel Offred had been rescued by the resistance, the reader may feel relief that Offred’s situation has been improved, forgetting that there are many others that are not as fortunate. Likewise, if it were clear that the Eyes had come for Offred, the reader would lose all hope of an improved future for Gilead. Thus, this ending was the only logical option if Atwood wanted to conclude with a strong reminder about how dystopian the Gileadean society truly is. It leaves the reader feeling uneasy, while maintaining some sense of hope.

So what really did happen to Offred? I believe that Atwood left a series of clues throughout the novel that, if found, clear up some questions about this ambiguous ending. This trail of clues begins on page 65 when Offred states: //I cannot avoid seeing, now, the small tattoo on my ankle. Four digits and an eye, a passport in reverse. It’s supposed to guarantee that I will never be able to fade, finally, in to another landscape. I am too important, too scarce, for that. I am a national resource.//

However, this clue is meaningless until page 83 when Offred describes a news story she sees briefly on the television. It is telling the story of a group of Quakers who had been caught and arrested by a team of Eyes. The newscaster describes their crime: “smuggling precious national resources over the border into Canada.” This ambiguous term, //precious national resource//, echoes the previous statements of Offred, alluding toward a resistance working to remove Handmaid’s from their Gileadean obligations. However, this still has not proven that Offred was rescued by the resistance, so Atwood leaves more clues.

None are more striking than Offred’s declaration on page 227 where she exclaims, “You’ll have to forgive me. I’m a refugee from the past.” This is the first time in the novel that Offred uses the term “you,” and the reader cannot help but notice it’s eerie implications. Up until this point, the reader believes that this story follows the musings of Offred, thought quietly to herself as she continues about her daily routine. For the first time, the novel alludes to there being a specific audience, a person to talk to, a “you.”

The other implication that this statement has is that she is a “refugee.” At first it seems that she must be talking about the pre-Gileadean times, but there seems to be another implied meaning of the term “refugee.” There is no doubt that this may be referring to her eventual escape from Gilead, especially after learning that her story is told through a series of tapes found in Maine.

And finally there is one more instance where Offred speaks directly to that mysterious “you,” saying,: //But I keep on going with this sad and hungry and sordid…story, because after all I want you to hear it, as I will hear yours too if I ever get the chance, if I meet you or if you escape, in the future or in heaven or in prison or underground.//

There is a lot implied by this statement. In this we once again see that Offred is speaking to some unknown “you,” but this time she is implying that //if// this “you” can escape, they might be able to meet, and their story can also be told, as well. From this it seems clear that Offred is telling her story only because she has escaped her situation, and she is hopeful that the same fate awaits several other Handmaids.

Of course, there are other clues [Moira’s discussion about the Underground Female Road and her assertion that some stations are still operating; Offred’s charge of “violating state secrets,” which the reader knows is untrue; the tapes being found in Maine, miles away from where Offred lived and quite close to the Canadian border], yet those that have been explained above seem to be the strongest arguments alluding to Offred’s rescue. However, the fact remains that Atwood did not want this conclusion to be made easily. She wrote the //Handmaid’s Tale// to be ambiguous so that it could be interpreted in many different ways. Differing opinions and interpretations inspire discussion and discourse about the novel, which helps reinforce the many lessons that are to be learned by the //Handmaid’s Tale.//

Alyson, This is a great piece of detective work. I loved reading the way you find and piece together the clues about the underground and Offred's possible escape. Great job, also, explaining the purpose for the ambiguous ending.