The Handmaid’s Tale – Writer’s Techniques (OCR A-Level English Literature): Revision Notes

The Handmaid's Tale – Writer's Techniques

Narrative structure and framing

Atwood employs a distinctive structural approach to create a multi-layered narrative. The novel is divided into fifteen parts, marked by Roman numerals, which contain a total of forty-six chapters. This fragmented structure mirrors Offred's disjointed experience of time and memory under oppression.

The framing device of historical notes

The entire novel is presented from Offred's first-person perspective, creating an intimate and personal account of life in Gilead. However, Atwood adds a crucial framing device at the end: the Historical Notes section. This takes the form of a dictated lecture delivered many years in the future by Professor Pieixoto, a historian studying the period of Gilead.

This framing device suggests that telling your story matters, regardless of the consequences or restrictions you face.

Unreliable narrator technique

Atwood makes Offred acknowledge her own unreliability as a narrator, creating a meta-textual commentary on storytelling itself. Offred directly tells the reader:

It's impossible to say a thing exactly the way it was, because what you say can never be exact, you always have to leave something out, there are too many parts, sides, crosscurrents, nuances.

The unreliable narrator technique appears in other significant literary works, such as Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby and Captain Walton in Frankenstein, where narrators' personal feelings and perspectives colour their accounts.

Despite the restrictions imposed on her in Gilead – she is forbidden from reading and writing – Offred's narrative remains powerfully evocative. Her mental strength and spirit of endurance shine through, demonstrating the resilience of human storytelling even under the most oppressive conditions.

Language techniques

Biblical references and allusions

Atwood saturates the novel with Biblical language and imagery, establishing the theocratic nature of Gilead from the very beginning. The book opens with an epigraph from Genesis 30:1-3, which describes Rachel asking her husband Jacob to impregnate her maid Bilhah so she can have children through her.

Key elements of this technique include:

Character and place names with Biblical origins:

• The name Gilead comes from Genesis, referring to a mountainous region where Jacob met his uncle before escaping to freedom. In Hebrew, it means "eternal happiness" – deeply ironic given the oppression in Atwood's Gilead
• The Red Centre is officially called the Rachel and Leah Centre, after Jacob's two wives
• Vehicles are named after Biblical references: Whirlwind, Chariot, and Behemoth (all from the Old Testament)
• Law enforcement groups have Biblical names: the Guardian Angels and the Eyes of the Lord

Religious epithets and incomplete quotations

At the Red Centre, Aunt Lydia employs numerous religious phrases in her teachings. These stay with Offred throughout the narrative, and she frequently quotes them, showing how indoctrination seeps into thought patterns.

One significant example is when Aunt Lydia says:

You must cultivate poverty of spirit. Blessed are the meek.

Offred, however, mentally completes the phrase, demonstrating her educated background and using language in her thoughts to undermine her oppressors. This technique reveals character whilst showing resistance through internal language.

Neologisms and portmanteau words

Atwood creates neologisms – newly invented words – specifically for the world of Gilead. This technique helps establish the unfamiliar reality of the dystopia whilst commenting on how language shapes and controls society.

The most significant example is the portmanteau word "econowife", combining "economic" and "wife" to describe working-class wives in Gilead. This single word reveals the regime's view of women as economic units categorised by their function.

Wordplay and language as resistance

Despite (or perhaps because of) the restrictions on literacy in Gilead, Offred maintains a deep love of words and wordplay. Her background before Gilead seems to have involved writing and editing, making the ban on reading particularly cruel.

This technique shows how language can be a form of resistance. Whilst Offred cannot physically rebel, her mental agility with words represents an inner freedom that Gilead cannot quite suppress.

Double meanings and multiple significances

The novel is filled with words and phrases that carry double meanings, creating layers of interpretation. Atwood uses this technique to add depth and encourage readers to look beyond surface meanings – much as Offred must do to maintain her sense of self.

Examples include:

• Biblical phrases used for oppression that originally promised freedom
• Names that sound official but reveal sinister purposes
• Everyday objects and activities (like Scrabble) that become acts of rebellion

Genre conventions: speculative fiction

Atwood works within the genre of speculative fiction – an umbrella term that includes science fiction, fantasy, and dystopian literature. This genre was originally associated with mid-twentieth century science fiction but has expanded significantly.

Atwood's approach to speculative fiction

However, Atwood's style of speculative fiction differs from many genre conventions. Rather than exploring fears of the unknown through alien life or entirely invented worlds, Atwood's approach is grounded in twisting the familiar to make it unsettling.

Blending familiar tropes with the unfamiliar

Throughout the novel, Atwood deliberately blends familiar elements of oppression with unfamiliar combinations and contexts. This creates an unsettling atmosphere where readers recognise echoes of real-world oppression (historical and contemporary) but see them combined in new, disturbing ways.

This technique:

• Makes the dystopia feel more immediate and possible
• Encourages readers to recognise warning signs in their own societies
• Creates social commentary on contemporary political issues
• Uses the dystopian setting as a lens through which to examine class, reproductive rights, and power dynamics

Comparison with genre foundations

Atwood's work builds on the foundations of speculative fiction established by earlier writers. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818) is considered one of the earliest works of speculative fiction. Shelley used the monster as a device to examine class, reproduction, and social effects of rapid technological advancement – creating social commentary through the genre.

Contextual grounding technique

Rooting dystopia in 1980s reality

Whilst The Handmaid's Tale depicts an extreme society, Atwood deliberately roots it in events and concerns from the 1980s when she wrote the novel. This grounding technique makes the dystopia feel like a genuine warning rather than pure fantasy.

By referencing these real-world events indirectly through Gilead's structure and rules, Atwood creates a dystopia that feels plausible and politically relevant. This technique encourages readers to see the novel as a warning: "this could happen here".

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