ENG201S NIJNENS

"It’s a Saturday morning in September, I’m wearing my shining name. The little girl who is now dead sits in the back seat, with her two best dolls, her stuffed rabbit, mangy with age and love. I know all the details. They are sentimental details but I can’t help that. I can’t think about the rabbit too much though, I can’t start to cry, here on the Chinese rug, breathing in the smoke that has been inside Serena’s body. Not here, not now, I can do that later. She thought we were going on a picnic, and in fact there is a picnic basket on the back seat, beside her, with real food in it, hard-boiled eggs, thermos and all. We didn’t want her to know where we were really going, we didn’t want her to tell, by mistake, reveal anything, if we were stopped. We didn’t want to lay upon her the burden of our truth."(83-84). The scene has a very direct point of view.The narrator is describing the scene from her perspective to try and reason what happened to the little girl. She wants to e...

While reading the next few chapters in the book, the roles of several characters came to light. The narrator, Offred, is telling the story from her point of view. Offred is a very alert character, she notices little things. She is facing the obstacle of self love and self comfort. She is a gentle soul who needs a touch of self appreciation. She isn't comfortable in her own skin and can't even stand the look of herself naked. Her bare body reminds her of how she is ruled by her body and the looks of it in Gilead. Offred says, "my nakedness is strange to me already". She is uncomfortable in the fact her body has so much control over her life. She feels alone and craves  comfort. She finds her comfort in her loneliness. She explains,"I step into the water, lie down, let it hold me"(62). She enjoys the feeling she gets from the water holding her because it gives her a sense of comfort.  However, Aunt Lydia is a main character as well. She is an extremely cautiou...