The book The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood follows a story that is put together with tapes from a handmaid in Gilead. The main character, Offred, tells the story of her experiences as a handmaid and the horrors she experiences. Everyone in Gilead is under strict rule, and women are placed into different roles: Wives, Marshas, and Handmaids. Handmaids are fertile women who are forced to conceive and give birth to children for powerful men. This society created expectations that women must submit to men, women must be stupid and uneducated, and love is pointless. These expectations limit women from living the life they want to, so Offred’s rejection of Gilead’s rules illustrates that oppressive societies kill all that makes life meaningful. 

The women of Gilead are expected to be submissive. Handmaids must follow the rules of their commander, if they do not comply with their orders, they could be killed. This makes women unable to make their own choices over their life. Though Offred follows what she is told, she has her own secret motives. When the Commander wants to meet with her in private, she seeks lotion from the Commander. With this trade, she is not following his orders unless she gets something in return. Gilead is also under strict religious rule and people are expected to strictly follow Gilead’s religious teachings. Any doubt or denial of God will cost a person their life. Offred rebels by questioning God, secretly at first, but eventually she starts having conversations about these doubts. Religion often gives people a sense of purpose, but when forced, can make someone feel trapped. By not following the religious teachings of Gilead, Offred is not trapped. This gives her the freedom to find her own purpose and beliefs instead of staying forced in religion.

Under Gilead’s rule, women are expected to be uneducated/stupid. Reading is banned from Gilead, so Offred rebels by reading in private with the commander. Gilead does not want women to know they can have rights, and by not reading, they will not know. Offred’s reading shows she is smart and capable. Her smarts give her strength in fighting back against Gilead, which has become very meaningful in her life. Offred also plays Scrabble with the Commander. Scrabble is a brain game and could be a double meaning for the games that her and the Commander play with each other. She uses her smarts against the Commander, and she blackmails him into giving her what she wants. This gives her life a purpose more than being stupid and uneducated like she is expected to be.

The people of Gilead are made to think that love is pointless. Offred has many flashbacks to past memories with her husband Luke. These memories show that before Gilead’s control, Offred lived her own life and she followed her own purpose. Once Gilead took over, her life’s meaning had changed to every other handmaid’s purpose: give birth to healthy children and follow orders. These flashbacks to her past give Offred strength when coping with the control over her life. The memories of her love give her strength. Offred also brings meaning into her life when she starts her affair with Nick. She is able to work with him and have a real connection, rather than the fake and controlled interactions she has. Love is shown to give strength to Offred, and remind her of her past. This strength gives her life purpose.

Though the consequences of not following these expectations were made very clear, Offred still rebels against the oppressive standards of Gilead. By rebelling against Gilead’s expectations, she is bringing meaning back into her life. Offred’s ending is inconclusive; the reader does not know if Offred was taken by the resistance, or by guards. Even if Offred had been killed, her life had meaning, unlike if she had followed the rules of Gilead.

In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Mademoiselle Reisz, the foil to Edna, is used to highlight the weaknesses in Edna to illustrate that for one to truly be free, they must sacrifice.

Mademoiselle Reisz’s journey with art shows that for Edna to be free, she must sacrifice her reputation. When Edna first listens to Reisz’s music, she is moved to tears, though the public looks down on Reisz. After this, Edna goes to swim for the first time, which represents her starting to have her awakening. Edna is alone for the first time when she is swimming, showing that she needs to sacrifice her marriage to be free. However, Edna is not public about her work like Reisz. She paints alone, allowing her expression to be hidden. Art is a way of expressing oneself, the art that Reisz and Edna do can be a symbol for expression of feelings. A person cannot be free when only expressing themselves in private, it only provides protection from the public eye. In order for Edna to be free, she would need to express herself not only with her art, but openly expressing her feelings.

Reisz’s reaction to the letters from Robert signify that Edna has to let go of her intense attachment.When Edna first questions Reisz and demands to see the letters, Reisz refuses. By Reisz doing this, it shows that she knows this infatuation Edna has will not strengthen her through her awakening. Reisz does not rely on men for her happiness like Edna does. Reisz knows that Edna will have to sacrifice Robert to be truly free, so she hides these letters from her. When Reisz brings up the letters she got from Robert, Edna begs to read them. Reisz calls her childish. The obsession Edna has for Robert traps her by taking over her thoughts, not allowing her to have her own mind. Edna cannot be free unless she frees herself from the trap Robert has on her. Edna is not willing to sacrifice Robert, and remains infatuated with him until the very end. Edna would need to sacrifice her feelings for Robert to be free.

In the end, Edna returns to Grand Isle, where she first felt free, in order to kill herself. She realizes that her crushes and lusts on Arobin and Robert have led her astray from true freedom. Edna attaches herself to men, trapping herself inside fantasies leading to a cycle of attachment and obsession she will never be free from. Edna is aware of the sacrifice she has to make in giving up Robert, but she is not strong enough to act on it. Because of this, Edna removes her clothes and swims out into the ocean without any intention of coming back. She drowns herself because she is not strong enough to fight against society or be independent from men like Reisz is, so her only freedom is in death.