Have you ever wondered about the importance of a name? If you do not have a name, who are you? Do you exists? In The Handmaid’s Tale, characters are given new names once the new society is created. The handmaids are given names like “Ofglen” or “Offred” which is our narrator’s new given name. Authority figures, depending on who they are, go by names like “Commander” or “Aunt.” While thinking about this in class the other day, something that I found myself relating this too was the classic story, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The main character Holly refuses to name her own cat. She claims that its because she feels that the cat does not belong to her and that giving it a name adds personal identity to it. So, through out the entire story, she would always refer to her cat as “Cat.”
When you think about the thought of naming a person or animal, it’s a delicate process. Parents often think of names for their children months before they are born. And how often do we find ourselves stressing about what to name our next dog? A name is something that determines who you are, your existence. I found that in The Handmaids Tale, women are given new names, in order to de-personalize the situation. We are first introduced to this very early on in the story, as the society begins to change. Luke and the narrator are in the processes of planning their escape when they realize that they cannot leave their cat alone. Luke soon comes to the conclusion that the only thing to do is kill the cat. He then tells the narrator he will “handle it.” After the narrator hears her husband say that phrase she says, “and because he said it instead of her, I knew he meant kill. That is what you have to do before you kill, I thought. You have to create an it, where none was before.” The husband was creating a less personal situation for the family, by de-humanizing the cat.
Later on in the book we see this same thing happen, only with one of the handmaids, Ofglen. Ofglen kills herself and there is a new Ofglen that replaces her. When Offred asks if Ofglen has been transferred, the new Ofglen replies saying, “I am Ofglen.” The narrator then goes on to talk about how she never did know Ofglen’s real name. “That is how you can get lost, in a sea of names. It wouldn’t be easy to find her now.” Because we are never revealed Ofglen’s real name, it’s as if she does not exist.
This society has it down to a science. Take away their name, and it becomes a lot easier to do awful things and feel better about themselves. We do not only see it here, but in everything that is done. The Commanders treat the Handmaid’s like sex slaves without guilt because they don’t know their real names, their personal identity. To them they are someone’s property, the property of Fred or Glen. They might as well just call them “Cat.”
So next time you are naming something, remember how important a name can be, because without one, you can just become another “missing person” (p. 113).
No comments:
Post a Comment