#2- Handmaid's Tale

"If I turn my head so that the white wings framing my face direct my vision towards it, I can see it as I go down the stairs, round, convex, a pier glass, like the eye of a fish, and myself in it like a distorted shadow, a parody of something, some fairy-tale figure in a red cloak, descending towards a moment of carelessness that is the same as danger" (9).

"Little Red Riding Hood" is a very well known fairy tale. When Offred says that she is "some fairy-tale figure in a red cloak" she is comparing herself to Little Red Riding Hood. In the fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood's "moment[s] of carelessness that [are] the same as danger" are telling the wolf her destination and mistaking the wolf for her grandmother. Offred's careless moment is giving away that she does not believe in the society. Simply talking to someone too loudly or in the wrong fashion could result in her arrest by the black van. In saying that Offred is "descending towards a moment of carelessness" Atwood foreshadows Offred's future, warning that very soon, she will make this careless mistake. This relates to the end of the book when Offred is taken away by the van.

Work Cited:
Photo Credit:
"Little Red Riding Hood." 30 Aug. 2010 <http://www.englishtap.com/etlw/read/children/
redrh.htm> .