#12- Handmaid's Tale

"Victory is on one side of the inner doorway, leading them on, and Death is on the other. It's a mural in honor of some war or other. The men on the side of Death are still alive. They're going to heaven. Death is a beautiful woman, with wings and one breast almost bare; or is that Victory? I can't remember" (166).

Atwood uses this passage to explain the battle between life and death. However, since life is portrayed as "Victory" it shows that life is not a right - it must be earned. It seems impossible that people on the side of Death could still be alive but because they are described as "going to heaven" it represents Offred's idea that, due to the way the Gilead society is set up, the only way to live freely is to be in heaven. Atwood first describes Death as being beautiful to represent the idea that the restrictive ways of Gilead make Death look like a wonderful option. The woman Atwood describes is most likely the statue Winged Victory of Samothrace (or Nike of Samothrace). This statue is of a beautiful woman who, in the eyes of the Ancient Greeks, was the perfect example of ideal beauty. This allusion stands as a reminder of the past, a time when Victory would be preferred over Death. It is interesting that Atwood portrays Death and Victory both as women with men standing behind them. Although women are restricted in the Gilead society, they are in actuality revered because the act of bearing children is worshipped. Portraying these two prominent acts - Death and Victory - as women demonstrates the true position of women in the society.

Works Cited:
"Winged Victory of Samothrace." Wikipedia. 24 Aug. 2010. 31 Aug. 2010 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winged_Victory_of_Samothrace>.

Photo Credit:
"Eugene Delacroix (Liberty Leading the People)."SMARThistory.us. Podpress. 31 Aug. 2010 <http://smarthistory.us/site/romanticism/eugene-delacroix>.