The One I Love - REM
“The One I Love” by REM is a simple song with a small variety of lines but there is still a lot of implication in its 3 minutes. The chorus goes, ”This one goes out to the one I love//This one goes out to the one I left behind//Another prop to occupy my time.” The singer sings about how he left behind his love and uses the thoughts of her to pass the time. When thinking of Luke and her daughter, Offred says, “This message, which may never arrive, that keeps me alive. (106)” “The One I Love” portrays how love is what keeps us alive. Additionally, the song and The Handmaid’s Tale demonstrate how even if we know something will most likely never happen, we hold onto it as it keeps us from insanity. Offred repeatedly states how bored she is and recalls times before Gilead when her life was full of love and fun.

Seasons - Future Islands
In the latter chapters of The Handmaid’s Tale, the reader learns how the commander is quite a complex character. He is the oppressor as well as being a supporter of the new laws in Gilead. However he still feels regret for his actions and misses the old world. In Future Islands, “Seasons,” the singer sings, “But the winter will wash what’s left of the taste// As it breaks//the summer will warm//But the winter will crave what has gone//Will crave what has all gone away.” In relation to the song, the commander is the winter who didn’t stop summer from coming but then longed to go back once it had come. The commander did not oppose the new laws but in turn lost his old way of life. The beginning of the second verse goes, “Seasons change//But some people never do,” which can be connected to how the world around him is changing but the commander wants to keep with the old way of doing things.

Fifth of May - Zach Bryan
In “Fifth of May” by Zach Bryan, Bryan sings about leaving home and how he dreams of back home but then ends the chorus with, “So if you need me//know that I’m bleeding//somewhere alone in some coastal town.” Offred is in a similar situation. Most of her time is spent thinking about her old life. The deeper connection is how Offred worries about her daughter and wants to find her, but she can not because she herself is in a horrible situation. Similarly, Bryan sings about how he wants to see his mom but is instead getting wasted and sinking into madness in a place not even he knows. In a similar way to Offred, Bryan uses vividly depicted moments from his past before he left home, as well as the moments leading up to his leaving, as a way to keep himself sane.

Nights - Frank Ocean
Though her life is full of boredom, Offred has a lot going on in her head. The song “Nights” by Frank Ocean is as all over the place with its lyrics as Offred is with her thoughts. For someone who is being cut off from all relations with non-handmaids, her relationships have been what stand out as conflicting in recent chapters. In “Nights,” Ocean sings, “You know I can’t hear none of that spend the night shit//wanna see nirvana but don’t wanna die yet.” This relates to Offred’s difficult relationships with Nick and the commander, as well as her suicidal temptations. She knows that being too close to either of them could get her sent to the Colonies, so she tries to shut out the temptations. Similarly, connecting to the second line, she notices every opportunity to end her life but never does because she believes she can escape.

Temptations - Joey Bada$$
On pages 194 and 195 of The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred depicts a scene from inside the gymnasium, where they are being forced to pray, and she thinks about suicide. Joey Bada$$ starts the chorus of “Temptations” with, “And I really can’t take it no more//I’ve been fighting temptations my lord.” It is interesting how both Offred and the song refer to temptations in accordance with god. The Bible says that temptation is the root of all evil, telling how Eve was tempted by the apple in the Garden of Eden. Offred says, “Don’t worry about forgiving me” for her temptations of suicide, the same way that Joey Bada$$ says that he is struggling with temptations, being unable to live young and reckless because of oppression.

From the first page of The Handmaid’s Tale, the main character, Offred, blatantly lacks many human rights. She is treated barbarically and almost like an animal. She is degraded as such in the gymnasium. The handmaids are at the very bottom of the Gilliad hierarchy with by far the least rights, authority, and respect. Despite this, they are vital to the continuation of the human race. This leads to an interesting dynamic throughout the story as the handmaids are stripped of their humanity yet protected as royalty. Offred thinks about her complex situation at the beginning of chapter 13, “Like a prized pig” (pg. 69). That she chooses a pig of all animals is meaningful. Pigs, unlike cows or chickens, which produce milk and eggs, are only used for their meat. Offred is also only needed for one thing: to make babies. Other than that, she is treated as swine. In my drawing, Offred is at the center in her handmaid robes. She is in a pig pen surrounded by mud and a wooden fence. Though she is being treated as a pig, she is protected by an armed guard. This is a figurative depiction of Offred’s situation, but also how she has been brainwashed to think of herself. The guard is a very important part of the drawing because he looks out of place at a farm protecting a pig pen. But this is the same as in Gilliad, where handmaids are protected from the outside world because they are vital to the future of mankind, despite having no control over their own, much like a prized pig to a farmer.
Another important element of the art is the pig ball that Offred is kicking around the pen. On page 70, Offred goes into intense detail about what a pig ball is. Through her description, the reader can easily make the connection from the pig ball and the handmaids: “for pigs who were being fattened in pens… the pigs liked to have something to think about.” Offred was “fattened” in the gymnasium, and in the same chapter speaks about her boredom and the disregard she has been given. What makes the pig symbolism even stronger is when, at the end of this paragraph, Offred says, “I wish I had a pig ball.” She has been broken down to a point where, in her mind, even a muddy farm toy would be suitable and entertaining.

Two boring lives, only brought together by their experiences of kidnapping.