A Handmaid’s Playlist

The Wall - STOP TRYING TO BE GOD by Travis Scott In the first few chapters of The Handmaid’s Tale Offred and Ofglen come upon The Wall. A large wall of stone, with bodies hung from hooks sprawled across it. The wall represents power and the extreme control that the Republic of Gilead has over individuals, especially the handmaids. In “STOP TRYING TO BE GOD,” Scott reflects on the dangers of trying to play an omnipotent role, the illusion of control, and the consequences of overreaching one’s power. This closely corresponds with themes in The Handmaid’s Tale because the Republic attempts to play “God” by controlling the bodies of the handmaids and every aspect of their lives. Scott says, “It’s never love, no matter what you try,” which connects to parts of the novel where the higher-ups try and play off the strict commandments of the government as love and good for them. They would use the media or pornographic magazines to dismay the handmaids, trying to convince them that the old world was worse and that they were better off now. Offred talks about a specific moment when she was looking for her daughter and they tell her that “She’s in good hands,” and “With people who are fit,” (39). The Republic of Gilead continues to play “God” and Scott advises against that in his song because “they might never see it coming back.”

The Birth - Drew Barrymore by SZA In The Handmaid’s Tale, the handmaids are used as vessels to carry the children of their Commander. The time it takes for one of them to become impregnated varies but eventually, one handmaid will become pregnant and the day of the birth will come due. They treat the births of the handmaids very ritualistically, chanting and mimicking the breathing of the handmaid as she attempts to bring the child into the world. The handmaids are forced to give birth under oppressive conditions, where their bodies are controlled, and the act of childbirth is stripped of its personal meaning. The handmaids aren’t even allowed to name their child and that power falls to the wife of the commanders. In “Drew Barrymore,” SZA expresses feelings of insecurity, worthlessness, and not being in control of her own worth or value, themes that reflect the emotional isolation and objectification that the handmaids experience. Lines like, “Is it warm enough for you inside me?” or “I get so lonely, I forget what I’m worth,” mirror the emotional impact of what being a handmaid is like. While “Drew Barrymore” is a more personal experience, its exploration of self-worth and vulnerability parallel the emotional trauma and loss of identity that the handmaids endure.

Alone With The Commander - No Role Modelz by J. Cole Between chapters 22-25, Offred begins meeting the Commander after dark. Their interactions are all very strange and new for Offred because she knows he is breaking some of the laws he put into place to spend time with her. Most surprising of all for her is that during his time alone with her out of everything he could ask, he asked to play Scrabble. Their relationship through the next few meetings changes slowly and the Commander becomes more intimate as Offred begins to become more worried about someone noticing or the Commander suddenly changing his mind about their scheduled time together. The song “No Role Modelz,” by J. Cole closely relates to the themes of power dynamics, manipulation, and exploitation of Offred during her time with the Commander. In the song, Cole reflects on the stupidity of relationships, manipulation, and the emptiness of power-driven interactions. The relationship between Offred and the Commander is full of manipulation and how the Commander uses his position of power to draw Offred into a personal-like relationship outside her regular duties, blurring the lines between consent and coercion. Some lines from the song like “Don’t save her, she don’t wanna be saved,” touch on the false sense of “saving” that the Commander thinks he’s providing to Offred by treating her special, like playing Scrabble, giving her small gifts, or taking her out even though she is still trapped in oppression. Another strong line from the song is, “Fool me one-time shame on you, fool me twice, can’t put the blame on you,” reflects Offred’s growing awareness of the Commander’s manipulation, as she becomes more disillusioned with the Commander and the false sense of security he tries to offer.

Offred & Nick - L$D by A$AP Rocky Offred and Nick’s relationship is ever-growing throughout the book. It went from simple interactions to small contact, to a deeper connection between the two. Most of the rest came due to Serena Joy suggesting Nick as a replacement for the commander as she knows that he has a better chance of impregnating her than the commander. “L$D” by A$AP Rocky (which stands for Love, Sex, and Dreams) explores themes of passionate but complicated love, confusion, and emotional intensity—feelings that mirror Offred’s ever-growing feelings for Nick. Their relationship in the earlier chapters is secretive and contributes to the idea of forbidden desires, which fits the emotional ambiguity captured in “L$D.” Rocky blends emotional and physical desire in his song and their relationship begins with a sense of physical need but develops into a more emotional bond. Her interactions with Nick offer her an escape from Gilead’s oppressive reality, giving her a brief feeling of control. In the song, there’s a sense of escaping into love and desire, as Rocky compares his relationship to a drug-induced haze. His use of the lines, “I introduce her to this hippy life, we make love under pretty lights,” and “Make no mistakes, it’s all, a leap of faith for love, it takes place in, feelin’ that you crave doin’ love, sex, dreams,” capture the dreamy, intense, and slightly surreal mix with the danger, desire, and emotional uncertainty that defines Offred and Nick’s relationship in the earlier parts of The Handmaid’s Tale.

   The Handmaid's Tale - United in Grief by Kendrick Lamar

Throughout the entire novel, the handmaids deal with oppressive societal factors that change how they live their lives. Each handmaid has gone through some form of nonconsensual matters and dealt with difficult moments that caused them to become who they are. “United in Grief,” by Kendrick Lamar is the start of his album “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers” and serves as an intro to Lamar’s therapy journey, detailing his faults and insecurities. The song starts with a voice saying to “tell them the truth,” and “tell them your truth,” which relates to how the handmaids want to hear the voices of each other and want to be able to tell their own truth but can’t because of Gilead. Lamar says, “I’ve been goin’ through somethin’ one thousand, eight hundred and 55 days, I’ve been going’ through something,” which connects to how each of the handmaids is going through some form of oppression for a long time and still can’t speak out against it. Every handmaid feels stuck in the societal norms of Gilead, united in grief.

STOP TRYING TO BE GOD - https://youtu.be/AcXp7m1g5yE?si=Gr1Bl31P1vuoss5l

Drew Barrymore - https://youtu.be/gANgH6gmWh4?si=QCy3c0rDJY7-_rMU

No Role Modelz - https://youtu.be/0EnRK5YvBwU?si=Zyb8pWJuF9YNEbqB

L$D - https://youtu.be/GEgkA3sXk7c?si=3QpsTPKMpj4k0xqd

United in Grief - https://youtu.be/tvNSXS4x9nc?si=fB_2ZjjCHLJhzbi9

United in Grief

In chapter 6 of The Handmaid’s Tale Offred and Ofglen are walking the Red Center leaving All Flesh. Ofglen tells Offred that she wants to pass by the church, and Offred narrates what she sees as she walks to give the reader an idea of what the area looks like. There’s a boat house where they used to keep the sculls, some bridges, trees, green banks, and places to sit down and look over the water. They pass by a football stadium and finally reach the church. They don’t enter but stand on the path looking in the churchyard. They stand there for a while before turning around to see the truth they have come to see: the Wall. The Wall is hundreds of years old with a gate, floodlights mounted on posts, and broken glass on the top. Near the getaway are six bodies hanging from hooks mounted into the wall. They are hung there to represent fear, disobedience, and truth. Offred says “Perhaps I’ve become used to them,” (32), which is incredible because to forget that people were hung for the world to see, shows how normalized it has become.

I chose to represent the Wall for my artwork because I wanted to visually represent the horrors that they are seeing. Offred mentions that “it doesn’t matter if we look. We’re supposed to look.” (32). This reminds me how they don’t have free will and even if they didn’t look, the bodies would still be there. They go from seeing beautiful scenery to snapping back to their reality. Each body hanging has committed “atrocities” and as Offred puts it, “must be made into examples for the rest.” (33). I imagined the Wall to be a simple brick structure and not be an architectural achievement because it was there to prevent access and show what happens to the disciplined.

I couldn’t pinpoint Offred’s face when she saw the Wall because she had become accustomed to it and it was just another stop on her journey. Instead, I chose to have her face the Wall to show that she is in deep thought about the Wall and how it leads to describing every part of it. She mentions one of the worst parts of the hanging: the white bags around their head. She describes them as “scarecrows” and says that, “ in a way is what they are, since they are meant to scare.” (32). The bodies are meant to strike fear into the disobedient and serve as a reminder of what happens to those who don’t follow the rules. She settles on a body that has a red mark around where the mouth must’ve been, in the shape of a smile. I didn’t focus on this detail much because I found it less relevant to what the Wall represented than what it might have contributed to Offred’s inner thoughts.

I used a simple color palette to show that color that has fled from their world from all the agony and torment. I kept her dress dark red because she had described it as the color of blood and her veil white to show the color symbolizes religious commitment and for dedication ceremonies like those of the births. I kept the rest of the world a grayish color because I felt as if it lacked color. After all, seeing a saturated world didn’t matter to the Republic anymore. I wanted to capture the overwhelming sense of fear and submission that the Wall has in The Handmaid’s Tale. The Wall isn’t just a symbol of punishment but a brutal reminder of how power can dehumanize and strip one of their individuality. Their faces are kept hidden, stripping away who they are just to be a mere warning to others.

Through my artwork, I want viewers to feel the silence around the Wall as a stillness that reflects both the regime’s control and the passivity it forces upon its people. I wanted viewers and readers alike to realize that even if there was a large change in power in Gilead, they could not save them. The bodies will continue to hang there—with white bags around their heads to silence their voices, united in grief.

A Beautiful System https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bhG4jYiQXZAMyaZ3dJG2bBw82-wfjqzo/view?usp=sharing

“3 friends (Leno, Annie, and Thy) live in a barren wasteland of a world where the Sun has burned out most of life to exist on Earth and has caused water to become scarce and a currency in the new world. The 3 must face challenges, people, and themselves if they wish to survive in the world they live in. All they want to do is find a hidden reservoir that supposedly can sustain a village for generations to come but will they be able to without burning out first?”