The Road by Cormac McCarthy

This diagram shows how we decoded the theme of dreams in The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. We found quotes about dreams, whether they are references or direct quotes from dreams experienced by the characters. By looking at thematic textual evidence and finding similarities and differences between the quotes, we were able to build a mind map that shows the connections between these scenes and references, and come to our own conclusions through analysis. The black cloud-like shapes contain our quotes, which branch off from labels categorizing the dreams, or mention of them, in The Road. Closer to the center are general themes of these dreams that are easy to understand from a reader’s perspective. Using this organizational structure, we can analyze a category in relation to the theme of dreams in the text: The boy’s dreams act as foreshadowing moments that will appear in the dystopian world we see in McCarthy’s novel.

From the way we’ve organized our map, you can trace one single quote from the outside in, to see which ideas and categories it symbolizes and falls under. For example, “Rich dreams now which he was loath to wake from. Things no longer known in the world […] Memory of her crossing the lawn toward the house in the early morning with a thin rose gown that clung to her breasts”(131) is a quote that falls under the often-recurring dreams of the man’s wife, which we’ve placed under the general theme of his old life and the world before the dystopia we see in the book, all within the mention of dreams that often occurs in The Road.

This organization system has allowed us to find common themes in dreams with each character: we’ve noted that the boy’s dreams are most closely associated with complacency and helplessness, and that the man’s dreams of his wife are often colorful, which is a motif closely associated with death. When the man lectures his son on dreams, he is most often foreshadowing later events in the book, such as his own death, or giving up and surrendering to your dreams, an idea also closely linked to death. Lastly, any dreams having to do with monsters or beings of any sort explore the symbol of blindness, which has biblical connections we don’t go into here.

My map is the journey of the symbolic meaning of the pistol and “the good guys”. My map leads you through the different scenes in the book that shows when these concepts were introduced to us as readers and later expanded on their meaning. The quotes are used as labels to help guide the scene in the book that corresponds with the symbolic meaning being shown. The symbolic element used in “The Road” was an aspect of the book that McCarthy would plant and make grow as the story moved along. In the beginning of the book when we are introduced to the pistol, the first meaning we get from this is that it is used for survival. Then later down the line, we begin to see that it represents death, its importance and prevalence being a foundation for the father and son. The pistol was used for protection, to teach the boy what to do if he is caught by “bad guys” (to shoot himself), and to symbolize power. The idea of “good guys” is shown to us when McCarthy reveals to us that the father and son use the phrase “we carry the fire” various times to represent that they are the good guys in this mischievous world. I focused on the symbolism of the pistol and good guys because they both contradict each other. The father tells the boy that they are the good guys, but the boy holds more empathy compared to the father who has matched himself to the cold world. An example of this would be when the boys and father got their cart stolen. They found the thief and the gun was used as a threat, and symbolized death and fear. The father didn’t shoot the man as he got the cart back but ordered him to get undressed and take his clothes. How does this make them the good guys if people in the same predicament as them are doing what they would do? Stealing is morally wrong, but as the world is home, morals dissolve as well. The notion of good guys and the symbolic meaning it has played within the story can be questioned with the symbolic meaning of the pistol and the value it holds throughout the novel.

My artwork depicts the conflict between Offred and Serena joy, but in a broader sense handmaids and wives in general. In the society of Gilead, handmaids are hated and looked down upon, treated like cattle instead of actual people. Besides the “unwomen” they probably have the worst position in society. However, the point of my art argues that in the greater scheme of things, the wives are not much better. While the wives are definitely more privileged, they aren’t free from the oppressive system. For example, the text states, “Serena Joy grips my hands as if it is she, not I, who’s being fucked — He is preoccupied, like a man humming to himself in the showing without knowing he’s humming”. The wives are forced to help this awful process without complaint. It’s easy to go throughout the novel hating Serena Joy, for most of the book I did as well. But as I read further and got to know the commander I realized all the wives are victims as well. Imagine being a woman forced to stay in the house, knitting and praying all day. Married to a man that regularly rapes his servants in front of you. On top of that you are infertile and the only option to have a child is to steal it away from the servants your husband takes advantage of. This is the norm in gilead. According to society and the god you worship, this is how life is supposed to be, and to complain about it would mean punishment, despite your wife status. In the society of Gilead, only men like the commander can truly claim any status.

Art analysis: Everything about the handmaids and wives are conflicting, even the red and blue they wear clash. The black line through the middle represents their separation. However, towards the line, the clashing blue and red begin to blend together. Showing that despite what we see on the surface the wives and handmaids are in similar situations. The line toward the top separates the commander from both the wives and handmaids. Though the handmaids and wives are opposing, they are on the same level, the commander however is quite literally above them. There is no perspective to look through that puts the commanders on the same level as the handmaids and wives. I chose black to represent the commander because it’s a very dominating color. Unlike the blue and red, the commander’s black does not blend or fade. I wanted this show to show that he is without a doubt on top of the system. If you notice where the opposing line between the handmaids and wives start, it starts from the Commander’s cane. I did this to show the fact that the conflict between them started and kept going because of the commander. Overall my major goal was to show that the conflict between the handmaids and wives is just surface level, and that the real conflict is between all the women of Gilead and the commanders, who represent the system itself.

Song 1 - Past Life by Tame Impala https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kZ2W5f-H3k

This song speaks about seeing a former lover from a “past life”. It correlates with the memories that Offred frequently has of Luke during the night chapters. The song talks about all the things of a former partner, including the “smells” of them and that coming back to them. Most of the beginning in the story shows Offred’s heartache while reminiscing about her former partner. The memories provide her with an escape from the harsh reality of her society, however she is concerned that she is losing these memories of him, saying in chapter 40 that she should’ve paid attention “to the details, moles, and scars, the singular creases; I didn’t and he’s fading. Day by day, night by night, he recedes, and I become more faithless”. Her story about Luke and the cat in Chapter 30 describes him as the man who she really loved, which is why she misses him so much.

Song 2 - Somebody’s Watching Me by Rockwell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YvAYIJSSZY

In the song, although he is just any ordinary person, the singer feels as though he is being watched. The Handmaid’s Tale takes this song to a whole new level as Offred is never alone, therefore always being watched. She has to walk with another handmaid, and since the laws of Gilead are so strict, obviously there’s going to be a lot of people reinforcing those laws and making sure the place is in order. The song says they are “just an average man with an average life” and that “all I want is to be left alone in my home” however privacy in Gilead, again, is very limited. Not only is the government big on surveillance, but they encourage their citizens to keep a close eye on the others too. On page 29, Offred talks about the handmaids always having to walk together with each other: “She is my spy, and I am hers. If either of us slips through the net because of something that happens on one of our daily walks, the other will be accountable”. This implies that you can not rebel or break the rules at any time, because someone else will also take the blame if you do something wrong and get away with it.

Song 3 - Violent Crimes by Kanye West https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSY7u8Jg9c0

This song is about Kanye West speaking his opinion on women and how he wants God to forgive him for seeing women in a different way than he does now, ‘cause now he sees “women as something to nurture, not something to conquer”, which is contradictory to the book, as the leaders definitely see women as something to “conquer”. The “violent crimes” talked about in the song are the treatment of women around the world, and how men can be “savages”, “players”, and “monsters”. This relates to the citizens of Gilead treating the women very harshly and batting an eye to a more equal alternative. Offred reflects on the rights, or lack thereof, that she is given, and says that she’s not even allowed hand lotion or face cream, because they are considered vanities. She also claims that women in Gilead are “containers, it’s only the insides of our bodies that are important”.

Song 4 - The Scientist by Coldplay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB-RcX5DS5A

The lyrics in this song are pretty self-explanatory, the song’s chorus is “Nobody said it was easy, It’s such a shame for us to part, Nobody said it was easy, No one ever said it would be this hard, Oh, take me back to the start”. This relates very much to Offred having memories about Luke in the night chapters. One quote that stands out to me was when Offred said that Luke “wasn’t a doctor. Isn’t.” This is Offred trying to convince herself that Luke is still alive, because not even she fully believes it. It is stated many times in the book that the chance of Luke being alive is pretty slim.

Song 5 - Stairway to Heaven https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkF3oxziUI4

This song represents the very end of the book when Offred goes to the mysterious van. One of the possibilities that awaits Offred is death. This song talks about a woman “buying” a stairway to heaven. This relates to Offred somewhat accepting her fate at the end of the book, saying she is steeping “into the darkness, within; or else the light”. Offred says these words uncertain of her future, and the book ends without us knowing what ends up happening to Offred. But as death is one of the possibilities, this song is fitting for the final chapter.

It was late at night, maybe nine or ten o’clock, and I was sitting at my desk. I was a good student, doing my reading when chapter 16 came along. I remembered Ms. Giknis telling us that there were disturbing moments in the book, but I figured she just had to say that because there were small moments that could make people minorly uncomfortable. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The chapter starts off with an announcement of a ceremony “The Ceremony goes as usual.” and I didn’t think anything of it. I began to read further and it started to describe the scene of where everything was about to go down. I was confused, not really sure what to expect. Offred and Serena Joy were getting in position for something. I closed my eyes. I realized where I had gotten in the book, and though I like to consider myself mentally tough, reading about nonconsensual sex was a first, and hopefully the last. As they began to describe further details, I began feeling anxious. For some reason, it felt like the book had come to life and I was reading a description of someone I knew, someone real. I took a sip of water, and stared blankly at the book. I had always known rape was a real thing, it just had never hit me what it’s really like. I’ve always tried to not worry about that kind of stuff, having a gut feeling that it might change me reading some of this stuff, and it did. I continued reading again, prepared for what I was about to read, when things took another turn. Offred became vastly uncomfortable, as her description of the situation was anything but normal. “Serena Joy grips my hands as if it is she, not I, who’s being fucked — He is preoccupied, like a man humming to himself in the showing without knowing he’s humming” It brought out a different emotion in me, a sense of awkwardness that just made me more uncomfortable. It made me think about the way people treat women as a whole because the way I looked at it, I think the Commander would expect Offred to be uncomfortable because she’s been forced to have sex with him, but I don’t think he’d expect her to feel awkward. During the ceremony, Offred begins to question herself and the situation. “If he were better looking would I enjoy this more?” My discomfort was slowly dissipating, but I definitely still felt like I went through something, even though all I did was read a few pages. As it finishes, the discomfort spikes, but then it goes back to this grey area. He did what he did, and then just cleaned up and walked out. Serena treated Offred like a dog. “Get up and get out.” This didn’t follow procedure, as Offred is supposed to have time after it, but clearly the ceremony affected her. I realized there’s multiple perspectives to the ceremony. Offred, the one who is being forced into a situation all because of her ability to get pregnant, and Serena Joy, who didn’t ask for her position either. She basically has to help her husband cheat on her, creating a baby that isn’t hers but if Offred conceives one, she has to treat the baby like it is hers. The situation they are in is hurting multiple parties, which made it even harder to read the end of the chapter. I learned that even though any situation I’m in will never be like this, that there are multiple parties involved in things that may not seem they hurt many. I also learned that, though reading this chapter was difficult, I need to read things like it a lot more. It gave me a lot of insight as to what the reality is of terrible scenarios and I know people say “The truth can hurt”, but I think it will only make me more knowledgable.

In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, there are numerous historical connections and parallels to the past. There is a saying, “History repeats itself” and Atwood believes that is what will happen in a post-apocalyptic world. In the book, there are references to the bible, like on page sixty-one. “Give me children, or else I die.” This is part of the verse Genesis 30:1. “And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.” The idea of what the commander is doing, keeping women held hostage and forcing them to have sex with him to reproduce, comes indirectly from the bible. Throughout history, women have been forced to abide by a number of rules: Not having marital property rights, not being allowed to vote, and not being able to earn an equal wage. Those were a few more notable ones among the long list of rules women had to follow. Women historically were forced into nurturing roles, like teaching and child care, most of all, solely committed to being a wife and mother. This connects to the main theme of The Handmaid’s Tale, as in a parallel to a world reset, the first actions of life in this new world are similar compared to when this world was first established. Women historically have never had a voice. This is shown in THT through their living situation and the stories that Offred tells. They’re always being watched in Gilead, the same way they were in real life. If women were to step out of line, they would be punished. THT also has a lot of polar opposites to the bible. Proverbs 31:30-31 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. This reference to the bible is one of many instances where women are praised, whereas, in Gilead, women are punished for having the ability to reproduce. In the bible, it does say women should reproduce, but based on the scripture Proverbs 31:20-31, it should be done in a nurturing and loving way. The tale also carries a sense of indoctrination. The book paints a picture of religious extremism, like the ceremony, quoting of the bible, and the imbalance of rights based on gender and fertility. Gilead uses a lot of terminology straight out of the bible. The rituals, as in the living arrangements for handmaids and the ceremony strip the individuality away from the handmaids. They all become the same, as they serve the same purpose. Offred believes she became more than that to the Commander, but then she finds out that he has done what he’s done for her for other girls. The pattern of ‘every handmaid is the same’ repeats itself. It seems to be the driver for the controlling aspect of the handmaids. By forcing them into these religious practices, it forces them to all be in line and abide by rules, but it also makes the people in charge abide by rules. They have to follow traditions even though they are the ones who came up with it, which is why it is recurring. THT also has a lot of similarities to the Holocaust. The women held captive for these practices fit a specific theme, they can all get pregnant, which is exactly what the holocaust did, the only difference was they killed the Jewish people, whereas in Gilead they are giving birth to new lives. The Handmaid’s Tale makes a lot of connections to history, particularly religious practices. They let the bible decide how they treated the women, but in many instances chose to come up with their own rules.

In Gilead colors play a huge role in society. We see this in our own society too, and in every society throughout time. Blue for boys and pink for girls, red for stop and green for go, the association of red with communism, white with purity and innocence, mourners wearing black. However sometimes colors represent very different things in different cultures or parts of the world, for example, most Western cultures associate black with death and white with life, but in some Asian cultures white is actually associated with death and mourning. No matter what they represent though, colors are undeniably a universally easy way of identifying things one way or another, and have been used so all throughout history. As Atwood says in the introduction to The Handmaid’s Tale, “Many totalitarianisms have used clothing, both forbidden and enforced, to identify and control people- think of yellow stars and Roman purple- and many have ruled behind a religious front, it makes the creation of heretics that much easier.” Here she is referring to the yellow stars that Jewish people were made to wear by the Nazis during the Holocaust in some European countries, both inside and outside of ghettos and concentration camps so as to be easily identified, and the color purple signifying high status in ancient Rome since it was so hard and expensive to make the purple dye.

The colors each person can wear is entirely dependent on their station in Gileadean society, and makes each person easily identifiable. The assigned colors are just another contributing factor to the absolute control and lack of individuality in Gilead. We get a sense of this very early on in the book as Offred explains every detail of her suffocating red outfit that she must wear, and how even the umbrellas have specific colors, “black, for the commander, blue, for the commander’s wife, and the one assigned to me, which is red.” This control of everything by the government is part of the erasure of individuality in Gilead, which is the goal of the government because it makes the people easier to control.

These colors don’t only have significance in Gilead though. In the introduction of The Handmaid’s Tale Atwood explains her inspiration behind some of the themes of the book, including the assigned colors. “The modesty costumes worn by the women of Gilead are derived from Western religious iconography- the wives wear the blue of purity, from the virgin Mary, the Handmaids wear red, from the blood of parturition, but also from Mary magdalene.” The color coding of people in Gilead is just another reinforcement of the totalitarianism of the regime for the people of Gilead. It reminds them every moment of their day that they are not defined by who they are as people, but rather as what their station is. It is also a psychological manipulation tool. It has been proven that certain colors make you feel a certain way, and also it ensures that everyone is associated with their color and station, and not with who they actually are.

There is also the practical element of color coding all the people in Gilead. As Atwood says in the introduction, “red is easier to see if you happen to be fleeing.” This is mentioned several times throughout the book, with Offred thinking about how she sticks out like a sore thumb in her bright red, which would make it much more difficult for her to run away and not be seen. The color of the outfit is not the only element of control though, the heaviness and lack of form is obviously meant to hide the Handmaids bodies to prevent any temptation. And the big white headpieces with blinders are a clever way to isolate the Handmaids even more, preventing their faces from being seen and them from seeing other Handmaids faces, and also preventing them from making eye contact, which is a very big part of human connection. It is reminiscent of some forms of religion that use similar things to oppress women, labeling them as temptations and therefore making them hide their bodies and dress very modestly. There are of course women who are not forced to do this and actually find liberation and power in dressing modestly, but when something is forced upon you it is usually not empowering.

The first thing I want to talk about is how in The Handmaid’s Tale they aren’t allowed to look at magazines because they are outlawed. The whole idea of them being outlawed is because it will think of individuality and in Gilead which is a sin because the women are only supposed to think about bearing children. It also tells how women should dress, in the book it describes the colors of what the girls wear, and they all have no individuality for them to stand out from the rest. Sexuility has a lot to do with it too because in some magazines it shows nudity and skin and the point of being a “woman” is being modest for men so you can find a good husband because that’s what men like. One quote I found interesting was,“Staring at the magazine, as he dangled it before me like fish bait, I wanted it. I wanted it with a force that made the ends of my fingers ache. At the same time I saw this longing of mine as trivial and absurd, because I’d taken such magazines lightly enough once. I’d read them in dentists’ offices, and sometimes on planes; I’d bought them to take to hotel rooms, a device to fill in empty time while I was waiting for Luke. After I’d leafed through them I would throw them away, for they were infinitely discardable, and a day or two later I wouldn’t be able to remember what had been in them. Though I remembered now.” It reminded me of how women would have been inspiring the world with their creativity and showing their difference in the world.

Shopping was a big part of Gilead. The handmaid’s would grocery shop mostly everyday for their households, and it was a part of their “culture” since they did it a lot. This relates to the shopping bags because it shows what is acceptable for what women should do, and how a woman should accomplish her everyday duties. How women are viewed in the society like all women are good for is to bring home food and shop in piers to “safety” What roles a woman should play in being a handmaid.

The difference between modesty and immodesty is one tells more about what kind of girl you are. Modesty plays a big factor in in this book because the men believe that the women get raped or SA because of the clothes they wear. It also has to do with the bible, in the bible the women shouldn’t be showing no skin because it gives a man right to stare at her sexually and you would be a whore if you didn’t cover up. “Two-thirty comes during Testifying. It’s Janine, telling about how she was gang-raped at fourteen and had an abortion.But whose fault was it? Aunt Helena says, holding up one plump finger. Her fault, her fault, her fault. We chant in unison. Who led them on? She did. She did. She did. Why did God allow such a terrible thing to happen? Teach her a lesson. Teach her a lesson. Teach her a lesson.” Men try to explain this by covering up and we as women wouldn’t be seen as sexual beings.

The Colors of Gilead

The colors the women and men wear in The Handmaid’s Tale deliberately reveal their role in Gilead through a biblical lens. The typical battle between Red vs. Blue or Hot vs. Cold is portrayed through the Handmaids and the Wives. Red in the Bible is typically talked about in terms of blood. Or in this case, a woman’s menstrual cycle. This reveals to the Gilead society that the handmaid is a fertile woman who has been assigned the role of giving birth. Accompanied by the color white, the Handmaids wore a white-winged hat, representing Jesus Christ, innocence, and sacrifice. The Handmaids are forced into sacrificing their minds, knowledge, and identities to an abusive society.

In the Bible, the color blue is often referred to as pure blue, or the Virgin Mary, which can describe the irony of the Wive’s inability to get pregnant. Also, the book has never described the wives as being penetrated reinforcing their role as what is considered pure. In the first mention of the two colors (pg.9) Offred is describing the color umbrellas assigned to her, red, the commander, black, and the Commander’s wife, blue. It is later mentioned (pg.12) where Offred discusses the garden and the Wive’s relationship with caring for and maintaining it. In this quote, Margaret Atwood uses color to create an innuendo where Offred describes herself and her circumstances and other handmaids and the power the Wives hold over them. Their mental and physical freedom has been taken from them and they now have to adjust themselves to a new way of life. “The tulips are red, a darker crimson toward the stem, as if they have been cut and are beginning to heal there.”

In Gilead, color plays a role in one’s new identity in this society. This is similar to American society where only a piece of your identity defines how you are treated by an overwhelming majority of people in the country. The color of your skin as well as your gender is immediately confined to what history has shaped every race and gender to be. This causes the identity of each individual to be lost in an endless swarm of stereotypes.

This has been done through laws and systems that create loopholes in many to prevent people at the bottom of the American hierarchy from an adequate and humane lifestyle. Roe V Wade., the law protecting a woman’s right to decide what happens to her own body in terms of abortion in every state was overturned last June in 2022. Now in more than nearly half the states abortions are either completely banned or banned after 6-18 weeks of pregnancy. One can assume Christian ideologies play a role in this recent decision of the Supreme Court. Many who are in support of the abortion ban argue against basic human rights with their Christian interpretation of what they think the reproduction process should look like. Often blaming only women for the result of an act, sometimes forced, between two people where only she will suffer the consequence. While simultaneously shaming women for having children out of wedlock enforcing this idea that women should only have sex if they’re married. However, Gilead contradicts this idea by making the Wives infertile.

We see a similar tactic of oppression used in Gilead when Janine gives her testimony of being gang-raped at the age of 14. The Handmaids begin chanting that it is Janine’s fault for being raped because she ‘led them on’ Atwood uses this scene to highlight the stupidity of this reasoning that we still hear typically from the conservative viewpoint in a way that is almost comical. The colors of American society have for generations, since the beginning of what America is now, installed oppression on all races except the white race. Without this unjust system, the current people in power would not hold that power. At least not here. Slavery of the African American race, similar to Gilead, was implemented through physical and mental abuse. One of the tactics was also weaponizing Christianity, forcing the Africans to believe that if they did not obey and sacrifice their lives to better theirs, there would be far worse consequences from a higher power.

In America, we see similar loopholes that we see in Gilead preventing people at the bottom of the hierarchy from reaching the top—for example, voter restriction laws. When black men were given the right to vote in 1870 southern states created loopholes that would disproportionately remove black voters. Loopholes like literacy tests understanding that African Americans were for centuries prohibited from reading and poll taxes knowing that African Americans were starting to make a living for themselves, automatically making them poor. Atwood uses multiple parts of history to demonstrate the cruel and dehumanizing way societies are run. She highlights the universal issue of gender inequality in her writing in a thoughtful way that the reader can not breeze through, like many do with the current media, but has to sit and digest. B

Songs: Matte Kudasai (1981) - King Crimson

https://youtu.be/eoAupjcnm1c?si=Mwg_hYjNdxg7JuoZ

I Talk to the Wind (1969) - King Crimson

https://youtu.be/UlKrH07au6E?si=gPDgsOOtm7T49GSa

Epitaph (1969) - King Crimson

https://youtu.be/vXrpFxHfppI?si=_hfIQnPxiOXcb7-O

Everything You’ve Ever Dreamed (1998) - Shiro Sagisu & Arianne

https://youtu.be/gfbTvv076dQ?si=nyUJ3DqVYX65MGFO

TalkTalk (2018) - A Perfect Circle

https://youtu.be/-aOyAvbj2Fg?si=4Ol5lO7QFN3bUCAs

Connections:

Matte Kudasai (1981): Matte Kudasai, from the 1981 King Crimson album Discipline, is a song about memory, loss, and a longing for something unattainable. The title of the song comes from a Japanese phrase roughly translating to “Wait, please.” These feelings of memories, loss, nostalgia, and the such are ever prevalent throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, especially in the Night chapters. But there is one scene where I think that the ideas of the song are more pertinent then in most other scenes. “I lie in bed, still trembling. You can wet the rim of a glass and you run your finger around the rim and it will make a sound. This is what I feel like: this sound of glass. I feel like the word shatter. I want to be with someone.” This is the first line in chapter 18 of The Handmaid’s Tale. For the rest of the chapter Offred talks about her need for love, specifically that of Luke. She wants him here with her, and without his love or any love in general she feels empty, like a husk. This is exemplified in lines such as, “It’s lack of love we die from.”, “I am like a room where things once happened and now nothing does,”, or “It’s this message, which may never arrive, that keeps me alive.” Offred is so desperate for any form of love that even a more than likely futile hope can keep her going. The second verse of Matte Kudasai fits perfectly with this scene; “When, when was the night so long? Long, like the notes I’m sending. She waits in the air, Matte Kudasai. She sleeps in a chair In her sad America.” As I said earlier this is a song about loss and nostalgia and that specific verse illustrates those themes particularly well. The lyrics themselves also match up fairly well with the text in chapter 18, at least to me, they give off a similar emotion as well as a similar prose. The themes present in the song are themes that are intrinsic and vital to the character of Offred, so the song works as both a theme for this scene but as a leitmotif for Offred as a character.

I Talk to the Wind (1969): Yet another King Crimson Song though this one is from their debut album In the Court of the Crimson King released in 1969. Where Matte Kudasai gives off a much sadder and melancholic tone I Talk to the Wind is much more ethereal and airy. It feels like a trailing thought dancing in the wind, but beneath the calming music and celestial vocal performance there are very somber undertones. It is a song of confusion and disillusion with the idea of God. And the tone and themes of the song fit very well with many moments in The Handmaid’s Tale. In chapter 27 Offred and Ofglen are walking through the city when they pass the Soul Scrolls storefront and after a short conversation Ofglen asks Offred “‘Do you think God listens,’ […] ‘to these machines?’” to which Offred responds “No.” This scene showing both Offreds and Ofglens doubts on whether or not God listens fits perfectly with the chorus of I Talk to the Wind, “I talk to the wind, my words are all carried away. I talk to the wind. The wind does not hear, the wind cannot hear.” Many, including myself, interpret the song as a pious man talking to a non-religious person. And as the pious man talks to the “Late Man” he begins to doubt whether God, the wind, is listening or even can listen. These doubts on whether or not God listens is critical to how Offred views both Gilead and religion in general.

Epitaph (1969): From the same album as I Talk to the Wind, in fact literally the next song on the album, Epitaph is the most rock-like of these three King Crimson songs. Written at the height of the Cold War in the late sixties, it is a song about the end of the world, not by nature nor God, but rather through the deeds of men. This fits well with the fall of the United States and the rise of Gilead, as many of the people who lived through it view it as the end of the world as they knew it. “It was hard to believe. The entire government, gone like that. How did they get in, how did it happen?” This line from page 174 aligns closely with one of the repeating lyrics of Epitaph, “Confusion will be my epitaph” When massive change, especially bad change, happens most people feel only confusion, it’s all one can feel in these situations. I think the most important line in Epitaph and the one that fits most closely with the world under Gilead is near the end of the song, “Will no one lay the laurel wreath when silence drowns the screams?” The laurel wreath is a symbol of victory, given to Roman commanders after a successful war or conquest. But there was no victor in Gilead’s takeover. No one won, say for an extraordinarily small number of people, everyone is either a slave to a master or a slave to the system as a whole. No one is happy; not the Wives, Marthas, Handmaids, or even the Commanders. They are all silenced and repressed

Everything You’ve Ever Dreamed (1998): Everything You’ve Ever Dreamed was an unused song in the animated movie End of Evangelion and is therefore deeply tied to the themes of that movie and the Eva franchise as whole. Those themes being that of escapism, freedom, despair, and most importantly in our case love, or lack thereof. And though it was made with a completely different series in mind, it fits The Handmaid’s Tale shockingly well. In chapter 35 of The Handmaid’s Tale Offred is meeting with the Commander and on her way she ponders love. What love is now and what it was before. “God is love, they once said, but we reversed that, and love, like heaven, was always just around the corner. […] We were waiting, always,” In the before times and especially now love is always just out of reach. Everything You’ve Ever Dreamed mirrors these ideas perfectly with the songs chorus, “You can sail the seven seas Love is a place you’ll never see Passing you like a summer breeze You feel life has no other reason to be You can wait a million years and find That heavens too far away from you.” Even as I am writing this I am a little shocked on how well this works, I mean the mention of heaven as a way of showing that love is just out of reach is perfect. This song, like Matte Kudasai, works perfectly as themes for Offred and her character. She is someone who has lost a lot and has been denied almost all forms of connection, platonic or romantic. She, like everyone, is desperate for any kind of bond, but in Gilead, it is all too far out of reach.

TalkTalk (2018): This is the most different song in the playlist, where the others were softer and much longer, TalkTalk is shorter and a lot more aggressive in its tone. TalkTalk also has, in my opinion, the most unique meaning of the five songs listed here, being a commentary on the people who only talk about issues and do nothing about it. Another interpretation, and the one I personally like more, is that it is a song about those who twist words of religion to further means and to say something without really saying anything. The main repeating lyric of TalkTalk is, “Sit and talk like Jesus Try walkin’ like Jesus Sit and talk like Jesus Talk like Jesus Talk, talk, talk, talk” People talk like Jesus, use his words to push their agenda, but they do not act like Jesus, do not do as he said, they don’t walk like Jesus. This relates to The Handmaid’s Tale as Gilead is a theocracy, a government built around one state religion, and this religion is some sect of Christianity. Everything in Gilead is based around Christianity; Marthas are named after the sister of Jesus, the ‘slogan’ for the handmaids (Give me children, or else I die) is a quote from Genesis 30, even the name Gilead is a reference to a fertile land within Jerusalem, hell even the storefronts are references to the Bible. Everything in Gilead is built around this bizarre sect of Christianity, but they just happen to leave out all of the parts that don’t fit their agenda. They spew out the words of a doctrine they don’t even properly follow, they talk like Jesus but do not walk like Jesus.