chap 10 'We lived in the blank and white spaces

• We lived in the blank and white spaces at the edges of print: 'Chap 10'
• Handmaid's metaphorically live in the spaces between paragraphs

  • No space in society for them to exist
  • Women secondary importance to men despite their vitality
  • Exist as male imposed fantasies
• This implies that Offred was no body special and that we are able to find ourselves through her
• Nuances and clever use of language
• Allegorically evokes Handmaid's oppression

  • The juxtaposing imagery of "black" and "white" depicts the internal conflict that both the regime faces and this conflict within Offred herself
• Unable to assert her individuality and self-worth yet does intimate relationship Commander
• Offred herself engrained into the patriarchal regime
• All patriarchal figures in the novel

  Enact as symbols of hope for Offred- love and relationships between both Commander and Luke