1. An individuals identity is defined by their relationship between themselves and the culture in which the live – the Handmaids tale
Lauryn Davidson

2. Activity 1:
Discuss if you believe this statement is true and give examples of this. Your example may be based upon your life or in the novel.

3. Gilead and its control over individuals
One of the most important themes of The Handmaid's Tale is the presence and manipulation of power. Gilead is a theocratic dictatorship, so power is imposed entirely from the top.
There is no possibility of appeal and no method of legally protecting oneself from the government.
Unlike a democratic society, where the people consent to be governed and therefore have an interest in maintaining the structures of society, in Gilead, the government must cover the streets and even individual homes with guards and guns.
The only place that people are free is in their own heads, creating a significant amount of isolation between individuals

4. Effect of society
All Handmaids are stripped from their identity due to the demanding laws and inequality inflicted by Gilead;
Handmaids names show us this
Uniform colours show us this
Laws against freedom show us this
Characters such as Janine and Offred show us this
Characters such as Moira makes us question this statement

5. Character Janine, example of a identity being stripped by society
Janine is a prime example of how she cannot cope with the deflation society has on her identity; stripping her from it and forcing her into becoming part of the system.
Janine's mental state tracks how her unhealthy relationship with society has a great toll on her strength and her capability
Eventually Janine falls victim to the system, her relationship with society has stripped away her identity

6. Discuss the characters of offred and moira and compare and contrast them with janine.
Has society completley brainwashed them like it has moira?
In which ways have they kept their identities and it which ways has society defined it?

7. offred
Offglen is stronger than janine at letting Gilead define her but she isn’t as rebellious and active as Moira is to keep her identity.
Although the Handmaid outfit and Offreds name define her identity, it’s the thoughts, personality and actions which define a person.
For example
Offred tells Nick her real name so that she may be understood as who she really is, not what the society wants her to be.
When Offred is preparing herself for the Ceremony, she tells herself that she must compose herself. "I compose myself. My self is a thing I must now compose, as one composes a speech. What I must present is a made thing, not something born" In her mind the "thing" and Offred are two separate beings. She is struggling with what her new occupation has called her to do, and to remain pure. This constant switch between the "thing" and Offred shows her struggle to keep her identity as it was before the Republic of Gilead took control of North America.

8. Names defining the individual
In the beginning, the narrator, Offred, says that an Ofglen had been replaced by the one she was walking with, and near the end of the book, the narrator says that Ofglen had been replaced again by a new Ofglen. This transfer of people but not of names, shows that Gilead doesn't care for the personalitities or identities of the Handmaids, as long as they can do the job. This strips the woman of their identity because they can have over 40 different names between their birth and their death and none of them will really define the woman for who she is, just who she belongs to.

9. Uniform defining the individual
The colour of uniform characters wear in this novel ranks them on how powerful they are and defines them as a grouping of people not as individuals.
“the colour of blood, which defines us” – red is symbolic to the handmaids role in society, bounding them directly to the menstrual cycle and the womb, making it unforgettable what their role in society is, stripping away their identity and only identifying them and defining them as only fertile.

10. discussion
To what extent do you think that the culture of gilead defines the handmaids identities?

11. summary
It is clear that the Handmaids identities are defined by society due to their forced role within it, however, this differentiates between the characters based on their strength and abilities to keep their own mind running and not to mentally give into the oppressing society.
THANK YOU