Dystopian Journal 2 (Handmaid's Tale)

"I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation, or an implement for the accomplishment of my will . . . Now the flesh arranges itself differently. I’m a cloud, congealed around a central object, the shape of a pear, which is hard and more real than I am and glows red within its translucent wrapping."

The significance of this passage is that this is the point when Offred seems to accept her place in society. Offred remembers her past and the past ways that her body was treated. Before the republic was created, her body was meant for “pleasure” or “transportation”. It was a body, for sex or getting around; now her body is simply a means of having a baby. Her only goal in life is to be able to give her commander a child. In a world where birth rates are declining, her life purpose revolves around her ovaries, she describes her body as a “cloud, congealed around a central object, the shape of a pear, which is hard and more real than I am and glows red within its translucent wrapping." This description shows a lot of insight into how Offred views her role in society and her body. Her ovaries “glow red” showing that they are the only important part of her. I think the use of the color “red” is significant because of the motif of red representing the handmaids. All the handmaids are required to wear red to show who they are. This color seems to be a color of both fertility and humility. The bright color puts these women on display for the rest of their society to judge, and it is a symbol of fertility because they are the few women that are fertile in their society and those who aren’t, are either wives, the aunts, and the unwomen. “The shape of a pear” is significant because a pear is skinny on the top with a wider bottom; I think there are two different ways to analyze this. Firstly you could say that this represents pregnancy, a wide belly with a child inside. On the other hand, you could say that the skinny top represents the insignificants of what the women think and the large significance on her fertility.