Hatred of Books in The Handmaids Tale

While I'm on the roll of talking about hatred of books within books I thought I may as well make it three in a row, as mentioned in my last blog post it is a theme in Atwood’s The Handmaids Tale. Books are banned in Gilead which means any chance to read is valued greatly by Offred.

The only book allowed in Gilead is the bible but even that is “kept locked up ... it is an incendiary device”. The bible which is traditionally seen as a sanctuary to religious individuals instead is feared as a dangerous item. This is the fear that if the women had access to the bible the could educate themselves to the point where there is the risk that they could stand up to the men. The society is infact contradicting itself here as it claims to be highly religious and functions the way it does because it’s ‘what God would want’ yet they don’t trust the bible and instead make up the content of the bible.

Throughout the text Offred relies on one phrase to help herself survive this oppression she faces, “Nolite bastardes carborundorum”, a phrase she finds scratched into her wardrobe by a previous Handmaid, which is said to be a schoolboys slang for 'Don't let the bastards wear you down'. Offred goes on to recall this phrase as part of her prayer though stating “I don't know what it means but it sounds right”. It is as though because she has no access to written language her passion for it is diminished to simply a superficiality, using the words based on how they sound or look. Her desperation to rebel against the regime is based on insults that she has no clear understanding of. As a young woman who doesn't know latin you can imagine her simply seeing “bastardes” and assuming it equates to the English dysphemism (which she is right to assume) and decides the rest of the claim must be insulting enough to use against the men she hates.

The only word Offred is allowed to read (disregarding the inscription in her wardrobe) is the word “FAITH” that is stitched into the cushion under her window. There’s a sense of irony behind this word being chosen as the only thing she can read is a religious idea, which seems contradictory to the fact of they lock the bible up – this supposedly fully religious society in Gilead seems to be very uncertain in their own faith. Perhaps they only allow this single word because its very simple and difficult to manipulate and use as a base for rebellion – simply a message to have faith in regime. It being under the window is like suggesting look out at the beauty in the gardens and have faith, be inspired by God’s glory to trust the regime.