The Red Motif in The Handmaid's Tale http://college-paper-writing-service941.mystrikingly.com/ In the dystopian novel "The Handmaid's Tale" written by Margaret Atwood, the recurrent appearance of the color red draws an interesting yet perverse parallel between femininity and violence. The dominant color of the novel, red is associated with all things female. However, red is also the color of blood; death and violence therefore are closely associated with women in this male-dominated ultraconservative government. We are first introduced to the color red when the narrator is describing how she gets dressed: "The red gloves are lying on the bed. Everything except the wings around my face is red; the color blood, which defines us." Here, we are unsure if Atwood is referring to blood as menstrual and feminine, or as the result of disobedience and the violence which results. The women of "Handmaid" are cloaked in red as a reminder of their fertility. However, in the context of Gilead, red is not just menstrual blood or blood resulting from birth; the red is a threat of death.
