Offred

Outer characterization

Offred is the main character in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. The name Offred is given to her by the Gilead regime and it is used to show that she belongs to the Commander. The name comes from the possessive “Of” and the Commander’s name, “Fred”. Other Handmaids are named “Ofglen” and “Ofwarren”, for example. 

However, her real name is probably June. We can guess this from the scene in the first chapter when the Handmaids at the training center whisper their names to each other: “In this way we exchanged names, from bed to bed: Alma. Janine. Dolores. Moira. June.” (Chapter 1, 100%). We can guess her name is June because we hear more details about the characters Alma, Janine, Dolores, and Moira, but the name June is not mentioned again. 

Offred describes her appearance around the middle of the narrative: “I am thirty-three years old. I have brown hair. I stand five seven without shoes. I have trouble remembering what I used to look like. I have viable ovaries.” (Chapter 24, 13%). As a Handmaid, she is forced to wear an oppressive red outfit that completely covers her skin and hair: 

Red shoes, flat-heeled to save the spine and not for dancing. The red gloves are lying on the bed. I pick them up, pull them onto my hands, finger by finger. Everything except the wings around my face is red: the color of blood, which defines us. The skirt is ankle-length, full, gathered to a flat yoke that extends over the breasts, the sleeves are full. The white wings too are prescribed issue; they are to keep us from s...