The Handmaid's Tale

Symbolism is used rampantly throughout Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, and tulips are one of the less discussed symbols. The tulips, quite simply, represent a Handmaid's menstruation cycle. Every time tulips appear in the novel, Atwood is describing what stage of life they are in. These quotes are ordered from the beginning stage of the cycle to the end:
"The tulips are red, a darker crimson towards the stem, as if they have been cut and are beginning to heal there" (Atwood 12).
"The tulips along the border are redder than ever, opening, no longer wine cups but chalices; thrusting themselves up, to what end?" (45).
"The tulips have had their moment and are now done, shedding their petals one by one, like teeth" (153).
"When they are old they turn themselves inside out, then explode slowly, the petals thrown out like shards" (45).
The red color of the tulips represents blood. A tulip itself is given today as a declaration of love. This is ironic because the Handmaid's interactions with the Commanders have absolutely no connection to love. There is one relationship where love is permitted to exist, however, and that is between the Commander and his Wife. Although love is allowed, sexual intercourse, an intimate display of love, is not allowed between the Commander and his Wife. Offred mentions this through, ironically, the use of tulips. "The red of the smile is the same as the red of the tulips in Serena Joy's garden, towards the base of the flowers where they are beginning to heal. The red is the same but there is no connection. The tulips are not tulips of blood..." (33). Although the tulips tend to remain in the background, they are a significant symbol throughout The Handmaid's Tale.

"Ordinary, said Aunt Lydia, is what you are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary" (Atwood 33).
This quote justifies the entire book. It justifies all revolutions, rebellions, all change.
There is no exact definition of ordinary. Merriam Webster says ordinary is "the regular or customary condition or course of things." Regular, what is regular? Merriam Webster says regular is "constituted, conducted, scheduled, or done in conformity with established or prescribed usages, rules, or discipline." But who is to establish these rules? Who is to judge what ordinary, weird, pretty, ugly, good, bad, scary - what anything is?
After time, the citizens of Gilead will be young enough that they will never have known the former system of government. They will have no previous experience to base their opinion of the current government on, so it will simply fall into the category of "ordinary." Any change thereafter will be unusual.
Everything, yet nothing, is ordinary.

I am a huge fan of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. For one, I am fascinated by anything to do with religion, and this book had everything to do with religion. The biblical allusions were wonderful! I also enjoyed the depth of the novel. There was so much detail hidden behind the text through Atwood's use of symbolism and allusions; at times reading the book was like decoding a foreign message. Of course some subjects were rather awkward to discuss during class, but it was refreshing to read a novel so intimate.