29 Best Margaret Atwood Quotes

“Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.”

This Latin phrase, meaning "Don't let the bastards grind you down," is found scratched into Offred's closet by the previous Handmaid. It becomes a secret message of defiance and solidarity, inspiring Offred to resist the oppressive regime of Gilead and reminding her that she is not alone in her suffering.

“We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print. It was the absence of information that was most telling.”

Offred reflects on the gradual erosion of women's rights and identities before Gilead. This quote highlights how the loss of public visibility and information was a key step in their subjugation, emphasizing the insidious nature of totalitarian control and the importance of recorded history and individual narratives.

“Gilead is within you.”

This chilling phrase, frequently repeated by Aunt Lydia, encapsulates the psychological manipulation and indoctrination central to Gilead's control. It suggests that the regime's ideology is meant to be internalized, making resistance not just an external act but an internal struggle against one's own thoughts and desires, fostering self-surveillance.

“Ignoring isn't the same as ignorance. You have to work at it.”

Offred observes the deliberate effort required to overlook the atrocities and injustices of Gilead. This line speaks to the human capacity for willful blindness and complicity, suggesting that maintaining ignorance in the face of oppression is an active choice, not a passive state, and implicates those who choose not to see.

“Context is all.”

Offred frequently uses this phrase to explain how meaning changes depending on circumstances. It underscores the subjective nature of truth and interpretation in Gilead, where words and actions are constantly re-evaluated through the lens of the regime's ideology, and how understanding requires considering the full, often brutal, reality.

“Better never means better for everyone. It always means worse for some.”

The Commander offers this cynical justification for Gilead's existence, arguing that any societal improvement inevitably comes at the cost of others. This reveals the regime's utilitarian and ruthless philosophy, where the supposed greater good for a select few justifies extreme oppression and suffering for the majority, particularly women.

“There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don't underrate it.”

Aunt Lydia's manipulative rhetoric attempts to reframe the Handmaids' subjugation as a form of liberation. She argues that Gilead offers "freedom from" dangers like crime and sexual violence, justifying the removal of "freedom to" choose or act, highlighting how oppressive regimes twist language to control perception and consent.

“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 red and ripe.”

Offred reflects on the profound shift in her perception of her own body under Gilead. Once a vessel for personal agency, it has become merely a reproductive object, stripped of individuality and reduced to its biological function. This vivid imagery conveys her dehumanization and the loss of self.

“Sanity is a valuable possession; I hoard it the way people once hoarded money. I save it, so I will have enough, when the time comes.”

Offred's internal monologue reveals her desperate struggle to maintain her mental well-being in the soul-crushing environment of Gilead. This quote emphasizes the psychological toll of oppression and her conscious effort to preserve her inner self, highlighting the importance of mental resilience as a form of resistance.

“And so I step up, into the darkness within; or else the light.”

This is Offred's final line in her narrative, as she enters the black van, uncertain of her fate. It symbolizes the ambiguity of her future – whether she is being rescued by Mayday or captured by the Eyes. The line encapsulates the novel's open ending and the enduring uncertainty of resistance.

“I am alive, I dwell, I participate.”

This is Offred's internal mantra, a quiet act of defiance and self-affirmation. In a world designed to strip her of identity and agency, repeating these words helps her assert her existence, her presence, and her minimal, yet crucial, engagement with life, preventing her from succumbing entirely to despair.

“But remember that forgiveness too is a power. To beg for it is a power, and to withhold or bestow it is a power, perhaps the greatest.”

Aunt Lydia's lesson highlights the complex dynamics of power, even in a seemingly powerless state. It suggests that control can be exerted through emotional and moral leverage, not just physical force, and that the ability to grant or deny forgiveness holds significant sway over others, even within oppressive structures.

“Truly amazing, what people can get used to, as long as there are a few compensations.”

Offred's cynical observation reflects on the human capacity for adaptation, even to horrific circumstances, especially when small comforts or perceived benefits are offered. This line critiques the insidious way totalitarian regimes normalize oppression by providing just enough "compensations" to quell widespread rebellion and encourage complicity.

“One of the things we believe in is that the truth is not always the best thing.”

The Commander reveals Gilead's pragmatic and manipulative approach to information. This statement underscores the regime's willingness to distort or suppress truth for its own ideological and political ends, highlighting how totalitarian states control narratives to maintain power, prioritizing stability and obedience over honesty.

“My self is a thing I must now compose, as one composes a speech. What I must present is a made thing, not something born.”

Offred reflects on the necessity of constructing a persona to survive in Gilead. Her true self must be hidden, replaced by a carefully curated public image that conforms to the regime's expectations. This quote illustrates the profound loss of authenticity and the psychological burden of constant performance under oppression.

“We thought we had such problems. How were we to know we were happy?”

Offred's poignant reflection on her pre-Gilead life highlights the human tendency to take freedom and normalcy for granted until they are lost. This line serves as a warning, urging readers to appreciate present liberties and recognize the subtle erosion of rights before it's too late, emphasizing hindsight's clarity.

“It's not a story I'm telling. It's also a story I'm telling, in my head, as I go along.”

Offred's meta-commentary on her narrative reveals her coping mechanism and the subjective nature of her account. She acknowledges that her story is both a lived experience and a constructed narrative, emphasizing the unreliability of memory and the act of storytelling as a means of survival and resistance against erasure.

“I would like to believe this is a story I'm telling. I need to believe it. I must believe it. Those who believe that such stories are only stories have a better chance.”

Offred grapples with the reality of her situation, finding solace in framing it as a narrative. This internal struggle highlights the psychological defense mechanism of distancing oneself from trauma by fictionalizing it. Believing it's "just a story" offers a fragile hope of survival and mental escape from the horror.

“We yearned for the future. How did we learn it, that talent for insatiability?”

Offred reflects on the consumerist and aspirational culture of the past, contrasting it with the stark deprivation of Gilead. This line critiques the endless desire for more that characterized pre-Gilead society, suggesting that such "insatiability" might have inadvertently contributed to the conditions that allowed Gilead to rise.

“All of us here will be exchanged, sooner or later, for others. This is the way of things.”

Offred's stark realization underscores the Handmaids' expendability and the systemic dehumanization within Gilead. They are not individuals but interchangeable vessels, their value solely tied to their reproductive function. This highlights the brutal efficiency of the regime in replacing those who fail to conform or conceive.

“A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze.”

Offred contemplates the illusion of freedom within Gilead's highly controlled society, where choices are limited to pre-approved options within a larger system of oppression.

“But I keep on going, trying to remember what it was like to be in love. It's like trying to remember a dream. You can't quite get a hold of it.”

Offred struggles to recall the emotions and intimacy of her past life with Luke, underscoring the psychological toll of her current existence and the erosion of personal memory.

“Sanity is a valuable possession; I hoard it the way people in less troubled times hoarded money.”

Offred's internal reflection underscores the immense psychological toll of living under Gilead's regime. It emphasizes the constant mental struggle required to maintain one's identity and mental well-being in an environment designed to strip individuals of their autonomy and sense of self.

“Can I be blamed for wanting a real body, to put my arms around? Without it I too am disembodied.”

Offred expresses her profound longing for physical intimacy and human connection, which are severely restricted in Gilead. This highlights the dehumanizing aspect of the regime, which reduces women to their reproductive functions, denying them emotional and physical relationships.

“We are for breeding purposes: we aren't concubines, geishas, courtesans. On the contrary: everything possible has been done to remove us from that category.”

Offred describes the Handmaids' designated role, emphasizing their reduction to biological vessels. This quote reveals Gilead's attempt to strip Handmaids of any sexual agency or pleasure, framing their function as purely reproductive and devoid of personal desire or connection.

“You can't help what you feel, but you can help how you behave.”

This is another of Aunt Lydia's maxims, used to control the Handmaids' internal lives. It reflects Gilead's emphasis on outward conformity and suppression of individual emotion, demanding obedience and discouraging any expression of dissent or personal desire.

“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 it is no longer mine.”

Offred laments the loss of bodily autonomy under Gilead, where her body has been reclassified solely as a reproductive vessel. This powerful statement encapsulates the dehumanization of women in the regime, stripped of their personal ownership and reduced to biological functions.

“The best and most cost-effective way to control women is through women themselves.”

Aunt Lydia's cynical observation reveals a key strategy of Gilead's oppression: using women like the Aunts to police and indoctrinate other women. This internal policing minimizes the need for male enforcers and creates a system of self-perpetuating control and distrust among women.

“There was no way around it, I was a burden. I was a reproach.”

Offred reflects on her status as a Handmaid who has not yet conceived, feeling the immense pressure and blame placed upon her by Gilead. This highlights the regime's dehumanization, reducing women to their reproductive utility and shaming those who fail to conform.