"We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of point. It gave us more freedom. We lived in the gaps between the stories." It's almost as if they weren't humans in that society, but property under the Dystopian community. Since they seemed to exist in the blank white spaces at the edges of print, it gave not just more freedom, but it seems as if it would have instilled more fear into the handmaids. The reason why I believe so is because, being that the handmaid's importance in the work papers is not really valuable, therefore will the authorities of the society and the Eyes be able to do more sinister harm unto them and never be caught or punished for it.
This society deeply reminds me much of how the African Americans were treated back in the 1700s through the early 1900's. The slaves were regarded as property unto their masters or "white men," and trusted as such. There were certain places that they were only allowed to go to. In comparison to the handmaid's tale, the handmaids must have their faces covered, and can only go to places they're instructed to go to. The African Americans were regarded as only two-thirds of a person in contrast to the whites; whereas the handmaids aren't counted much of anything as they were in the newspapers. Just like the incident with the Japanese tourists and their encounter with the "fascinating" handmaids, they are perceived as like the tools of a machine, or just some function of society. Although the handmaids had the natural ability to think for themselves in certain ways, their former lifestyles of self and pleasure was obsolete in their present state of mind in that society.
This society deeply reminds me much of how the African Americans were treated back in the 1700s through the early 1900's. The slaves were regarded as property unto their masters or "white men," and trusted as such. There were certain places that they were only allowed to go to. In comparison to the handmaid's tale, the handmaids must have their faces covered, and can only go to places they're instructed to go to. The African Americans were regarded as only two-thirds of a person in contrast to the whites; whereas the handmaids aren't counted much of anything as they were in the newspapers. Just like the incident with the Japanese tourists and their encounter with the "fascinating" handmaids, they are perceived as like the tools of a machine, or just some function of society. Although the handmaids had the natural ability to think for themselves in certain ways, their former lifestyles of self and pleasure was obsolete in their present state of mind in that society.
