Adapting Famous Writers: Margaret Atwood

Nala Cyriac

Mr. Cohen

ENG4U

September 23rd, 2025

Adapting Famous Writers: Margaret Atwood

As I return to the Commanders' compound, I enter through the steel door and drop the day’s gatherings in their designated spots. This is where we handmaids live and each day is more or less the same: the same clothes, the same prayers, the same dull, uneventful routine that becomes even more thoughtless with each passing day. I can’t remember how it came to this. How every choice we once had was replaced with an automatic response, curated by the Republic of Gilead. I think back to the old television broadcasts that used to play in the middle of our favorite shows. How Luke and I would groan as an episode of Cheers was interrupted by the usual “Morning in America” campaign. It would always end with the same phrase: “a message brought to you by the Government of America.” 

When I think about it, I can’t recall how long I’ve been without these things: without screens; without Luke; without touch. Suddenly, I’m reminded of the guard with the peach-coloured moustache: whose his cheeks flushed when our eyes met; who I was compelled to defy rule for. Thinking back to the time before, this man was nothing to look at in comparison to the movie stars you would see on TV- their piercing eyes emphasized with makeup to capture any lonely single woman watching, like a moth to a flame. But it has been so long without genuine connection that I crave it- soothing my desires with these brief glimpses of hope. 

I physically stop as I walk through the hall towards the kitchen, knowing I cannot let these thoughts spiral. I can’t dare myself to think, it’s too dangerous. How countless women, some I knew, many I didn’t, were struck from this world for far less egregious acts. Even the meer thought of ambition, especially unholy desires was unheard of and thus, kept within the confines of the mind, 

“Your duty is to the Commander.” I remember Aunt Lydia saying. “It is a privilege to be what you are, don’t forget it.” 

The power of fertility is all we all hope for. The woman at the store wore it with such pride. To be coveted as the sole creator of life is a level of respect unmatched by any mortal worship. It is the one time where we get to be the ones in control.

Reflection

In my adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, I wanted to continue portraying Offred as rebellious through her thoughts. Through descriptive language including words like “dull” and “uneventful” when describing the monotony of their lives, I wanted to capture that subtle longing for choice. This is demonstrated in the original when she thinks about the laundromat, remembering the control she once had, saying “I think about having such control” (Atwood, 10). Without saying anything outright, the curiosity of regaining the control she lost to Gilead highlights a glimmer of desire. Importantly, I wanted to capture how everything in Gilead is so tightly controlled. I did this by bringing in Aunt Lydia’s oppressive words and the remembrance of all the women who lost their lives for “far less egregious acts”. The power of the Republic is so profound that it renders our narrator, Offred, limited as she struggles to remember the way that things used to be: with memories only appearing in flashes. Atwood’s work was influenced by having experienced the anxiety, lack of privacy, and unique ways in which people might communicate ‘forbidden’ ideas within communist countries. I wanted to highlight that Offred, without a way to express her thoughts, must keep them to herself. Additionally, in trying to write in the style of Atwood, I included a simile when describing the guard’s face and chose to focus on Offred’s internal struggle rather than her tasks. I wanted to include this specific language feature as there were not many present in the original text and mimic her very introspective style. Finally, I wanted to end on an uplifting note as Atwood herself wrote this story understanding the power of women: that controlling what happens to and with them allows society to control the next generation. This is why I distinguished that fertility and childbirth are areas where they hold power in a world where they have been mostly stripped of it.