How does Attwood establish the novel in Chapter 1 of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’?

How does Attwood establish the novel in Chapter 1 of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’?
Attwood uses a variety of different techniques to indicate in the first chapter of her novel, some of the main themes that will reoccur later in the text. She uses The Handmaid’s Tale to express her ideas about feminism and the role of women in the world, but also to warn about the growing importance of procreation and its association with women’s identity; she presents these themes in the first chapter in a variety of ways.
Firstly, Atwood uses structure effectively by opening her novel with the two words “We slept”. This indicates a strong association of the novel with beds, and therefore referring to the importance of sex within the novel itself. By structuring it to be the first words the reader reads, it symbolises how it is the first priority of the society of Gilead, and the importance and attention they direct to sex, and the consequences of sex, such as procreation. However, it could also be argued that the reference to “slept” is an indication of a detachment from reality, which along with the mention of “fantasy” later in the novel adds to the semantic field of a dream-like state and could suggest the unreliability of the narrator.
Furthermore, Atwood’s structuring of the sentence “felt skirted…later in mini-skirts, then pants, then in one earring.” indicates that the attention turned to women, in the world of Gilead, is mainly based on their bodies, and their function ‘below the waist’ is prioritised over their facial attributes, suggesting the emphasis based on fertility rather than ‘beauty’ itself.
Both quotes strongly suggests that within the rest of the novel, women’s identity and worth is very much based on their sexual and fertile nature, and that the emotional side of women is deemed worthless, as they are seen as mostly an accessory in maintaining the procreation of men and are not seen as individual with feelings or desires.
This point is further explored by the form which Atwood uses: the heroine’s use of mostly declarative sentences throughout the chapter provides the reader with no sense of emotion or expression, but overall a very monotone narrative “That was our fantasy.” However, this does not indicate an emotionally derived character, as Offred’s almost erratic bursts of punctuation (“…insatiability?”) assure the reader of her inner emotions, but rather it points to the fact that she is conforming to a set of rules, whereby she is almost ‘forbidden’ to express emotion. Therefore, the short, monotone sentences reflect instead the expectations of society, and their lack of value for emotion, particularly in women.
Nevertheless, the sophisticated vocabulary of the Offred, mostly her nouns and verbs like “palimpsest” and “insatiability” suggest a life within her that she cannot express but rather she keeps alive in her thoughts. This indicates a sense of rebellion within her, and foreshadows her lack of willingness to fully conform to the rules of Gilead. On the other hand, her alternation between complex and simplistic vocabulary could also indicate her lack of grasp on her actions and suggests a deterioration of her own identity, and rather than it being a sign of rebellion, it could be a sign of assimilation as Gilead’s rules are breaking her thoughts down.
The distinction between reality and thoughts is also apparent in Atwood’s use of language. The mention of using “flannelette sheets” to cover themselves up suggests firstly a layered up reality, or a series of overwritten events (suggested by “palimpsest” earlier) which indicates Offred’s tendency to look at the layers of the past upon the present, as she constantly compares her present position to events that happened to her in her past. In addition, another interpretation could be that “flannelette sheets” are commonly used by children (as mentioned by Offred “like children’s”) which indicates that the covering up of the Handmaids is almost childlike which could be a reference to the attires they are assigned, as their clothes are shielding and protecting them from the intruding eyes of men, which indicates that Gilead’s government identifies women as immature and fragile, by treating them in a ‘patronising’ way.
Moreover, this point is extended by Atwood’s use of “cots” to describe the women’s sleeping arrangements, which has the imagery of babies or toddler’s bed’s. This could be a cataphoric reference to how women are defined by the children they have, almost to the point that they are becoming ‘one’ with the child, whereby their child is who defines their worth in society. It could also be interpreted as the government’s methods to invoke the handmaid’s maternal side, by surrounding them with childish articles, which could indicate the power of the government and also their sly methods which allow them to manipulate women into placing motherhood as the primary reason of their lives.

In conclusion, I believe that Atwood revels a lot about the plot and the themes of her book in the first chapter. I think the main points she makes are mostly centred on the government’s power and influence on women and their pre-assigned position in society, and some of the points foreshadow Offred’s rebellion and defiance of this society. Overall, I think that while Atwood made many points on women’s identity and freedom, The Handmaid’s Tale also has many warnings against totalitarianism and explores conflicts between the two genders within the rest of the text.