Oyster Imagery Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale

In the article Atwood’s THE HANDMAID’s TALE, Erica Joan Dymond argues that Atwood used a theme of oysters and pearls throughout the novel to emphasize certain themes. I was completely oblivious to it, but after reading her article, I’m convinced that Atwood intentionally peppered the examples throughout. The examples vary, but the theme is undeniable.

First, we see oysters as something valuable and rare. At the training center, Aunt Lydia compares Offred and the other handmaids to pearls. “A thing is valued, she says, only if it is rare and hard to get. We want you to be valued, girls. She is rich in pauses, which she savors in her mouth. Think of yourselves as pearls” (114). Offred reminds herself that pearls are congealed oyster spit.

The idea of pearls as something valuable and rare is contradicted later in chapter 34. At that point, they reflect corruption and materialism. The Commander addresses the group of people gathered at the Women’s Prayvaganzas. He says “I will that women adorn themselves in modest apparel . . . with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array” (221). Dymond describes this passage as underscoring the theme of corruption in Gilead. It is contradictory since the aunts described the handmaids as pearls, then the Commander basically said that their purpose (wombs with legs) didn’t give them reason for such gems.

Next, we see pearls as symbols of material wealth and status. Offred talks about remembering the Holocaust documentary she watched when she was about eight years old. She describes the mistress of one of the Nazi leaders as very cosmetically made up and perfect looking. Offred is keen on adding the detail that the mistress was wearing pearls.

Dymond then makes a connection between the Nazi mistress and Serena Joy. Serena Joy was also cosmetically made up in her previous lifestyle on television. They were in relationships with men who were invested in the creation/upkeep of said dystopia. They were living in a dystopia but were sheltered from it in a way. The Nazi mistress was sheltered because of her relationship with the leader, and Serena was sheltered in the same fashion. They both owned pearls, except Serena Joy’s pearl was not on a necklace. It was Offred.

Then the examples started to get more complicated. Atwood moved beyond the imagery of only pearls and brought in the idea of oysters themselves. This occurs when Offred talks about her lust over Nick. In chapter 28, she describes seeing Nick walk out of the house and says “I can see him now; he’s stepped off the path, onto the lawn, to breathe in the humid air which stinks of flowers, of pulpy growth, of pollen thrown into the wind in handfuls, like oyster spawn into the sea” (181). Dymond reminds us that oysters are known as an aphrodisiac, so the sexual feelings Offred has towards Nick are underscored by that fact in the passage. She also reminds us of the previous imagery associated with the oyster and how it affects the scene. “However, the oyster image is already established as pejorative, emphasizing Offred’s vile position as a surrogate mother held hostage. That Offred’s body is not her own pervades even her most intimate thoughts” (Dymond). When Dymond says that the oyster image is pejorative, this is because we know that Offred hasn’t held control over her sexual life since everything changed.

The fact that Atwood used the image of pollen thrown into the wind to illustrate how oysters spawn shows us that she thought the symbolism of oyster spawn was quite important. It could arguably reflect sperm making the journey to fertilize an egg. The thing that makes this situation harder to analyze is the fact that Offred had an arrangement through Serena Joy for her to have sex with Nick in order for her to get pregnant. Then Offred became sexually attracted to Nick. The imagery is there, but the problem lies in determining if the focus is more on Offred’s role in the new society or her inner feelings after being used to the old society.

One of the final times Dymond describes a scene using the theme is chapter 35. Offred finally gets to see the picture of her daughter. She reacts, saying “Time has not stood still. It has washed over me, washed me away, as if I’m nothing more than a woman of sand, left by a careless child too near the water. I have been obliterated for her” (228). Dymond reminds us that sand is commonly thought to be an irritant that starts the pearl making process in oysters. She explains that Offred describes herself as that irritant, meaning her daughter would be the pearl, the offspring of that piece of sand.

Dymond then leaves us with the thought that if Offred created a pearl, does that mean her daughter is destined to be a handmaid? When the theme is backed with such clear information as has been laid out for us, it makes it seem hard to miss. I think it is a really important and strong point throughout the novel, and deserves the attention that Dymond has brought to it. I do wish she had analyzed certain parts better, like the part where Atwood talks about the oyster spawn. Even still, lending the idea of the recurring imagery was enough to spark my interest to dig deeper into it. It’s hard to say how every character fits. For example, where is the commander in this equation? It’s hard to say if everyone could be reduced to oyster imagery, but the examples that Atwood included that Dymond relayed are incredibly interesting and genuine feeling.

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Works Cited

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. New York: Fawcett Crest. 1985. Print.

Dymond, Erica Joan. “Atwood’s THE HANDMAID’s TALE.” Explicator 61.3 (2003): 181. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Mar. 2016.

Pearl oyster: http://www.animalpicturesociety.com/pearl-oyster-pictures-e2b8/2-8c64a9/

Pearl on sand: The Kingdom of Heaven by amboo who?