the Library

The Library is a former university building in Gilead that has been repurposed by the Eyes, the regime's secret police, and serves as a site of both memory and terror. It is the place where Offred once worked, transferring books to computer discs, and where she now imagines Luke may be imprisoned. The building's architecture—its white steps, murals of angels and warriors, and vaulted stacks—embodies the violent appropriation of knowledge and the transformation of a space of learning into one of surveillance and death.

Architecture and Symbolism

The Library is described as being "like a temple," with a long flight of white steps leading to a rank of doors. Inside, a white staircase ascends, flanked by murals depicting angels and men fighting or about to fight, looking "clean and noble, not dirty and bloodstained and smelly the way they must have looked." On one side of the inner doorway stands Victory, leading the men on; on the other stands Death, a beautiful woman with wings and one breast almost bare. The mural commemorates some war, and Offred reflects that "they won't have destroyed that." The building's Romanesque arched doorways, from the nineteenth century, contribute to its temple-like aura, a space where the regime's ideology of sacrifice and glory is literally painted onto the walls.

Repurposing by the Eyes

During the Gilead period, the Library is no longer a place of learning. Offred notes that "we aren't allowed inside the buildings anymore; but who would want to go in? Those buildings belong to the Eyes." The Eyes, the regime's secret police, have taken over the structure, and Offred imagines that Luke might be held in its vaults or stacks. The transformation of a library—a repository of books, knowledge, and free inquiry—into a headquarters for surveillance and interrogation is a stark symbol of Gilead's rejection of intellectual freedom. The building's interior, once open to students and scholars, is now closed and forbidden.

Offred's Former Workplace

Before Gilead, Offred worked in a smaller library, not the main one with the murals of Death and Victory. Her job involved transferring books to computer discs to cut down on storage space and replacement costs. She and her colleagues called themselves "discers" and referred to the library as a "discotheque." After the books were transferred, they were supposed to go to the shredder, but Offred sometimes took them home, liking "the feel of them, and the look." This memory of her former work contrasts sharply with the Library's current function: where she once handled physical books and preserved knowledge, the building now houses the apparatus of state terror.

The Wall and the Salvagings

The Library is located within the same walled compound as the Wall where executed bodies are displayed. Offred walks past the Library on her way to Women's Salvagings, which are held on the wide lawn in front of the building. During one Salvaging, she kneels on a red velvet cushion on the grass and looks up at the white steps, which are "still the same." The juxtaposition of the Library's classical facade with the wooden stage and the three posts with loops of rope underscores the regime's perversion of institutional spaces: a site of education becomes a stage for public execution.

Narrative Significance

The Library functions as a palimpsest of past and present, a place where Offred's memories of her former life—her job, her love of books—collide with the grim realities of Gilead. It is also a site of speculation and fear: she imagines Luke imprisoned in its vaults, and she recalls the mural of Death, a beautiful woman with wings, which now seems to foreshadow the fate of those who resist the regime. The Library, once a symbol of enlightenment, has become a monument to the regime's power and a reminder of what has been lost.