Storytelling and Memory as Resistance

The Handmaid's Tale

The act of telling her story is Offred's way of resisting erasure and asserting her existence.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Need to Tell The Need to Tell from "The Handmaid's Tale". The Need to Tell The Audience Offred tells her story to an imagined "you." She believes in the listener. By telling, she wills them into being.

The Need to Tell from "The Handmaid's Tale". The Need to Tell The Audience Offred tells her story to an imagined "you." She believes in the listener. By telling, she wills them into being.

The Need to Tell The Audience Offred tells her story to an imagined "you." She believes in the listener. By telling, she wills them into being. The Reconstruction She admits that all of it is a reconstruction. Memory is fallible. But the act of telling gives shape to her experience. The Power Storytelling is a form of power. It allows her to control the narrative. It is a way of surviving.

The Forbidden Act The Forbidden Act from "The Handmaid's Tale". The Forbidden Act The Tapes Offred records her story on tapes, hidden in a footlocker. Writing is forbidden. She risks her life to leave a record.

The Forbidden Act from "The Handmaid's Tale". The Forbidden Act The Tapes Offred records her story on tapes, hidden in a footlocker. Writing is forbidden. She risks her life to leave a record.

The Forbidden Act The Tapes Offred records her story on tapes, hidden in a footlocker. Writing is forbidden. She risks her life to leave a record. The Legacy The tapes are discovered after her death. They become a historical document. Her voice reaches the future. The Meaning Offred's story is a testament to the human spirit. It is a cry against oblivion. Memory is resistance.

throughout the narrative

during the narrative