Handmaid's Tale-Metaphor

 The symbol of the red tulips is used throughout The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood to express themes of fertility but also to represent the handmaids. Offred notices the ripeness of the tulips in the garden, "The tulips along the border are redder than ever, opening no longer wine cups but chalices; thrusting themselves up, to what end? They are... empty"(45 Atwood). This instance gives insight into the way Offred bases her self worth. Because the tulip represents her as a handmaid, specifically her fertility, her thoughts on them mirror her thoughts regarding her own self in the aspect of her fertility. Offred sees the tulip as it presents itself to her even though it is empty. It has nothing to bear and therefore why doth it thrust itself up. In other words why does Offred live except to be full with child.  This shows how deeply the cultural of this new world she has found herself in has been ingrained in her and how it affects her self worth as a woman.