In the dystopian novel “The Handmaid's Tale” written by Margaret Atwood, the color red is a recurring and significant symbol throughout the book. Dominant color of the novel, the color red is associated with the Handmaids. The handmaids are always seen in their red uniforms, right down to their red shoes and red gloves. From the first pages of the novel, we learn that they are trained at the "Red Center" and we discover the importance of red imagery as Offred, the narrator and protagonist of the novel, describes herself dressing : “The red gloves are placed on the bed. Everything is red except the wings around my face. Which reveals to us how the Handmaids must wear red, representative of how they are visually defined, and therefore confined in their role in the caste system as sexual servants of their commanders. Red is only worn by servants; the color red indicates sexuality, fertility and childbirth, thus emphasizing their function as a sexual object; their only goal being to give children to their commanders. One of the most recurring symbols throughout the novel, red is linked to everything feminine (the Handmaids). Conversely, red is additionally a symbol of death, violence and blood, which Offred describes as a color that "defines us". The recurring appearance of the color red creates a sobering parallel between femininity and power, as it signifies the religious "sin" of sexual promiscuity between the handmaid and their "married" commander. Offred later states: “I never looked good in red. , that’s not my color,” implying the sacrifice of her individuality due to the roles Gilead has forced her into. It's not their intelligence...... middle of paper...... the tulips are up and keeping them alive, there are human beings under the white bags, but Offred is starting to neglect what's under her red dress. Offred struggles to remember the life she once knew, but now the images are forced into her mind and she understands how her cult/society now asks her to perceive this different world. Red is a scandalous and dishonorable color, depicting the Handmaids as such. . Everything related to handmaids is red; Offred's own name, for example, which so painfully embodies dualism, can be read as "Of Fred", signifying her belonging to her commander, but can also be read as "Off Red", suggesting bearing the red dress, symbolizing her desire for nonconformity from the red dress and all the red-related afflictions in her life – blood, death and violence, which came to "define" her ».