Tulips

"The tulips are red, a darker crimson towards the stem, as if they have been cut and are beginning to heal there." (pg. 12)

Margaret Atwood used red tulips as a major symbol in The Handmaid's Tale. Again with the tulips, is the use of the color red. Although flowers usually symbolize something positive, in this novel, they stand for something much different. Like the healing tulips, the woman in this novel were "cut off" too. With lack of an education, books, and money women were cut off from society.

"Google Image Result for Http://www.wildnatureimages.com/I to R/RED-TULIP..jpg." Google. Web. 31 May 2010. .