The Handmaid's Tale

Heartbreak Hotel
Amazing Grace

At the beginning of chapter ten Offred remembers two songs she used to sing before she was a handmaid. She still hums them to herself now and again to remember. 

The first song is Amazing Grace. She says that songs such as that are not sung anymore because they use the word free. This song represents Offreds desire for the past. The first line “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,” represents the search for the true meaning of God and a return to a moral society. This is because, when used in religion grace stands for the salvation God gives to all sinners. Thought Offred has been forced by this society to commit many sins, there is hope that they can one day be saved. This leads into the next line “Could save a wretch like me.” A wretch is an unfortunate of unhappy person, representing Offred. Once again this line expresses the hope of being saved from this oppressing society. The next two line focus more on irony and represent why the song is banned. “Who once was lost, but now am found,” This society believes it is finding a place for everyone to fit, and giving them purpose. What is not realized is that they are causing the people to lose their identity. One can easily lose track of what is right, and what is the truth as the society continues its strive for conformity. The last line works in a similar fashion, “Was bound, but now am free.” This contains extreme irony because the citizens of this society did not realize how much freedom they had until it was taken from them. It is now, that they are bound. Offred is especially bound by the clothes she is forced to wear and the acts she is forced to perform. 

The second song is Heartbreak Hotel. This song choice symbolizes her yearning for the old times and more specifically her husband Luke. The first two line are the same, “I feel so lonely, baby,” This is symbolic simply of how much she misses her old life. She misses the love and intimacy her and her husband shared that she cannot have anymore. The second line is “I feel so lonely I could die.” This final line displays the reoccurring thought that the only escape from this society and way of life is through death. Though she has hope, she believes Luke is dead. Her only way to join him again would be by dying as well. Offred says she doesn’t sing this song much anymore because it hurts her throat. The mention of her throat is a hint too, to the idea of suicide. A song about “feeling so lonely [you] could die” making ones neck hurt is a reminder to Offred of the option that is always on her mind. The one way to escape and once again be with Luke and her child.