Throughout The Handmaids Tale society is very controlled and pressured to conform to uniform rules. In the totalitarian novel, the society of Gilead is an illusion of a perfect utopian world. However, Offred's expenses show readers otherwise and proving that the novel is in fact a dystopia. Through: its citizens such as protagonist Offred living in a dehumanized state; also information, independent thought, and freedom, are restricted from them. And all the citizens in Gilead must conform to uniform expectations making it is very evident that individuality is unacceptable. All of the citizens of Gilead, especially the women, live in a completely dehumanized state. We can evidently see this through the protagonist Offred who, is restricted to her room and cannot have any human interactions unless it complies with the rules Gilead has set in place. In the novel when Offred talks about her room she says: "I know why there is no glass, in front of the watercolor picture of blue irises, and why the window opens only partly and why the glass in it is shatter-proof. It isn't running away they're afraid of. We wouldn't get far. It's those other escapes, the ones you can open in yourself, given a cutting edge (Atwood 8). Not only is Offred forbidden from jumping from her window or potentially running out the door, she is also deprived of the possibility of suicide. Leaving her in this cage, trapped with no escape, her life is literally lifeless. Offred is blocked in this oppressive life she lives in every way possible. When Offred is given a choice by the doctor to have sexual intercourse, she says, "Why am I frightened? I've crossed no boundaries, I've given no trust, taken no risk, all is safe. It's the choice that terrifies me. A way out a salvation  (Atwood 61). After living this way her whole life, being powerless with no rights and freedoms in Gilead, Offred has actually become accustomed to the controlling and trapped life she is living. Gilead actually stole her right to choose and she is so used to this that she does not dare to do otherwise and abides by the rules. It is has come to the point where citizens are so restrained they cannot even make a