Under the Gileadaen regime the Handmaids never went out unaccompanied, this partnership system provided both chaperones and spies. Offred considers the image of both women dressed identically in red, thinking of them as doubles, both visually and in circumstances. "The truth is that she is my spy, as I am hers. " Each woman traps the other. However, a suggestion of freedom is present in the structure of the two novels. For Keenan, his ability to let his mind wander in times of extreme captivity has been vital to his survival. Both Offred and Keenan's sense of claustrophobia is intensified by the way that their human rights are no longer recognised and they have no freedom of choice. Keenan's beard is used in 'The Devil's Barbershop' to symbolise his dignity and freedom of choice. Keenan is very reluctant to have his beard shaved off; his behaviour becomes the manifestation of claustrophobia. He becomes attached to his beard and it symbolises his freedom of expression, "I've had this beard for too long for some halfwit who thinks he owns me to make me what he wants me to be. Throughout this passage Keenan uses long sentences that highlight his heightened emotions, Keenan's aggressive tone towards his captors also shows his reluctance to change, Keenan's identity is displayed through his beard and similarly to Offred he is being made to conform and accept his claustrophobic surroundings. In "The Handmaid's Tale" Offred is defined by her uniform, and looses her previous identity. This expresses that in Gilead their lives have become so claustrophobic that even their ability to express themselves has been repressed. Keenan took his destiny in his hands, dropping out of the plumber's apprenticeship he started, getting himself to university to read English literature, and then becoming a teacher: the only kid in his street, as he has often said - and not in a self- congratulatory manner - to do so.

This book is a pure descent into insanity. Keenan’s mind went mad – and then, as only very few minds can do, he coerced himself out of that madness and became sane again. How, again, how he did this is beyond my ability to understand, because I have never been imprisoned or tortured. I can only clinically understand it – like pointing to the x on the treasure map – but the road there is one that only Keenan could take for himself. That survival is mutual. Everyone there had to put a part of themselves on the table for everyone else to take what they needed." So, until the debt was clear, he would not be free to act. He is a very unusual man, in many ways no doubt. But in one way in particular. He is not prepared to be cynical. Unmodern, you could say, in that way.I'll start by saying that I started reading this book after I saw a Facebook comment claiming this is good literature. I was intrigued as Middle East history and people overcoming struggles are things I enjoy reading about.

The routine - solitude, toilet, exiguous meals - varies little. One of the guards crawls into his cell wearing an ET latex mask. On another day Keenan decides to dance. It is a small gesture but an important one: the former heating engineer dances because he can conjure music from the rumbling noise of a long vent of piping.He hates it, and he hasn't got used to it. "It embarrasses me." A shy, modest man, he accepts it when people come up to him in the pub, offering him drinks, asking to shake his hand. He is polite and politely unimpressed. He doesn't want this fame. "I don't really understand it. What have I done? I didn't ask to be kidnapped." Referring to his urine and drinking water going ‘From bottle to bottle, through me, this fluid will daily run’, Keenan uses these endless cycles of life to symbolise the monotonous days of his captivity. The phase ‘from bottle to bottle’ and ‘though me’ suggest a continuous flow, while the word ‘daily’ informs us of the length of one standard cycle. Keenan seems to live the same tedious days over and over again, making him feel lifeless and purposeless. Within the stirrups he rose, he touched his spurs once more to his horse’s flanks and gave the beast its head, and he let the tender night wash over him as they sped away across the plains.