Loss of identity in The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Fire-Dwellers by Margaret Laurence The protagonists of The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Fire-Dwellers by Margaret Laurence they have very different characters. However, both of these women lose their identity due to outside influence. In each of the books we see the nature of the lost identity, the circumstances that led to this lost identity, and the consequences that occurred as a result of this lost identity. In The Handmaid's Tale, our main character, Offred, has her entire world stolen by the government of Gilead. This new society is sexually repressed and founded by religious extremists. Women are only used to bear children and have no rights in the new world of Gilead. In The Fire Dwellers, our protagonist, Stacey MacAindra, has been thrown into a life of responsibility. She has an uncommunicative husband who means well but shows her no love, as well as four children who she says are being ruined by her every action. He feels that life has much more to offer than the boredom of the daily routine. The nature of Offred's lost identity is very drastic. Before the new religious group Gilead took over the world, she was a very normal everyday woman. He did what was expected of his time and continued to do so even after taking over. She had a husband and a daughter whom she loved very much. In the new society in which he lives, however, love is not allowed. “If I thought this would happen again, I would die. But this is wrong, no one dies from lack of sex. It is for lack of love that we die. There is no one here that I could love, all the people I could love are dead or elsewhere” (page?). **Are these words spoken by Offred? ** Offred also had the ability to choose free will before her civilization changed, but then slowly women began to lose all their rights and they were no longer allowed to have a job or even use money.“I sorry, he said. This number is invalid." "It's ridiculous, I said. It must be so, I have thousands in my account." "It's not valid, he repeated stubbornly. See that red light? It means it is invalid,” (p.