The
Handmaid’s
Tale
Margaret
Margaret Atwood
Atwood (1985)
(1985)
, Novel Summary
*The novel begins with Offred, the first-person narrator, remembering her
restricted life at the Rachel and Leah Center, a training camp for
Handmaids in an old high school.
*The scene changes to her current residence, where she lives with a
Commander and his wife, Serena Joy.
*Offred puts on a red uniform and goes on a shopping trip with Ofglen, and
afterwards they stop by the Wall to look at the bodies of recently executed
men.
*In the evening, Offred lies in bed. She remembers her spunky friend
Moira, her activist mother, and the loss of her daughter and her husband,
Luke. She thinks about the previous Handmain who left a Latin message
scratched into the wall.
*She describes her trip to the doctor on the previous day. The doctor
suggested that her Commander might be sterile and offers to have sex
with her. Though her life depends on getting pregnant, Offred refused.
* After her bath, she and the rest of the members of the household gather
to listen to the Commander read the bible. Then the Commander, the
Commander’s wife Serena Joy, and Offred perform the Ceremony: the
Commander has impersonal sex with Offred while she lies between
Serena Joy’s legs.
*Afterwards, Offred sneaks downstairs in a rebellious gesture and runs
into Nick, who gives her a message from the Commander to meet the
following night.
*In the evening she sees the Commander, who surprisingly only wants to
play Scrabble and get a chaste kiss. Afterwards she can’t stop laughing.
*Months pass. Offred and the Commander meet often, and the Ceremony
becomes more fraught for Offred now that she and the Commander know
each other.
* One night the Commander explains the meaning of the previous
Handmaid’s Latin, and Offred learns that the previous Handmaid hanged
herself.
* After a shopping trip one day, Serena Joy tells Offred to have sex with
Nick in an effort to get pregnant, and Offred agrees.
Handmaid’s
Tale
Margaret
Margaret Atwood
Atwood (1985)
(1985)
, Novel Summary
*The novel begins with Offred, the first-person narrator, remembering her
restricted life at the Rachel and Leah Center, a training camp for
Handmaids in an old high school.
*The scene changes to her current residence, where she lives with a
Commander and his wife, Serena Joy.
*Offred puts on a red uniform and goes on a shopping trip with Ofglen, and
afterwards they stop by the Wall to look at the bodies of recently executed
men.
*In the evening, Offred lies in bed. She remembers her spunky friend
Moira, her activist mother, and the loss of her daughter and her husband,
Luke. She thinks about the previous Handmain who left a Latin message
scratched into the wall.
*She describes her trip to the doctor on the previous day. The doctor
suggested that her Commander might be sterile and offers to have sex
with her. Though her life depends on getting pregnant, Offred refused.
* After her bath, she and the rest of the members of the household gather
to listen to the Commander read the bible. Then the Commander, the
Commander’s wife Serena Joy, and Offred perform the Ceremony: the
Commander has impersonal sex with Offred while she lies between
Serena Joy’s legs.
*Afterwards, Offred sneaks downstairs in a rebellious gesture and runs
into Nick, who gives her a message from the Commander to meet the
following night.
*In the evening she sees the Commander, who surprisingly only wants to
play Scrabble and get a chaste kiss. Afterwards she can’t stop laughing.
*Months pass. Offred and the Commander meet often, and the Ceremony
becomes more fraught for Offred now that she and the Commander know
each other.
* One night the Commander explains the meaning of the previous
Handmaid’s Latin, and Offred learns that the previous Handmaid hanged
herself.
* After a shopping trip one day, Serena Joy tells Offred to have sex with
Nick in an effort to get pregnant, and Offred agrees.
