Summary
1. Night- women in the gymnasium- first indications that not all is well in this new world
‘Alma. Janine. Moira. Dolores. June’ ‘We slept in what had once been the gymnasium’ ‘still said
US’ ‘pictures flickering over moving flesh’ ‘whisper without sound’ ‘we still had our bodies’ ‘even
they could not be trusted with guns’ ‘felt skirted...spiky green striped hair’ ‘palimpsest of
unknown sound’
Themes: Isolation (women from each other), sex and love and its importance, importance
of past, nostalgia
Form: Introduces first person narrator (obviously restricted in that sense) and stream of
consciousness narration that becomes key, introduces dystopian tropes of control and
people being aggregated into one group (the ‘we’ of the women) and the concept of
constant surveillance
Structure: Immediately creates unease with short chapter- it is clear that a massive
change has occurred but the reader does not know what it is yet- perhaps shortness of
chapter represents something the as yet unnamed narrator does not want to reflect upon
2. Shopping- we are introduced to Offred, who we follow through what is an ‘ordinary day’,
seeing her room for the first time and meeting the Marthas who are the household staff,
with a flashback also to her meeting Serena, the Wife of the Household for the first time.
Offred then goes shopping with her pair- Ofglen and they encounter Ofwarren, or
Janine, who has got pregnant and making all the other women jealous. They then go to
the Wall- where dissidents are hung.
Quotes: ‘Thought must be rationed...and I intend to last’ ‘pigeons...in the eaves’
repetition of ‘would’ in relation to Cora and Rita (desperate for human connection) ‘like
the place in the face where the eye’s been taken out’ ‘I wouldn’t have liked her...nor she
me’ ‘a shape’ ‘path through a forest’ ‘yours is a position of honour’ ‘This will become
normal’ Anaphora of ‘What I feel’ ‘their heads are zeroes’ ‘thrusting themselves up...but
to what end?’ Metaphor of tulips and worms ‘Under his Eye’ ‘French face...lean,
whimsical’ ‘fishy’ ‘child’s idea of a smile’ ‘tired looking’ ‘robins’ ‘thrusting the buttocks
out’ ‘darkness and sexuality’ ‘our ancestors’ ‘swelling triumphantly’ all children are
wanted now, but not by everyone’ ‘eye bulging under pressure’ ‘Women were not
protected then’ ‘Lilies of the Valley’ ‘Loaves and Fishes’ ‘Milk and Honey’ ‘not here’
‘Freedom to or freedom from’ ‘Aunt Lydia was in love with either/or’
Themes: Division of women, relationships between women, longing for connection,
women’s sexuality, pregnancy, passivity under pressure, theocracy
Form: Taking on rhetoric of regime through narrative voice (‘Westernised’ ‘darkness and
sexuality’ ‘robins’) with hostility towards other women (‘swelling triumphantly’ ‘I never
liked her’) also shocking desensitisation to extreme violence (‘What they are hanging
from is hooks’ ‘They’re not Luke’) likely to protect herself from over exposure to the
regime, etc.
, Link to dystopian traits: division of groups to make the regime stronger, control of
language (not allowed to have names for shops, communicating only with Biblical
language) and fears over environment (‘Not a lot’s plastic anymore)
Context: Totalitarian regimes of USSR and Nazi Germany allowed division of women,
repression of women’s sexuality also present throughout society, as well as repressing women
key to dictatorships
Possible meanings: Atwood linking to context and possibly condemning such regimes, playing
on dystopian tropes but giving it a feminist spin, examine human nature, particularly how women
are divided by society, willingness to find a scapegoat
3. Night- used as a retrospective for Offred- used for her memories and also to reflect what
happened in the previous section. Foregrounds this in the second Night chapter before
flashing back to past and ‘good’ memories’- thinks of Moira and a book burning by her
ultra feminist mother, first mention of daughter and also foregrounding it as a narrative
and a story- hint to manipulation of narrative
Quotes: ‘the night is mine’ ‘under the plaster eye’ ‘out of my own time’ ‘somewhere
good…Moira sitting on the edge of my bed’ ‘Don’t let her see it’ ‘parts of women’s bodies
turning into black ash’ ‘looked like an angel’ ‘you’ve killed her’ ‘It’s also a story, I’m
telling in my head, as I go along’ ‘I would like to believe this is a story I’m telling’ ‘I’ll
pretend you can hear me. But it’s no good as I know you can’t’
Themes: Isolation, relationships between women, extremism, mother-daughter
relationships, power of narrative, language and memory
Form: Self-conscious narration, first recognition of the fact that Offred is actively
shaping the narrative and it may not be wholly reflective of her experiences
Structure: Acts as retrospective and oasis of memory within the ‘hell’ of her real life- also
brings in Moira whenever she needs cheering up (‘something good’) yet stream of
consciousness also brings her to painful memories of her mother and daughter
Context: Second wave feminism led to extremism and as a result, also the renaissance
of the Christian ‘Right’ within American politics advocating for more women to stay at
home- with Moira and Offred’s mother being representative of feminism
Atwood’s suggestion: Advocating against extremism in any ideology- feminist book
burning reminiscent of the Nazis, etc. Also advocating importance of language and
memory for the self- hence Offred’s own prizing of this in her time alone
4. Waiting Room- Offred prepares herself for the Ceremony. The section begins with the
first reference to the resistance ‘May Day’ by Ofglen, though Offred herself does not
recognise this codename. The Commander is also met for the first time- standing
1. Night- women in the gymnasium- first indications that not all is well in this new world
‘Alma. Janine. Moira. Dolores. June’ ‘We slept in what had once been the gymnasium’ ‘still said
US’ ‘pictures flickering over moving flesh’ ‘whisper without sound’ ‘we still had our bodies’ ‘even
they could not be trusted with guns’ ‘felt skirted...spiky green striped hair’ ‘palimpsest of
unknown sound’
Themes: Isolation (women from each other), sex and love and its importance, importance
of past, nostalgia
Form: Introduces first person narrator (obviously restricted in that sense) and stream of
consciousness narration that becomes key, introduces dystopian tropes of control and
people being aggregated into one group (the ‘we’ of the women) and the concept of
constant surveillance
Structure: Immediately creates unease with short chapter- it is clear that a massive
change has occurred but the reader does not know what it is yet- perhaps shortness of
chapter represents something the as yet unnamed narrator does not want to reflect upon
2. Shopping- we are introduced to Offred, who we follow through what is an ‘ordinary day’,
seeing her room for the first time and meeting the Marthas who are the household staff,
with a flashback also to her meeting Serena, the Wife of the Household for the first time.
Offred then goes shopping with her pair- Ofglen and they encounter Ofwarren, or
Janine, who has got pregnant and making all the other women jealous. They then go to
the Wall- where dissidents are hung.
Quotes: ‘Thought must be rationed...and I intend to last’ ‘pigeons...in the eaves’
repetition of ‘would’ in relation to Cora and Rita (desperate for human connection) ‘like
the place in the face where the eye’s been taken out’ ‘I wouldn’t have liked her...nor she
me’ ‘a shape’ ‘path through a forest’ ‘yours is a position of honour’ ‘This will become
normal’ Anaphora of ‘What I feel’ ‘their heads are zeroes’ ‘thrusting themselves up...but
to what end?’ Metaphor of tulips and worms ‘Under his Eye’ ‘French face...lean,
whimsical’ ‘fishy’ ‘child’s idea of a smile’ ‘tired looking’ ‘robins’ ‘thrusting the buttocks
out’ ‘darkness and sexuality’ ‘our ancestors’ ‘swelling triumphantly’ all children are
wanted now, but not by everyone’ ‘eye bulging under pressure’ ‘Women were not
protected then’ ‘Lilies of the Valley’ ‘Loaves and Fishes’ ‘Milk and Honey’ ‘not here’
‘Freedom to or freedom from’ ‘Aunt Lydia was in love with either/or’
Themes: Division of women, relationships between women, longing for connection,
women’s sexuality, pregnancy, passivity under pressure, theocracy
Form: Taking on rhetoric of regime through narrative voice (‘Westernised’ ‘darkness and
sexuality’ ‘robins’) with hostility towards other women (‘swelling triumphantly’ ‘I never
liked her’) also shocking desensitisation to extreme violence (‘What they are hanging
from is hooks’ ‘They’re not Luke’) likely to protect herself from over exposure to the
regime, etc.
, Link to dystopian traits: division of groups to make the regime stronger, control of
language (not allowed to have names for shops, communicating only with Biblical
language) and fears over environment (‘Not a lot’s plastic anymore)
Context: Totalitarian regimes of USSR and Nazi Germany allowed division of women,
repression of women’s sexuality also present throughout society, as well as repressing women
key to dictatorships
Possible meanings: Atwood linking to context and possibly condemning such regimes, playing
on dystopian tropes but giving it a feminist spin, examine human nature, particularly how women
are divided by society, willingness to find a scapegoat
3. Night- used as a retrospective for Offred- used for her memories and also to reflect what
happened in the previous section. Foregrounds this in the second Night chapter before
flashing back to past and ‘good’ memories’- thinks of Moira and a book burning by her
ultra feminist mother, first mention of daughter and also foregrounding it as a narrative
and a story- hint to manipulation of narrative
Quotes: ‘the night is mine’ ‘under the plaster eye’ ‘out of my own time’ ‘somewhere
good…Moira sitting on the edge of my bed’ ‘Don’t let her see it’ ‘parts of women’s bodies
turning into black ash’ ‘looked like an angel’ ‘you’ve killed her’ ‘It’s also a story, I’m
telling in my head, as I go along’ ‘I would like to believe this is a story I’m telling’ ‘I’ll
pretend you can hear me. But it’s no good as I know you can’t’
Themes: Isolation, relationships between women, extremism, mother-daughter
relationships, power of narrative, language and memory
Form: Self-conscious narration, first recognition of the fact that Offred is actively
shaping the narrative and it may not be wholly reflective of her experiences
Structure: Acts as retrospective and oasis of memory within the ‘hell’ of her real life- also
brings in Moira whenever she needs cheering up (‘something good’) yet stream of
consciousness also brings her to painful memories of her mother and daughter
Context: Second wave feminism led to extremism and as a result, also the renaissance
of the Christian ‘Right’ within American politics advocating for more women to stay at
home- with Moira and Offred’s mother being representative of feminism
Atwood’s suggestion: Advocating against extremism in any ideology- feminist book
burning reminiscent of the Nazis, etc. Also advocating importance of language and
memory for the self- hence Offred’s own prizing of this in her time alone
4. Waiting Room- Offred prepares herself for the Ceremony. The section begins with the
first reference to the resistance ‘May Day’ by Ofglen, though Offred herself does not
recognise this codename. The Commander is also met for the first time- standing
