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Summary ENG4U Handmaids Tail Notes
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Notes illustrating literature significance of the Handmaid’s Tail
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Significant Quotes:1. “There must have been a chandelier, once. They’ve removed anything you could tie a rope to”
(Atwood, 9).
a. This is to limit any possibility from suicide by hanging
2. “On the wall above the chair, a picture, framed but with no glass: a print of flowers, blue irises,
water-colour.”
a. Prevent suicide through the use of sharp objects
3. “When the window is partly open - it only opens partly - the air can come in and make the
curtains move” (Atwood, 9).
a. To prevent suicide by jumping off a tall building.
4.
Chapter 1:
Gilead’s Hierarchy:
1. The men 2. The women
a. Commanders (dressed in black) a. Wives (of Commanders) - dressed in blue
b. The Eyes (spies) b. Handmaids - red
c. Marthas (servants of the Commanders) -
c. Angels (soldiers)
green
d. Guardians of the Faith (general d. Aunts (train and monitor Handmaids) -
policing)(green) brown
e. Econowives (married to lower ranking
men/fertile) - striped red, green and blue
f. Unwoman (infertile women, fertile
women who refuse to be Handmaids,
outlaws, prostitutes)
1. Make an interesting observation regarding the above hierarchy. In other words, share an
insight/observation.
We are introduced to Offred (the narrator of this text) describing the old gymnasium where she has been
sleeping.
2. Briefly describe one example of each and include a direct quote to support your example
a. Sign of oppression/surveillance/control
i. “Hoops for the basketball nets were still in place, though the nets were gone”
(Atwood, 3)
1. It is so that these Handmaids wouldn’t be able to kill themselves.
ii. “As we tried to sleep, the army of cots that had been set up in rows, with spaces
between so we could not talk” (Atwood, 4)
1. The handmaids are prohibited from exchanging information
, iii. “...and we wweren’t allowed out, except for our walks, twice daily, two by two
around the football field which was enclosed now by a chain-link fence topped
with barbed wire” (Atwood, 4)
b. Sign of rebellion/acts of defiance
i. “If only they would look. If only we could talk to them. Something could be
exchanged, we thought, some deal made, some trade-off, we still had our bodies”
(Atwood, 4).
1. If only the Handmaids were allowed to gain an alliance with the Angels,
they would be free in “having their bodies back”
ii. “We learned to whisper almost without sound… We learned to lip-read, our heads
flat on the beds, turned sideways, watching each other’s mouths. In this way, we
exchanged names, from bed to bed.” (Atwood, 5) - dystopian characteristic
Chapter 2:
3. Note two interesting details that you learn about Offred’s bedroom that provide you with some
insight into Offred herself or into Gilead.
a. This is the kind of touch they like: folk art, archaic, made by women, in their spare time,
from things that have no further use. A return to traditional values. Waste not want not. I
am not being wasted. Why do I want?” (Atwood, 9)
i. Offred refers to the metaphor of using useless objects to make a rug out of those
materials. She’s implying that she doesn’t want to be “a useless object” or to be
wasted simply because of her femininity and the role she’s “supposed” to play
within the dystopian community
ii. To keep women’s sanity by displaying elements of a rug as it is a stereotypical
feminine attribute or hobby…?
b. “A bed. Single, mattress medium-hard, covered with a flock white spread. Nothing takes
place in the bed but sleep; or no sleep. I try not to think too much. Like other things now,
thought must be rationed . There’s a lot that doesn’t bear thinking about. Thinking can
hurt your chances, and I intend to last.” (Atwood, 10)
i. The handmaids are not entertained or are expected to be kept confined with no
sense of influence. We learn that Offred is matured herself. She is aware of the
restrictions she’s supposed to adhere to and she is aware of the dystopian society
that entraps her within. Instead of being depressed, she reamins “insatiated” and
curious
4. What interesting detail do you learn about the handmaid’s required outfit? Make at least one
interesting observation.
a. “I get up out of my chair, advance my feet into the sunlight, in their red shoes, flat-heeled
to save the spine and not for dancing. The red gloves are lying on the bed. I pick them up,
pull them into my hands, finger by finger. Everything except the wings around my face is
red: the color of blood, which defines us” (Atwood, 11)
i. Could blood be a sign of menstruation? Being fertile?
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