The Handmaid's Tale - Chapter 1 Graded A+
What does Astwood do at the very beginning of the novel that creates curiosity within the reader?
️️She drops the reader into the plot, or really into a flashback, straight away with no explanation -
"we slept in what had once been the gymnasium.....
What does Astwood do at the very beginning of the novel that creates curiosity within the reader?
✔️✔️She drops the reader into the plot, or really into a flashback, straight away with no explanation -
"we slept in what had once been the gymnasium..."
Give a quote that portrays how cruel and controlling the Aunts at the Red Centre are... ✔️✔️"Aunt
Sara and Aunt Elizabeth patrolled; they had electric cattle prods slung on thongs from their leather
belts" - the fact that they use cattle prods shows how the handmaid's are treated as animals
"(about the Aunts) no guns though, even they could not be trusted with guns. Guns were for the
guards..." - what does this quote show? ✔️✔️This quote shows how there is a hierarchy within Gilead,
where although the Aunts have a position of power over the handmaids, they are still below the guards
and all other men just because they are women, which is why the guns are "for the guards" and not the
Aunts. This then further shows how extreme sexism is apparent in all areas of Gilead society.
"I thought I could smell, faintly like an afterimage, the pungent scent of sweat, shot through with the
sweet taint of chewing gum and perfume of the watching girls" - what is this an example of?
✔️✔️Olfactory Imagery (scent imagery)
"we had flannelette sheets, like children's" - what does this quote show? ✔️✔️this shows how the
handmaids are treated like children, who need guidance and protection, and who aren't given any
independence or autonomy. this treatment is very degrading to them as well.
"army-issue blankets, old ones that still said U.S" - what does this quote show? ✔️✔️This shows how
Gilead used to be what we now know as the US. Also, the fact that the handmaids are given "army-issue
blankets", shows how they are all treated as one big group rather than individuals, where everything is
regimented like in the army.
"we weren'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 barb wire" - what does this quote show?
✔️✔️This description of the red centre and how the handmaids are treated in it is very similar to how
one would describe a prison and its prisoners, which suggests that the red centre is very much like a
prison, where the handmaids feel trapped and alone. This is interesting as all these women originally
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