Jelinek THE HANDMAID'S TALE Points of Discussion

Read the first sentence on page 3 Read the first sentence on page 3. What can you tell about the period just from the sentence?

What is suggested by the fact that the girls have to read lips to learn each other's names? (4)

What is suggested by the fact that the narrator observes, "they've removed anything you could tie a rope to" (7)?

What is implied by the sentence, "Nothing takes place in the bed, but sleep; or no sleep"? (8)

How do the names of the Handmaids seem to be formed? (Offred; Ofglen)

What does the reference to "the sect wars" (43) tell us? What is "Gender Treachery" (43)?

"Serena Joy was never her real name, not even then "Serena Joy was never her real name, not even then. With everything to choose from in the way of names, why did she pick that one?" (45). Why is the choice of name ironic?

Reflect back on page 49. Why is she startled when she realises she has called the room "mine"? Why has she done so?

Looking back at the passage,"It's warm for the time of year Looking back at the passage,"It's warm for the time of year...Soon we'll be allowed to change into summer dresses...such things do not happen to nice women"(55) whom did Aunt Lydia blame for the "things" that used to happen to women?

"The dormitory had once been co- educational… but by the time I'd got there, they'd put the men and women back the way they were" (58). What does this tell us?

What do we learn about the system from the episode at the doctor's office? (59-61)

"I avoid looking down at my body, not so much because it's shameful or immodest but because I don't want to see it. I don't want to look at something that determines me so completely"? (63). Explain.

" I cannot avoid seeing, now, the small tattoo on my ankle " I cannot avoid seeing, now, the small tattoo on my ankle. Four digits and an eye, a passport in reverse. It's supposed to guarantee that I will never be able to fade, finally, into another landscape" (65). Of what does the tattoo on Offred's ankle remind us?

"But maybe boredom is erotic, when women do it, for men" (Atwood 69)- why does Offred suggest that boredom can be erotic?

Offred states, "Now the flesh arranges itself differently Offred states, "Now the flesh arranges itself differently. I'm a cloud, congealed around a central object, the shape of a pear, which is hard and more real than I am and glows red within its translucent wrapping" (Atwood 73-4). How does she view her body now?

Suffering is common for the female characters in Atwood’s poems, although they are never passive victims. Atwood’s poems, concern “modern woman’s anguish at finding herself isolated and exploited (although also exploiting) by the imposition of a sex role power structure.” Atwood explained to Judy Klemesrud in the New York Times that her suffering characters come from real life: “My women suffer because most of the women I talk to seem to have suffered.”

Guerillas- irregular armed forces Quakers - a Christian denomination Ch. 14 Vocab: Heretical- maintaining beliefs, particularly religious, contrary to official ones Guerillas- irregular armed forces Quakers - a Christian denomination

Look back at the passage, "Now a close shot of a prisoner Look back at the passage, "Now a close shot of a prisoner...possibly he's an actor"(Atwood 83). Explain.

" Now he's telling us that an underground espionage ring has been cracked by a team of Eyes, working with an inside informant. The ring has been smuggling precious national resources over the border into Canada" (Atwood 83). What are the "precious national resources" the Quakers will hav been smuggling in?

"Cheer up, says Luke. He's driving a little too fast now "Cheer up, says Luke. He's driving a little too fast now. The adrenaline's gone to his head. Now he's singing. Oh what a beautiful morning, he sings. Even his singing worries me. We've been warned not to look too happy "(Atwood 85). Why would they be warned not to "look too happy"?

In chapter 15, look back at the passage: "He nods in the general direction of Serena Joy...We can be read from it, by him, but we cannot read"(Atwood 87). Why is the Bible locked up?

Offred suggests the woman's situation is parallel to her own Offred suggests the woman's situation is parallel to her own. The Commander seems to be a good person - kind, friendly, and even courtly to her. Yet, he is also the agent of her oppression - both directly, as her Commander, and indirectly, through his role in constructing the oppressive system of the Gilead society. Like the concentration camp commander, he is "not a monster". It is a "temptation," she says, meaning that no one wants to believe that someone they know is a monster. But in the case of the Commander, that temptation must be resisted. He may be kind and gentle towards her, but he still shares responsibility for the evil of Gilead.

In Ch. 19 when Offred wakes, she sees her "curtains hanging like drowned white hair"(109). Why is this an appropriate, yet disturbing simile?

What is th doctor's van called? Why is it called this?

Look back at the passage on page 114 that starts with, " it used to be different, they used to be in charge. A shame it was , said Aunt Lydia. Shameful... I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children"(114).

Why are anesthetics no longer used? ( two reasons)

Re-read page 115; comment on the way the Wives talk about the Handmaids.

In Ch. 20, why did the Aunts show old porno movies to the trainee Handmaids?

Re-read pages 120- 122 Why did Offred rebel against her mother?

Her mother was unusual, a non-conformist, extreme in her attitudes to men; she chose to have children on her own. Offred "rebelled" by following traditional behavior patterns: fall in love, marry, have children. This is ironic- why? Offred felt she was expected to be an ideal child to live up to her mother's expectations. Now, she would give anything to have her back.

At the end of ch. 21, reflect back on the ending passage At the end of ch.21, reflect back on the ending passage....comment on "You wanted a women's culture"(127).

Playing scrabble hardly seems to be a "dangerous" or "indecent" activity, yet it is. Why?

When the Commander asks Offred to kiss him, she tells us she thought of murdering him- and then says that she did not at all. Why did she make this up?

Reconstruction- what does this imply to us, the readers, about Offred's story.

Jezebel's – Jezebel is the name of an immoral queen of Israel, described in the Bible. In THE HANDMAID'S TALE it is the name of a nightclub/brothel, where the women who offer sexual pleasure are seen as corrupt ‘Jezebels'. This is ironic, as they are actually prisoners and sex-slaves who are used by the supposedly "pure men of Gilead" and also by foreign tourists.

What's the pun when Offred tells the readers that, "September first will be Labor Day, they still have that. Though it didn't used to have anything to do with mothers" (Atwood 199)?

" 'Maybe he can't,' she says" (Atwood 204). What's the importance in Serena Joy making this comment ?

"...and for this moment at least we are cronies, " (Atwood 205). Serena Joy wants a child in the household so that she no longer has to endure the presence of a Handmaid. Offred needs to produce a child if she is to escape being sent to the Colonies as an ‘Unwoman'. In this way, both Offred and Serena Joy are, if only temporarily, "the same".

In Ch. 33 we are introduced to the "Prayvaganza" - This word derives from prayer and ‘extravaganza', suggesting that there will be an elaborate ceremony based on prayer. In the next chapter we discover that it is in fact a mass wedding.

"Are they old enough to remember anything of the time before, playing baseball, in jeans and sneakers, riding their bicycles? Reading books, all by themselves? Even though some of them are no more than fourteen...still they'll remember. And the ones after them will, for three o four or five years; but after that they won't"(Atwood 219). Explain what Offred means.

What does the Commander imply when he says, "we've given them more than we've taken away"(Atwood 219); he's making the same point Aunt Lydia once made.

"What did we overlook. Love, I said. Love. Said the Commander "What did we overlook? Love, I said. Love? Said the Commander. What kind of love? Falling in love, I said"(Atwood 220)- this is one of the most important messages of Atwood's novel - that love between humans is essential to our well-being. She is here reinforcing the comment made by Offred in chapter 18: ‘It's lack of love we die from'(Atwood 103).

women in Gilead are not supposed to enjoy sexual intercourse. Reflect back to the bottom of 221 and top of 222...."just don't move"(222). women in Gilead are not supposed to enjoy sexual intercourse.

What does Ofglen's comment suggest when she says "find out and tell us" on page 223?

"Is, I say. Is, is, only two letters" (Atwood 227)- As in chapter 6, Offred reminds herself that she must keep hoping that Luke is alive, and not refer to him in the past tense as if he were dead.

"He's holding a handful, it seems, of feathers, mauve and pink "He's holding a handful, it seems, of feathers, mauve and pink. Now he shakes this out. It's a garment, apparently, and for a woman: there are the cups for the breasts, covered in purple sequins"- this kind of costume is a concern for Atwood; however, she also makes us aware of the mixed feelings of the situation. Not all the women feel exploited: some really enjoy their sexual activities as we saw later in the chapters .

"He slips around my wrist a tag … ‘an evening rental'"(Atwood 233) "He slips around my wrist a tag … ‘an evening rental'"(Atwood 233). Women are supposedly "deeply respected" in Gilead, according to the Aunts, but ironically they are being treated as objects to be bought and sold for sexual pleasure by men.

In chapter 37 when Offred arrives, she states, "I know where I am In chapter 37 when Offred arrives, she states, "I know where I am. I've been here before: with Luke" (Atwood 234). This is the same hotel where she and Luke used to meet for sexual encounters before his divorce and their marriage. This is ironic that she's back at this same hotel, why?

Re-read the bottom of page 236, " 'What do you think of our little club'" to "...'you merely have different women'"(Atwood 237). What is the Commander trying to justify?

"'Well, we have quite a collection "'Well, we have quite a collection. That one there, the one in green, she's a sociologist. Or was. That one was a lawyer...'"(Atwood 237-8). The women forced into prostitution are like a "collection" in the zoo. The fact these were highly educated, professional women, makes their situation more demeaning. The commander seems to have accepted the way Gilead makes all women subservient and denies them education and careers.

"She's an older woman, wearing purple caftan and gold eye shadow, but I can tell she is nevertheless an Aunt. The cattle prod's on the table, it's thong around her wrist"(Atwood 241). This is a reminder of the brutality and hypocrisy of the regime. The Aunts tell the women at the Red Center of the evils of promiscuous sex, yet they use force to keep the women at Jezebel's as sex workers.

"This is what she says, whispers, more or less "This is what she says, whispers, more or less. I can't remember exactly, because I had no way of writing it down"(Atwood 243)- Offred reminds us that she may or may not be an unreliable narrator.

Quakers- they are a peaceful, Christian group Quakers- they are a peaceful, Christian group. They believe in nonviolence, so it's ironic that a Christian group is being singled out for persecution by the regime.

"The other Colonies are worse, though, the toxic dumps and the radiation spills"(Atwood 248). Atwood is depicting a world in which man-made environmental disasters have destroyed the natural world and led to fertility problems. Those who at seen as useless by the regime (elderly and infertile) are sent to the Colonies as a punishment and to die.

"'All of them wear long dresses, like the one at the Center, only gray "'All of them wear long dresses, like the one at the Center, only gray. Women and the men too...it's supposed to demoralize the men, having to wear a dress"(Atwood 249). Gilead deals not only in torture and death, but in deliberate humiliation.

"I don't know how she ended, or even if she did, because I never saw her again"(Atwood 250); Moira's story is unfinished- we are left to imagine what happens to her.

"Everything is the same, the very same as it was, once upon a time"(Atwood 251)....how is this statement untrue?

Re-read the ending of chapter 39; Analyze.