2.11.1
Chapter 30
Chapter 30 - Summary and Key Quotations
Chapter 30 - Summary and Key Quotations
Offred looks out of the window at night. She thinks about the fact that she finds Nick attractive but she knows she cannot do anything about it. She feels guilty because of her relationship with Luke.
Luke kills cat / getting caught
Luke kills cat / getting caught
- Offred thinks back to the time just before she and Luke tried to escape. Luke had to kill their cat because they couldn't take it with them.
- Offred wonders who betrayed their confidence and told the authorities that they were leaving.
- She also thinks that because it has been so long, she has forgotten the faces of some people who were close to her. She feels extreme guilt for this.
Offred prays
Offred prays
- Offred prays to God - not for a baby like they were taught to in the Red Centre, but for forgiveness, support and escape, but she tells the reader that God is silent.
Key quotations
Key quotations
- "One and one and one and one doesn't equal four. Each one remains unique"
- Offred believes in individuality, even though Gilead tries to get rid of individuality.
- "They force you to kill, within yourself"
- This is similar to Orwell's 1984, where people face their greatest fears in Room 101 and denounce their loved ones because they're desperate to be spared.
Key quotations (cont.)
Key quotations (cont.)
- "The Eyes of God run all over the earth"
- The Eyes = Gilead's secret police.
- The quotation comes from Zechariah 4:10 - ‘the eyes of the Lord run to and fro through the whole earth'. The Commander has already used this phrase to signal that prayer is over.
- "Hell we can make for ourselves"
- Offred knows that humans can make their own lives and others' lives Hell.
Key quotations (cont.)
Key quotations (cont.)
- "Deliver us from evil"
- Taken from the Lord's Prayer. The end of Chapter 30 is an adaptation of the Lord's Prayer.
- Does Offred mean 'don't let me consider suicide', or 'suicide would be the solution for escaping evil'?
1Author Background
1.1Margaret Atwood
2Chapter Summaries
2.1Chapter 1: Night I
2.2Chapters 2-6: Shopping II
2.3Chapter 7: Night II
2.4Chapters 8-12: Waiting Room IV
2.5Chapter 13: Nap V
2.6Chapters 14-17: Household VI
2.7Chapter 18: Night VII
2.8Chapters 19-23: Birth Day VIII
2.9Chapter 24: Night IX
2.10Chapters 25-29: Soul Scrolls X
2.11Chapter 30: Night XI
2.12Chapters 31-39: Jezebel's XII
2.13Chapter 40: Night XIII
2.14Chapters 41-45: Salvaging XIV
2.15Chapter 46: Night XV
2.16Historical Notes
3Dedications & Epigraph
3.1Dedications & Epigraph
4Context
4.1Setting
4.2Literary Context & Genre
4.3Political Context
4.4Historical Context
4.5Parallels: Read World & Gilead
4.6Religious Context
5Narrative Structure & Literary Techniques
5.1Narrative Structure
5.2Literary Techniques
6Themes & Imagery
6.2Imagery
7Characters
7.1Female Characters
7.2Male Characters
8Readings
8.1Readings of The Handmaid's Tale
Jump to other topics
1Author Background
1.1Margaret Atwood
2Chapter Summaries
2.1Chapter 1: Night I
2.2Chapters 2-6: Shopping II
2.3Chapter 7: Night II
2.4Chapters 8-12: Waiting Room IV
2.5Chapter 13: Nap V
2.6Chapters 14-17: Household VI
2.7Chapter 18: Night VII
2.8Chapters 19-23: Birth Day VIII
2.9Chapter 24: Night IX
2.10Chapters 25-29: Soul Scrolls X
2.11Chapter 30: Night XI
2.12Chapters 31-39: Jezebel's XII
2.13Chapter 40: Night XIII
2.14Chapters 41-45: Salvaging XIV
2.15Chapter 46: Night XV
2.16Historical Notes
3Dedications & Epigraph
3.1Dedications & Epigraph
4Context
4.1Setting
4.2Literary Context & Genre
4.3Political Context
4.4Historical Context
4.5Parallels: Read World & Gilead
4.6Religious Context
5Narrative Structure & Literary Techniques
5.1Narrative Structure
5.2Literary Techniques
6Themes & Imagery
6.2Imagery
7Characters
7.1Female Characters
7.2Male Characters
8Readings
8.1Readings of The Handmaid's Tale
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