2.12.1

Chapter 31

Test yourself

Chapter 31 - Summary and Key Quotations

As Offred returns from her shopping trip, she sees Nick and receives a sign that the Commander wants to see her again.

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Serena Joy's proposition

  • As she enters the house, she passes Serena Joy who questions if she is pregnant yet. When Offred tells her that she isn't, Serena Joy surprises Offred by claiming that the Commander is probably unable to create a child and suggests that perhaps Offred should sleep with Nick to try to get pregnant.
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Serena Joy's offers

  • Unsure of whether this is a test or a trick, Offred agrees to try to keep Serena Joy happy, and, due to her obedience, Serena Joy offers to show Offred a photograph of her daughter and gives her a contraband cigarette to smoke.
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Key quotations

  • "Jezebel's"
    • Jezebel was a depraved Israeli queen who features in the Bible in 1 Kings.
  • In The Handmaid's Tale, Jezebel's is a nightclub/brothel. The women in Jezebel's offer men sex and are viewed as corrupt. There is irony in this - they are essentially sex-slaves.
  • "September First will be Labour Day"
    • An American holiday celebrating employees. Atwood satirises this idea by celebrating women giving birth in Gilead.
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Key quotations (cont.)

  • "They'd throw buns at her"
    • Moira is talking about a past time when male undergraduates had difficulty accepting a girl scholar. Offred is taken aback as when she was young, women were treated as equals at University. This shows that Gilead has digressed to a situation where women can't be educated.
  • "Something chokes in my throat"
    • Offred's brief feelings of ‘collusion' with Serena Joy disappear when she realises that Serena Joy has always known the whereabouts of her child.

Jump to other topics

1Author Background

1.1Margaret Atwood

2Chapter Summaries

3Dedications & Epigraph

3.1Dedications & Epigraph

4Context

5Narrative Structure & Literary Techniques

6Themes & Imagery

7Characters

8Readings

8.1Readings of The Handmaid's Tale

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