2.12.5
Chapter 35
Chapter 35 - Summary
Chapter 35 - Summary
The chapter opens with Offred recounting again the story of her failed escape plan with her family.
Escaping with Luke
Escaping with Luke
- She tells the reader that they were at a checkpoint. The border guard seemed suspicious and went to make a telephone call.
- Luke drove away from the checkpoint at full speed because he was scared they would be captured. They later decided to leave the car and go on foot into the woods.
The Commander's question
The Commander's question
- At this point, Offred decides not to tell us what happened next but to flash forward to the Commander and a question he asked her about love in pre-Gilead times.
- She is sad about how much potential her life used to have before Gilead placed restrictions upon her body and her mind.
Offred sees daughter
Offred sees daughter
- Serena Joy keeps her promise and shows Offred a picture of her daughter, holding hands with a new family.
- Offred instantly regrets seeing this image as she realises that her daughter will have forgotten her and is heartbroken.
- The chapter ends on Offred eating her evening meal and thinking that she is never given a knife to eat with.
Chapter 35 - Key Quotations
Chapter 35 - Key Quotations
Here are five key quotations from Chapter 35:
Key quotations
Key quotations
- "An invalid … no valid passport"
- Atwood plays on the word "invalid" - meaning both someone who is not well and something not accepted.
- "I don't want to be telling this story"
- This is a reminder than Offred is telling a story – a construct. We wonder who Offred is telling her story to.
- Why fight? ... That will never do"
- Offred knows that becoming passive means letting the regime win.
Key quotations (cont.)
Key quotations (cont.)
- "Is, I say. Is, is"
- Offred corrects herself when she refers to Luke in the past tense. She doesn't want to lose hope that Luke lives.
- "I am a blank here, between parentheses"
- Parentheses are asides in sentences. Offred feels like she's marginalised and living on the outside of this world.
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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