2.2.1

Chapter 2

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Chapter 2: Summary

Offred, our narrator, describes her single room in the house she's been placed in as a Handmaid - the Commander's house.

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Commander's house and uniform

  • She describes it in detail, and moves down into the kitchen, detailing everything she can see in this late Victorian house.
  • The reader is told that she has to dress in full Handmaid's uniform, which consists of a red full body smock and a white "winged" headpiece which stops them "seeing, but also from being seen".
  • She also wears red gloves so that hardly any skin can be seen.
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Cora and Rita - Marthas

  • In the kitchen, the reader is introduced to Cora and Rita who are "Marthas" - servants who carry out domestic duties.
  • Offred wishes she could join in with the gossip, but she is isolated from these women. She is only allowed to speak to them when she is collecting the tokens she needs to get food at the shops.
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Colonies and Unwomen

  • In this chapter, the Marthas briefly mention the "colonies" and the existence of "Unwomen".
  • They mention these as a kind of warning about the alternative lives they could be living if they were not servants.

Chapter 2 - Key Quotations

Here are five key quotations from Chapter 2:

Illustrative background for <b>"They've removed anything..."Illustrative background for <b>"They've removed anything..." ?? "content

"They've removed anything..."

  • "They've removed anything you could tie a rope to"
Illustrative background for <b>"...Reduced circumstances..."Illustrative background for <b>"...Reduced circumstances..." ?? "content

"...Reduced circumstances..."

  • "For ladies in reduced circumstances. For that is what we are now. The circumstances have been reduced; for those of us who still have circumstances"
Illustrative background for <b>"...I long for it"Illustrative background for <b>"...I long for it" ?? "content

"...I long for it"

  • "How I used to despise such talk. Now I long for it
Illustrative background for <b>"I hunger..."Illustrative background for <b>"I hunger..." ?? "content

"I hunger..."

  • "I hunger to commit the act of touch"

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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