Chapter 13

Test yourself

Chapter 13 - Summary

Offred waits in her room to be called upon.

Boredom comparisons

She says that she feels bored.
She compares herself to boredom in other forms, like caged animals, pigs being fattened to be killed and women in paintings.
She thinks about how she was drugged to sleep at the Red Centre. She chooses to do a pelvic floor exercise that Aunt Lydia taught her to do to prepare herself for childbirth.

Memories of Moira

Offred then thinks about her past. She remembers Moira as a Handmaid being brought to the same room she was in.
She remembers how they tried to hide their friendship and met secretively in the men's toilets to talk after witnessing the "Testifying" of Ofwarren (Janine) where she was blamed for confessing to being raped.

Luke and getting caught

Her memory then changes to thinking about Luke and the first apartment they lived in.
But the memory turns into one of her attempted escape with her daughter, and the distressing moment they got caught.
The noise of a bell rouses her from her memory. She's aware that Cora is stood at her door.

Chapter 13 - Key Quotations

Here are five key quotations from Chapter 13:

Offred's boredom

"These pictures [of nineteenth-century harems] were supposed to be erotic... they were paintings about suspended animation; about waiting, about objects not in use. They were paintings about boredom.

But maybe boredom is erotic, when women do it, for men"
- Like the women in the pictures, Offred is in "suspended animation". She is also an object. She isn't being used - and she's unable to use the parts of herself that make her a woman rather than an object.

Dancing simile

"Behind my closed eyes thin white dancers flit gracefully among the trees, their legs fluttering like the wings of held birds".
- This simile suggests that Offred is like a dancer who is, on the one hand, very rehearsed in their job and, on the other hand, very restricted from letting go and flying free.

Loony bin

“This is a loony bin, Moira said”
- Moira's speech is often frank and anarchic.
- Loony bin is a dysphemism for a mental hospital.

Whose fault?

Janine … gang-raped... whose fault …?
- Atwood draws on the much-discussed issue of whether women arousing men who later rape them are in some part responsible for the rape.
- In 2005, a survey by Amnesty International found that lots of people thought a woman who was drunk or wearing revealing clothing when she was raped was responsible for the rape.

Offred's escape

"I'm running, with her, holding her hand"
- Offred's memory of running with her daughter is very vivid as it is in the present tense.
- The reader relives Offred's fear as she and Luke try to escape with their daughter.
- Atwood creates a vivid sense of Offred's state of panic from "She's too young" to "carried away" by using one long sentence over nine lines.

1Author Background

1.1Margaret Atwood

1.1.1Margaret Atwood

2Chapter Summaries

2.1Chapter 1: Night I

2.1.1Chapter 1

2.2Chapters 2-6: Shopping II

2.2.1Chapter 2

2.2.2Chapter 3

2.2.3Chapter 4

2.2.4Chapter 5

2.2.5Chapter 6

2.3Chapter 7: Night II

2.3.1Chapter 7

2.4Chapters 8-12: Waiting Room IV

2.4.1Chapter 8

2.4.2Chapter 9

2.4.3Chapter 10

2.4.4Chapter 11

2.4.5Chapter 12

2.5Chapter 13: Nap V

2.5.1Chapter 13

2.6Chapters 14-17: Household VI

2.6.1Chapter 14

2.6.2Chapter 15

2.6.3Chapter 16

2.6.4Chapter 17

2.7Chapter 18: Night VII

2.7.1Chapter 18

2.8Chapters 19-23: Birth Day VIII

2.8.1Chapter 19

2.8.2Chapter 20

2.8.3Chapter 21

2.8.4Chapter 22

2.8.5Chapter 23

2.9Chapter 24: Night IX

2.9.1Chapter 24

2.10Chapters 25-29: Soul Scrolls X

2.10.1Chapter 25

2.10.2Chapter 26

2.10.3Chapter 27

2.10.4Chapter 28

2.10.5Chapter 29

2.11Chapter 30: Night XI

2.11.1Chapter 30

2.12Chapters 31-39: Jezebel's XII

2.12.1Chapter 31

2.12.2Chapter 32

2.12.3Chapter 33

2.12.4Chapter 34

2.12.5Chapter 35

2.12.6Chapter 36

2.12.7Chapter 37

2.12.8Chapter 38

2.12.9Chapter 39

2.13Chapter 40: Night XIII

2.13.1Chapter 40

2.14Chapters 41-45: Salvaging XIV

2.14.1Chapter 41

2.14.2Chapter 42

2.14.3Chapter 43

2.14.4Chapter 44

2.14.5Chapter 45

2.15Chapter 46: Night XV

2.15.1Chapter 46

2.16Historical Notes

2.16.1Historical Notes

3Dedications & Epigraph

3.1Dedications & Epigraph

3.1.1Dedications

3.1.2Epigraph

4Context

4.1Setting

4.1.1Setting

4.2Literary Context & Genre

4.2.1The Canterbury Tales & The Scarlet Letter

4.2.2Links to Dystopian Fiction

4.3Political Context

4.3.1Berlin & Iran

4.3.2The New Right in America

4.4Historical Context

4.4.1Puritan New England

4.5Parallels: Read World & Gilead

4.5.1The Underground Femaleroad

4.5.2Children of Ham & Soul Scrolls

4.5.3Offred's Tattoo, Salvaging & Illegal Abortions

4.5.4Unwomen, Colonies & Giving Away Offred's Daughter

4.6Religious Context

4.6.1Religious Context

5Narrative Structure & Literary Techniques

5.1Narrative Structure

5.1.1Narrative Structure

5.2Literary Techniques

5.2.1Literary Techniques

5.2.2Colour Symbolism

6Themes & Imagery

6.1Themes

6.1.1Survival & Language

6.1.2The Female Body

6.2Imagery

6.2.1The Garden & Doubles

7Characters

7.1Female Characters

7.1.1Offred & Moira

7.1.2Offred's Mother, Ofglen & Ofwarren

7.1.3Serena Joy & Aunt Lydia

7.2Male Characters

7.2.1The Commander

7.2.2Nick & Luke

8Readings

8.1Readings of The Handmaid's Tale

8.1.1Eco-Criticism

8.1.2Complacency

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