2.9.1
Chapter 24
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Chapter 24 - Summary
Offred returns to her room. She tells the reader that she wants to keep her clothes on so she can think and "take stock" of her situation.
Physical details
- She calls herself by the patronym of Offred and tells the reader she is 33, has brown hair, is five foot seven and has viable ovaries.
- After the meeting with the Commander, she realises that regardless of whether this is a trap or an opportunity, she needs to follow where this relationship is going to try to work out who she is and where she is destined to go.
SS Officer documentary
- She also says she can remember a documentary that her mother showed her about a woman who was a mistress of an SS Officer in the Holocaust.
- She remembers the woman being interviewed and saying that her lover was not a "monster", yet she committed suicide a few days later.
Hides in her wardrobe
- Offred says that she cannot stop laughing and climbs into her wardrobe so no one can hear here.
- She sees the scratched out "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum" left by the previous handmaid and touches it.
Chapter 24 - Key Quotations
Here are four key quotations from Chapter 24:
Secret name and context
- “I must forget about my secret name. My name is Offred now, and here is where I live.”
- Offred acknowledges that, for survival, she must deny her former identity. She must keep her real name to herself.
- “Context is all”
- By repeating this phrase, Atwood stresses how changes in context influence attitudes and behaviours. Scrabble was once "the game of old men and women", but, now that it's forbidden, is "desirable".
"Invent a humanity"
- “How easy it is to invent a humanity, for anyone at all"
- Pieixoto says that Gilead society was "subject to factors from which we ourselves are happily more free. Our job is not to censure but to understand" (Historical Notes). By referencing the Nazis in this chapter, Atwood encourages us to question how much we should accept attitudes like this.
"Opening"
- "The sound of my own heart, ... opening"
- The final word of the chapter ("opening") implies potential hope of expansion for Offred's current restricted life.
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
9Recap: Main Quotes
9.1Quotes by Chapter
9.1.1Chapters 1 & 29.1.2Chapters 3 & 49.1.3Chapters 5 & 69.1.4Chapters 7 & 89.1.5Chapters 9 & 109.1.6Chapters 11 & 129.1.7Chapters 13 & 149.1.8Chapter 15 & 169.1.9Chapters 17 & 189.1.10Chapters 19 & 209.1.11Chapters 21 & 229.1.12Chapters 23 & 249.1.13Chapters 25 & 269.1.14Chapters 27 & 289.1.15Chapters 29 & 309.1.16Chapters 31 & 329.1.17Chapters 33 & 349.1.18Chapters 35 & 369.1.19Chapters 37 & 389.1.20Chapters 39 & 409.1.21Chapters 41 & 429.1.22Chapters 43 & 449.1.23Chapters 45 & 469.1.24Historical Notes & Epigraphs
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
9Recap: Main Quotes
9.1Quotes by Chapter
9.1.1Chapters 1 & 29.1.2Chapters 3 & 49.1.3Chapters 5 & 69.1.4Chapters 7 & 89.1.5Chapters 9 & 109.1.6Chapters 11 & 129.1.7Chapters 13 & 149.1.8Chapter 15 & 169.1.9Chapters 17 & 189.1.10Chapters 19 & 209.1.11Chapters 21 & 229.1.12Chapters 23 & 249.1.13Chapters 25 & 269.1.14Chapters 27 & 289.1.15Chapters 29 & 309.1.16Chapters 31 & 329.1.17Chapters 33 & 349.1.18Chapters 35 & 369.1.19Chapters 37 & 389.1.20Chapters 39 & 409.1.21Chapters 41 & 429.1.22Chapters 43 & 449.1.23Chapters 45 & 469.1.24Historical Notes & Epigraphs
Practice questions on Chapter 24
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- 1
- 2
- 3How does the woman in the SS Officer documentary die?Multiple choice
- 4What phrase does Atwood repeat?Multiple choice
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