9.1.16

Chapters 31 & 32

Test yourself

Chapter 31 - Key Quotations

Here are four key quotations from Chapter 31:

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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.

Chapter 32 - Key Quotations

Here are three key quotations from Chapter 32:

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Key quotations

  • "He's way up there"
    • The Commander is among the most influential people in Gilead.
  • "What I think doesn't matter"
    • Offred knows the Commander doesn't care about her opinion. He simply wants confirmation that the creators of Gilead were correct.
  • "Better never means better for everyone"
    • The Commander tries to justify the Gilead regime.

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

9Recap: Main Quotes

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