9.1.18

Chapters 35 & 36

Test yourself

Chapter 35 - Key Quotations

Here are five key quotations from Chapter 35:

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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.
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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.

Chapter 36 - Key Quotations

Here are three key quotations from Chapter 36:

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"Feathers... Freedom..."

  • "A handful of feathers … cups … covered in purple sequins"
    • A similar outfit features in another of Atwood's novels, Year of the Flood. It's worn by women who work in 'Scales and Tails' – another nightclub/brothel.
    • Atwood is clearly concerned by the exploitation of ladies who work in such establishments.
  • "Freedom … is relative"
    • Offred's life is so restrained that even minor rebellions give her pleasure.
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"A tag"

  • "He slips around my wrist a tag … ‘an evening rental'"
    • The Aunts claim that women are admired in the state. But in places like Jezebel's they are like commodities that can be bought/sold.

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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