Chapters 41 & 42

Test yourself

Chapter 41 - Key Quotations

Here are five key quotations from Chapter 41:

"Salvaging" and puns

"Salvaging"
- In the Philippines, this word describes being executed without trial - the opposite of the usual connotations of ‘salvaging' (saving).
"I tell, therefore you are"
- These words originate from Descartes, a 17th-century French philosopher. He realised that, as he was thinking about existence, he must exist.
"So I will myself to go on"
- A pun - Offred is describing the effort of telling a story about her own debauchery.

"Real name... Freedom"

"I tell him my real name and feel that therefore I am known"
- Names are such an important aspect of identity that Gilead takes away names and Handmaids are just Of(Commander) + their tattooed number.
- Offred feels more like she's an actual person when she tells Nick her proper name.
"I no longer want to leave, escape, cross the border to freedom"
- This goes back to the idea of context determining everything. Freedom means different things to Offred at different times.

Chapter 42 - Key Quotations

Here are four key quotations from Chapter 42:

"Bell is tolling..."

"The bell is tolling"
- This comes from a sermon by 17-century priest and poet John Donne. Atwood is reminding us that we're involved in deaths carried out in our name.
"I don't want to be telling this story"
- This line is isolated. Is this Offred's disgust at watching something so grim, or is this Atwood's despair that public executions still take place in various parts of the world?

__"Same... bus... vestment"

"The same platitudes, the same phrases, the same slogans"
- Cliches are often used to cover lacking emotion or to distance the speaker from taking responsibility.
"As if she's being helped up the steps of a bus... the noose... like a vestment"
- A vestment is a religious robe. Atwood uses an everyday and religious image - both jarring with the situation at hand - to make the salvaging seem even more horrific.

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

9Recap: Main Quotes

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