Chapters 5 & 6

Test yourself

Chapter 5 - Key Quotations

Here are five key quotations from Chapter 5:

"Doubled, I walk the street"

"Freedom to and freedom from"

According to Aunt Lydia, 'freedom to' is the kind of freedom the Handmaids had before the creation of Gilead, where women were raped and harassed.
The Aunt advocates freedom from instead. This means freedom from all those negative things. This idea presents Gilead as a kind of salvation for these women.

"We were a society dying...

"We were a society dying, said Aunt Lydia, of too much choice"
- Aunt Lydia suggests that too much choice leads to people making the wrong decisions (i.e. giving in to debauchery and sin).

"...an object of envy..."

"She's a magic presence to us, an object of envy and desire, we covet her"
- The women are talking about Ofwarren, who is pregnant.
- The women can only save themselves from death by becoming pregnant.

"...taken so little time..."

"We are fascinated, but also repelled. They seem undressed. It has taken so little time to change our minds, about things like this"

Offred is talking about the provactive appearance of the Japanese tourists.

Chapter 6 - Key Quotations

Here are three key quotations from Chapter 6:

"The heads are zeros"

The heads of the bodies hanging on the wall are covered to conceal the identities of these people.

"...time travellers..."

"These bodies hanging on the Wall are time travellers, anachronisms. They've come here from the past"

"...I must not feel"

"What I feel towards them is blankness. What I feel is that I must not feel. What I feel is partly relief, because none of these men is Luke. Luke wasn't a doctor. Isn't."
- Offred's overriding feeling is relief that she has no definite proof that her former husband, Luke, was killed in this way.
- Her relief overrides other feelings, like revulsion.
- In the next sentence, she corrects herself from talking about Luke using the past tense to using the present tense.

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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