9.1.9

Chapters 17 & 18

Test yourself

Chapter 17 - Key Quotations

Here are four key quotations from Chapter 17:

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Key quotations

  • “I rub the butter over my face; work it into the skin of my hands”
    • The Wives detest the Handmaids to the extent that they deprive them of basic commodities like hand cream.
    • The fact that the Handmaids cant use hand cream reinforces that they only exist to be wombs.
  • I want to be held and told my name"
    • Offred wants to be valued and have an identity again.
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Key quotations (cont.)

  • I want to steal something"
    • Offred's identity, husband and child have been taken from her. So she wants to assert her own power.
  • "We're mirrors"
    • Offred sees that, like her and Ofglen, her and Nick are in similar situations.

Chapter 18 - Key Quotations

Here are two key quotations from Chapter 18:

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Key quotations

  • “But this is wrong, nobody dies from lack of sex. It's lack of love we die from.”
  • “One of the gravestones in the cemetery near the earliest church has an anchor on it and an hourglass and the words: In Hope.”
    • This reminds us of the cushions removed from Offred's room; Gilead wants to remove love and hope, which are all things that individuals feel.

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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