Chapter 1
English Lit: Edexcel A Level The Handmaid's Tale, topic 2.1.1
Chapter 1 - Summary
The reader is introduced to the regime of Gilead through the setting of a gymnasium, where we are told the Handmaids-in-training have to sleep on army barrack beds.
Narrator images past life
- It becomes very clear that this is a world which used to be familiar but the setting has been repurposed for the strict regime that has taken over.
- The narrator (who we later find out is Offred) imagines the past life of the gymnasium. She thinks about all the fashion changes that have taken place over time and remembers intimate adolescent liaisons.
Current life
- Her thoughts are juxtaposed with the current reality of the narrator.
- The narrator introduces the idea of imprisonment with the "Aunts" controlling the Handmaids with cattle prods and guards, who are called "Angels", patrolling the outside of the building with guns.
Using her body to manipulate
- The narrator thinks that she might be able to use her body to manipulate the guards, bringing the theme of sex to the forefront of the novel.
Handmaids cannot talk
- The chapter ends with the revelation that the handmaids are not allowed to talk to each other.
- But the Handmaids break this rule at night when they mouth their names at each other.
Chapter 1 - Key Quotations
Here are six key quotations from Chapter 1:
"...unheard sound"
- "A palimpsest of unheard sound"
"...old sex..."
- "There was old sex in the room and loneliness"
"We yearned for the future"
"We still had our bodies"
"We learned to whisper..."
- "We learned to whisper almost without sound"
"Alma.Janine...."
- "Alma.Janine.Dolores.Moira.June"
Test yourself on Chapter 1
What kind of beds do the handmaids sleep on?
What does the narrator think she might be able to use to manipulate the guards?
What does the narrator say they "yearned for" in Chapter 1?
What does the narrator say they "still had" in Chapter 1?