Chapter 29
English Lit: Edexcel A Level The Handmaid's Tale, topic 2.10.5
Chapter 29 - Summary and Key Quotations
In another meeting with the Commander, Offred plucks up the courage to ask him about the message she found scratched into the wood of her cupboard: "Nolite te bastardes carborundurum".
Commander explains the phrase
- The Commander tells her that he made up the Latin phrase with his friends when he was at school and that he shared this with the previous Handmaid he had, before Offred.
- He also says that she committed suicide after Serena Joy found out about his secret meetings with her.
- Offred feels that his kindness towards her is because of the guilt he must feel about her predecessor. She wonders whether she can use this to her advantage.
Key quotations
- "My red shoes are off"
- Part of the Handmaid's uniform and symbolic of male oppression.
- "Pen Is Envy"
- A pun on the Freudian theory of 'penis envy' - that girls feel jealous of boys after realising they don't have a penis.
- In Gilead, women envy men's ability to read and write.
- If your dog dies, get another"
- Offred knows she is expendable.
Test yourself on Chapter 29
Why did the Commander's previous Handmaid commit suicide?