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Chapter 30

English Lit: Edexcel A Level The Handmaid's Tale, topic 2.11.1

Chapter 30 - Summary and Key Quotations

Offred looks out of the window at night. She thinks about the fact that she finds Nick attractive but she knows she cannot do anything about it. She feels guilty because of her relationship with Luke.

Luke kills cat / getting caught

Luke kills cat / getting caught

  • Offred thinks back to the time just before she and Luke tried to escape. Luke had to kill their cat because they couldn't take it with them.
  • Offred wonders who betrayed their confidence and told the authorities that they were leaving.
  • She also thinks that because it has been so long, she has forgotten the faces of some people who were close to her. She feels extreme guilt for this.
Offred prays

Offred prays

  • Offred prays to God - not for a baby like they were taught to in the Red Centre, but for forgiveness, support and escape, but she tells the reader that God is silent.
Key quotations

Key quotations

  • "One and one and one and one doesn't equal four. Each one remains unique"
  • Offred believes in individuality, even though Gilead tries to get rid of individuality.
  • "They force you to kill, within yourself"
  • This is similar to Orwell's 1984, where people face their greatest fears in Room 101 and denounce their loved ones because they're desperate to be spared.
Key quotations (cont.)

Key quotations (cont.)

  • "The Eyes of God run all over the earth"
  • The Eyes = Gilead's secret police.
  • The quotation comes from Zechariah 4:10 - ‘the eyes of the Lord run to and fro through the whole earth'. The Commander has already used this phrase to signal that prayer is over.
  • "Hell we can make for ourselves"
  • Offred knows that humans can make their own lives and others' lives Hell.
Key quotations (cont.)

Key quotations (cont.)

  • "Deliver us from evil"
  • Taken from the Lord's Prayer. The end of Chapter 30 is an adaptation of the Lord's Prayer.
  • Does Offred mean 'don't let me consider suicide', or 'suicide would be the solution for escaping evil'?

Test yourself on Chapter 30

  • What's the missing word?

    "They force you to ____, within yourself"

  • What Biblical phrase does the following quotation come from?

    "The Eyes of God run all over the earth"

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