Chapter 38
English Lit: Edexcel A Level The Handmaid's Tale, topic 2.12.8
Chapter 38 - Summary and Key Quotations
As Offred enters the bathroom, she sees Moira leave one of the cubicles. They embrace each other warmly and make jokes about their gaudy clothing.
Moira's escape
- Moira tells Offred about her escape from the Red Centre. She managed to get through checkpoints dressed in Aunt's clothing until she was taken in by a Quaker couple for safety.
- She then travelled from family to family by way of an "Underground Femaleroad", until she was eventually captured, tortured and sent to "The Club", called Jezebel's, to work as a prostitute.
Changed Moira
- Offred says that Moira's personality seems to have changed. She seems more beaten down by the system than the old rebellious Moira.
- The chapter ends with Offred sadly stating that she "never saw her again".
"Mirror... Quaker"
- "Haven't removed the mirror"
- The Handmaids can't access mirrors for two reasons:
- they aren't supposed to value their appearances
- they could smash the mirrors and use the glass as weapons/to kill themselves.
- "Quaker"
- Even though the Quakers are a peaceful and progressive denomination, they are persecuted in Gilead.
"Radiation... indifference"
- "The other Colonies are the worst … radiation spills"
- In Atwood's world, man-made disasters have ruined the natural world and caused declining fertility rates.
- "Indifference, a lack of volition... I don't want her to be like me"
- Moira used to be a revolutionary symbol. Offred is disappointed to see Moira's sudden lack of fight.
Test yourself on Chapter 38
Why can't the Handmaids access mirrors in Gilead?