Chapter 12
English Lit: Edexcel A Level The Handmaid's Tale, topic 2.4.5
Chapter 12 - Summary and Key Quotations
Offred prepares herself for the Ceremony by having a bath and thinks about the ritualistic cleansing symbolism of water.
Offred's body and her daughter
- Offred thinks her own naked body looks peculiar now.
- She feels the loss of her daughter even more keenly.
- She thinks back to an incident in the supermarket where a lady tried to steal her daughter and she sadly realises that her daughter must now be eight years old.
Waiting for the ceremony
- She is brought back to the present by noticing the tattoo on her own ankle: "four digits and an eye, a passport in reverse".
- She tells the reader this is so she can never fade and will always be traceable.
- She ends the chapter by waiting to be summoned for the Ceremony. She states that she has to become objectified and dehumanised for this process: "What I must present is a made thing, not something born".
Key quotation
- “Blessed are the meek. She didn't go on to say anything about inheriting the earth.”
- The quotation from the Bible is “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” But the handmaids cannot be taught this because they have no hope of getting out of the “poverty of spirit.” This shows how manipulative and controlling Gilead is.
Key quotation
- “I wait. I compose myself. My self is a thing I must now compose.”
- The narrator cannot act naturally or be herself being "Offred". It's as if she has a dual personality. Offred is a side of her that is a "thing" she must "compose".
Test yourself on Chapter 12
What does Offred do to prepare herself for the Ceremony?
What's the tattoo on Offred's ankle?