Chapter 20
English Lit: Edexcel A Level The Handmaid's Tale, topic 2.8.2
Chapter 20 - Summary and Key Quotations
In this chapter, the Handmaids gather in a birthing room with the Aunts and Ofwarren. They help her deal with her labour pains.
Giving birth and the Red Centre
- In a separate room, the Wives surround the Wife of Warren as she pretends to be in labour.
- The Commander, Warren, is absent from the whole experience.
- Offred remembers some of the teachings from the Red Centre, where the Aunts showed videos of women being brutalised and raped. The Handmaids were told that they must make sacrifices now so that the women who come after them can benefit.
Video of the "Unwomen"
- The Aunts show a video of the "Unwomen" too. It shows women protesting against government rule. The Aunts are very critical of these women.
- Offred watches the film and notices her mother, much younger than she can remember her, holding a banner in a feminist rally.
- Offred remembers the moment at the Red centre when she noticed that Moira had gone missing at breakfast.
Key quotations
- "Sacrifices … men revile you"
- Adapted from the Bible: the original quotation (Matthew 5:11) says Jesus' followers should be thankful when persecuted for their beliefs as they'll get their reward in Heaven.
- "That was what they thought of women, then.”
- Aunt Lydia suggests the only alternative to life in Gilead is the kind of abuse shown in the films they watch.
- "A man is just a woman’s strategy for making other women"
- Offred's mother doesn't believe in romantic love.
Test yourself on Chapter 20
Who are the Wives very critical of in Chapter 20?
Who says this quotation?
"A man is just a woman’s strategy for making other women"