Chapters 31 & 32

English Lit: Edexcel A Level The Handmaid's Tale, topic 9.1.16

Chapter 31 - Key Quotations

Here are four key quotations from Chapter 31:

"Jezebel's"
Jezebel was a depraved Israeli queen who features in the Bible in 1 Kings.
In The Handmaid's Tale, Jezebel's is a nightclub/brothel. The women in Jezebel's offer men sex and are viewed as corrupt. There is irony in this - they are essentially sex-slaves.
"September First will be Labour Day"
An American holiday celebrating employees. Atwood satirises this idea by celebrating women giving birth in Gilead.

"They'd throw buns at her"
Moira is talking about a past time when male undergraduates had difficulty accepting a girl scholar. Offred is taken aback as when she was young, women were treated as equals at University. This shows that Gilead has digressed to a situation where women can't be educated.
"Something chokes in my throat"
Offred's brief feelings of ‘collusion' with Serena Joy disappear when she realises that Serena Joy has always known the whereabouts of her child.

Here are three key quotations from Chapter 32:

"He's way up there"
The Commander is among the most influential people in Gilead.
"What I think doesn't matter"
Offred knows the Commander doesn't care about her opinion. He simply wants confirmation that the creators of Gilead were correct.
"Better never means better for everyone"
The Commander tries to justify the Gilead regime.