Summary chapters 8-end :)

Hi!

Here's the rest of my summary. I think this part is more clarifying and gives a better overview of the book as is is not as exaggeratingly detailed as the previous one ;)

It is meant to just fresh up your mind about the content of The Handmaid's Tale just before an essay, or some time when you are wondering what the novel is about.

Good luck!

Love, Iris

Rest of the book :

Offred visits the doctor, and he offers her to make her pregnant. It could be a way out, but Offred refuses, as she is afraid that he is an Eye and might betray her. At night, the so called ‘Ceremony’ takes place. It includes that the Commander reads a part of the Bible. After that, Offred, Serena and the Commander go upstairs and the Commander has sex with Offred, while she lies with her head on the belly of Serena, suggesting it is actually Serena who has sex with her husband.

At one day, Offred is picked up by a red bus, and – together with several other handmaids- is driven to the house of the Commander of Janine. She is about to give birth, and all the handmaids are part of the ritual. They have to support her and shout mantra’s they’ve learned at the Centre. The Wives are in a separate room and floor, and all pretend that it is the Wife who actually gives birth.

One night, when Offred goes downstairs, she meets Nick, the Guardian. He tells her that the Commander wants to meet her the next night. Against all expectations, the Commander wants to play Scrabble with her (which is forbidden, as handmaids are not permitted to read and write). In exchange, Offred gets to read old magazines like Vogue. At the end of their meeting, the Commander asks Offred to kiss him as if she really means it.

During the story, Offred shares a lot of memories of her live before she lived in the Commander’s house as a handmaid. When the authorities of Gilead started to crack down on women’s rights (like firing them and making sure they don’t have access to their bank accounts any more), Offred tried to flee to Canada with Luke and her daughter. However, they were caught and separated. Since then, Offred had not seen either Luke or her daughter anymore.

After she had been captured, she was sent to the Red Centre (Rachel and Leah Re-education Centre). Here, women were brainwashed and indoctrinated into Gilead’s ideology and prepared to be handmaids by the Aunts. This ideology includes that women should only be concerned with being subservient to men and bearing children. Offred’s old friend Moira is also brought to the Centre, but she escapes (as she hears from the Aunts and Janine). Ever since, she has not seen Moira anymore.

When Offred and Ofglen go shopping again, Ofglen tells Offred that she is part of the ‘Mayday’ organization (an underground organization with the goal to overthrow Gilead). Offred feels relieved, as now, there’s someone she can talk to.

During the Ceremony, she feels more uneasy than usual, as now they meet up regularly she is also personally involved with the Commander. She is not able to switch off her feelings as well as she could before. After some time, Serena comes up to Offred and suggests that she should sleep with Nick, as most probably, the Commander is infertile (Offred is still not pregnant). They would keep the secret and pretend as if the child would be the Commander’s. Serena promises that if Offred sleeps with Nick, she would show her a picture of her daughter. Offred realizes that Serena has known all along about her daughter. She agrees with the deal.

When Offred has one of the ritual meetings with the Commander, he wants her to wear make up and dress in an exotic, little costume. They go out secretly and he takes her to Jezebel’s, a place where men can mingle with prostitutes.  At Jezebel’s, Offred sees Moira, and they meet in the private room for the prostitutes, where they are allowed to smoke, drink and take a break from their ‘job.’ Moira tells Offred about what she did after she escaped from the Red Centre. Just before she got to the border, she was captured. She had to choose between the Colonies and Jezebel’s, and she chose the last one. After the conversation, Offred has never seen Moira again. At the end of the evening at Jezebel’s, the Commander goes upstairs with Offred and they have sex in one of the (former hotel) rooms.

When Offred just arrived home from Jezebel’s, Serena knocks on her door and tells her to visit Nick. Nick and Offred have sex, and not just that one time. She starts to visit Nick frequently, as she realizes that Nick might be the only person she could ever willingly make love with.

During their shopping conversations, Ofglen wants Offred to gather some information of the Commander and Gilead which could possibly help the Mayday organization. Offred ignores her requests.

One day, all the handmaids and Wives are to visit a salvaging. Two handmaids and a Wife get hanged, while the women have watch. After the salvaging, a ‘particicution’ takes place. A man - of which Aunt Lydia says he is a rapist-, has to be killed by the group of handmaids. Ofglen attacks first: she hits him until he dies. Later, she tells Offred that he was not a rapist at all and murdered him to put him out of his misery at once.

Some days later, Offred goes out shopping again and notices that there is a new Ofglen. She finds out the new Ofglen is not a member of the Mayday organization and eventually the new Ofglen tells her what happened to the old Ofglen: before the Eyes could capture her, she hanged herself. When Offred arrives home, she comes across an enraged Serena, as she found out about the trip to Jezebel’s. Offred is sent to her room and thinks about ways to commit suicide. She does however not undertake any actions, and when the black van of the Eyes arrives, she has no choice but to obey. Nick comes to get her, and tells her that the Eyes are actually part of the Mayday organization and are here to save her. She leaves the house and steps into the van. Where she goes, to freedom or the Colonies, she does not know.

After the novel ended, there is a fictional historical notes part. It includes a speech, given by professor Pieixoto in 2195. He talks about Offred’s story, which was found on cassette tapes, about the Gileadian society and all the things he found out about it. He talks about the research they have done and what the possible name of the Commander could be. His speech does not give much more clearness, as he is also unsure about the fate of Offred.