Key Passages

Key passages:

 1.      Above me, towards the head of the bed,  Serena Joy is arranged, outspread. Her legs are apart, I lie between them, my head on her stomach, her pubic bone under the base of skull, her thighs on either side of me. She too is fully clothed. My arms are raised; she holds my hands, each of mine in each of hers. This is supposed to signify that we are one flesh, one being. What is really means is that she is in control, of the process and thus of the product. If any. The rings of her left hand cut into my hingers. It may or may not be revenge. My red skirt is hitched up to my waist, though no higher. Below it the commander is fucking. What he is fucking is the lower part of my body. I do not say making love, because this is not what he is doing. Copulating too would be inaccurate, because it would imply two people and only one is involved. Nor does rape cover it: nothing is going here what I haven’t signed up for.  (Chapter 15, pp. 104-105)

Key Quotes #2

Hey guys!

Here are some more key quotes to the novel, they might be useful for essays, orals or just to understand the book. Good luck!

Love, Barbara

1.“Her fault, her fault, her fault, we chant in unison.” (Chapter 13, pg. 82)

Group forming is an important aspect in Gilead, things like the particicutions, the obligatories walks, births, marriages are all preformed in groups. This simply is because group pressure is a very powerful and efficient way to control people. This method is also used in the red centre and it shows how the handmaid’s are ‘trained’ and why the Gilead society is so effective.

2.“I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation, or a

implement for the accomplishment of my will.” (Chapter 13, p.83)

This quote is from Chapter 13, when Offred sits in the bath and contrasts the way she used to think about her body to the way she thinks about it now. Offred’s thought show how accepted she has become of Gilead’s attitude toward women, which treats them not as individuals but how they are objectified as a tool to bare children. This quote shows how internalized Offred has become with the society and therefore this quote is very important to the story.

 3.“The fact is that I’m his mistress. Men at the top have always had mistresses, why should things be any different now?”(Chapter 26, p. 172)

On the other hand this is a very controversial quote to the others ones, most of the important quotes are about the changes in the society while this one is about the similarities. It is about Offred realizing she is the Commander’s mistress and I believe this somehow gives her faith as she realizes that there are still things like there used to be. That no matter how much has changed, there are still some clichés left.

4.“Every night when I go to bed I think, In the morning I will wake up in my own house and

things will be back the way they were. It hasn't happened this morning, either.” (Chapter 31, p.209)

Hope is one of the themes throughout the novel and is clearly pictured in this quote. Offred

talks about how hope (and illusion) keep reviving every evening, only to be defeated again

and again by reality. It shows that even in a situation like this people can still believe, dream

and especially hope.

5.“There is something reassuring about the toilets. Bodily functions at least remain democratic. Everybody shits, as Moira would say.” (Chapter 39, pg. 263)

I chose this quote because it might not be the most beautiful quote written throughout the book, however because I thought it had a couple of important function though. First of all it is something which pulls the attention of the reader, because all the language used in the book is poetic and thoughtful, while this quote is quite blank and blunt.Second of all it clearly shows the contrast between Moira and Offred and they’re way of thinking while at the same time the quote is about how similar everybody still is.

Key Quotes of the book

Hey everbody!

Every book contains a couple of  key quotes, quotes which have deeper meanings for the story. Therfore I found some of the key quotes (there were very many) and I tried to explain the importance for the story. I hope this will be of some assistance!

Lots of love, Barbara

1.   1.   “Girls, felt-skirted as I knew from pictures, later in mini skirts, then pants, then one earring, spiky green-streaked hair.” (Chapter 1, p. 13)

The quote is situated on the first page of the book and it is very important that Atwood started out this way. First of all, right from the beginning, you realize in what period of time the story takes place and the kind of changes the society has been through and second of all, Margaret Atwood sets the tone for one of the characteristics of her writing style, which is to continuously change tenses.