Summary and Analysis of The Handmaid's Tale

Based on the Book by Margaret Atwood

Worth Books

• Publisher: Worth Books
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781504046602
• eBook ISBN: 9781504044165
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Feminist Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of The Handmaid's Tale tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Margaret Atwood's book.
Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. 
 
This short summary and analysis of The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood includes:
 

• Historical context
• Part-by-part summaries
• Analysis of the main characters
• Themes and symbols
• Important quotes
• Fascinating trivia
• Glossary of terms
• Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work

 
About Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale:
 
Margaret Atwood's dystopian literary masterpiece tells the story of Offred, a Handmaid living in the near future in what was once the United States. A new theocratic regime called the Republic of Gilead has come to power and changed life as she knew it.
 
Once Offred had a her own name and a loving family—a husband and daughter—both of which were taken from her; now she belongs to the Commander and his hostile wife, and her only value lies in her ability to bear a child for them. She used to read books and learn; now such things are forbidden to all women.
 
Gripping, disturbing, and so relevant today, The Handmaid's Tale is a brilliant novel and a chilling warning about what can happen when extreme ideas are taken to their logical conclusions.
 
The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of fiction.

Summary

I: Night

1

Offred is remembering the beginning—sleeping in what was once a high school gymnasium, overseen by “Aunts” who carry cattle prods and guarded by men with guns. The women, even the Aunts, are not allowed to have weapons. The men must keep their backs to the women, never looking at them.

We don’t know this yet, but Offred and the other women are being retrained for service in the new state of Gilead, brutalized and persuaded into becoming obedient Handmaids rather than free women. Yet, they still rebel in small ways, mouthing their names to one another in the dead of night.

Need to Know: This is America—but not the America we know.

II: Shopping

2

Offred is in another bedroom—ostensibly a much nicer one, with pleasant furnishings—but it’s still a prison. The window is shatterproof, and anything that a woman might use to hang herself has been removed. Going downstairs to the summoning sound of a bell, Offred glimpses herself in the only remaining mirror—a woman dressed in red, with red shoes and a white head covering like a nun’s wimple. In the kitchen, she overhears Rita and Cora, who are Marthas, or servants. They’re talking about her and how she has it easy. She could have been shipped to the Colonies, or worse.

Need to Know: The heroine is under some form of house arrest.

3

Offred goes out into the garden, which is the domain of the Commander’s Wife, and she thinks about how she is not allowed to have things like gardens anymore. Offred is aware that the Wife hates her, though we don’t know why yet. She recalls their first meeting, only a little over a month ago: The Wife is dressed in blue with diamonds on her finger. She is very much in a position of power over Offred. After allowing Offred to sit, she lays down the law: Offred must remember to whom the Commander belongs. Offred realizes that she recognizes the Wife from the period before Gilead. She was televangelist Serena Joy, who lobbied for a more Christian America.

Need to Know: The Commander’s Wife has power over Offred but also resents her.

4

Outside, Offred sees Nick, the chauffeur, polishing the car. She’d like to speak to him, but it’s too risky—perhaps he is an Eye, an informer. She meets up with Ofglen, her shopping partner. She’d like to talk to Ofglen, too, but again, it’s too dangerous. So they make their way through the checkpoints to the shops in silence. This walk is part of Offred’s job each day. She must purchase goods for the household and exercise her body so it remains healthy for her duties.

Need to Know: The people in the house all have different classifications. Nick, the chauffeur, is a Guardian. The men who guard the checkpoints are also Guardians, while the real soldiers are called Angels.

5

This is a part of town Offred knows. She remembers walking here with her husband, Luke, before it became Gilead. She thinks about their life before the theocracy took over—their relationship was one of equals.

She and Ofglen wait in line for produce. Many foods are rationed. A pregnant Handmaid enters, showing off her large belly—everyone envies her. Though the woman is named Ofwarren, Offred recognizes her as Janine, someone who was at the Red Center with her. None of the others at the Center had liked Janine.

Need to Know: Offred and Ofglen are stopped by a group of Japanese tourists who gawk at them. The Japanese women are dressed in the type of clothes Offred used to wear, and they are free. When the tourists wonder if the Handmaids are happy, Offred lies and says they are, because she knows the translator with them is an Eye.

6

Offred and Ofglen walk back past the church and the Wall, where the hanging corpses of dissidents are prominently displayed. On this day, the bodies are those of doctors. Offred can tell because of the white coats they wear and the placards with pictures to indicate why they were executed hanging around their necks. These men were abortionists. Offred has become somewhat desensitized to sights like this. She mostly looks at the bodies on the Wall to make sure none of them is Luke’s.

Need to Know: This culture has a very visible form of capital punishment.

III: Night

7

In bed, Offred indulges herself in the only way she still can, by remembering the past. She thinks of her college friend Moira and of burning pornographic magazines at the feminist rallies her mother took her to as a child. She remembers her little daughter, too—the girl was taken away by the state at the age of five after Offred’s family’s attempted escape.

Need to Know: Offred does not know what has happened to her child.

IV: Waiting Room

8

On a different day, Offred and Ofglen see new bodies on the Wall, including that of a priest. Religious dissidents are killed in Gilead—there is only room for one interpretation of Christianity here. The other corpses belonged to gay men who are identified with placards declaring that they have committed “Gender Treachery.” On their walks, Offred is always aware that Ofglen might be an Eye. She must be careful to speak piously and blandly to the other woman.

Offred remembers more about Serena Joy’s past as a spokesperson for this sort of oppressive theocracy; the reality of it doesn’t seem to have made her happy.

Need to Know: Offred finds the Commander looking into her room, which is forbidden.

9

Since coming to this house, her second posting as a Handmaid, Offred has explored her room thoroughly. She looks for clues about its former occupant, another Handmaid. Finally, she finds a tiny message scratched into the wood of the wardrobe: Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. Offred doesn’t know what it means, but she is comforted by this message from the past and wonders what happened to the previous Handmaid.

Need to Know: No one will tell Offred what became of the woman who last held her post.

10

Offred has more memories of Moira and the past, including Moira organizing an “underwhore” party to sell kinky underwear. It’s becoming summer, and Offred thinks of how they dressed before Gilead and how different things are now. What used to seem normal has gradually changed, and now there is a new normal. She glimpses the Commander from her window—she ought to hate h...

Table of contents

• Title
• Disclaimer
• Contents
• Context
• Overview
• Cast of Characters
• Summary
• Character Analysis
• Themes and Symbols
• Direct Quotes and Analysis
• Trivia
• What’s That Word?
• Critical Response
• About Margaret Atwood
• For Your Information
• Bibliography
• Copyright