The Handmaid’s Tale Chapter Summaries

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items that might be used as weapons or to assist in suicide have been eliminated. Offred acknowledges the appeal of suicide but asserts her will to live She dresses in clothes that cover all parts of her body and that are almost entirely red; the white wings of a headdress obscure her face, limiting her ability to see and be seen Carrying a shopping basket, she enters the kitchen, where Rita, a Martha dressed in green, is making bread Without smiling or other friendly gestures, Rita gives Offred tokens with pictured foods to use for shopping ● Offred describes eavesdropping on Rita and Cora-the maid and another Martha-and hearing them gossip She briefly entertains a daydream in which she, Rita, and Cora chat about their lives over coffee ● ● She takes the tokens, listens to Rita's instructions about which foods to buy, and leaves Chapter 3 ● ● ● ● ● ● Chapter 4 Offred walks toward the front gate, where Nick, a Guardian who lives at the house and works for the Commander, is washing the Commander's car and smoking She stares, and he winks at her, a forbidden gesture ● Offred walks by the garden on her way to do the grocery shopping The garden belongs to the Commander's Wife, who spends most of her time gardening or knitting ● Offred remembers once having her own garden and feels envious of the Commander's Wife ● She recalls her arrival and first meeting with the Commander's Wife five weeks ago, when she was dropped off by a Guardian and used the front door for the only time In this flashback, the Commander's Wife, dressed in blue, invites Offred into her sitting room, where she is illegally smoking Here, she makes her expectations clear for Offred's third assignment (the other two having failed) as a Handmaid She wants as little as possible to do with Offred, and she does not want to be called ma'am Whatever Offred is there to do is "like a business transaction." As the Commander's Wife speaks, Offred recognizes her as Serena Joy, a woman who was once a singer on a religious television show She looks away, uncertain about how to interpret Nick's actions and wondering whether he might be an Eye, or a spy, looking to entrap her She walks to a street corner, where she is joined by another woman in red. They exchange formal greetings ● The two women encounter more Guardians as they cross the "first barrier," one of many checkpoints As Offred gives her pass to one of the Guardians, their eyes meet She fantasizes about undressing in front of him and considers the punishment it would mean for both of them Offred recalls that her last shopping partner disappeared about two weeks ago without warning This woman, Ofglen, is the replacement Offred reveals, finally, that they are Handmaids Ofglen has news of the war that continues in remote areas, which she shares in a guarded fashion As the two women proceed, Offred can feel the men watching her She enjoys having the power to cause a sexual response in these men Chapter 5 ● ● ● ● ● The women enjoy shopping, as it is the only time they might see old friends or family ● Offred thinks of her college friend Moira The two Handmaids arrive in the Republic of Gilead The area is subdued and tidy, and there are no children present Offred briefly revisits a memory of walking with Luke, her former husband, and talking about a future house and family The pair see other women, Marthas and Econowives, but all are on prescribed errands There is no freedom in their choices ● Other Handmaids enter, and one is pregnant, which causes a stir of excitement and envy among the women Offred recognizes this woman as Janine, now called Ofwarren, from the Red Center (the gymnasium in Chapter 1) The women pay for their purchases with tokens, but Offred cannot buy any of the rare oranges because she does not have a token for them ● The women pass a clothing store called Lilies and then wait in line at a store called Milk and Honey, which is marked by an image rather than words, as women are not allowed to read The two women next visit the butcher shop, All Flesh, where there are no shopping bags This event triggers a memory of an argument with Luke over plastic grocery bags The memory is from a time when the narrator and Luke had a daughter together, and it is painful, so she lets it go As the women leave the butcher shop, a group of tourists from Japan ask to take their photograph, which the women refuse ● The tourists also ask the Handmaids whether they are happy, and after a pause, Offred says yes ● Chapter 6 The two women decide to walk past the church on their way home from shopping ● Their headdresses make it difficult for them to observe the world around them, but they catch glimpses of structures that have new purposes ● ● Ofglen stops and appears to pray in front of the church, which is now a museum As they turn away from the church, they see the Wall-made of brick, barbed wire, and shards of glass-which is what they really walked this way to see The bodies of six men, their heads covered with bags, hang from metal hooks embedded in the Wall ● One man's injuries have left a smile shaped bloodstain on the front of the bag. The men's white coats reveal them to be those who were, in the past, doctors who performed abortions ● Offred is relieved, knowing that Luke was not a doctor ● Ofglen seems to be crying, but the narrator is afraid to ask why Chapter 7 It is night, and although the narrator must stay still and quiet in her bed, she can wander in her thoughts ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● She first chooses a college memory of studying, wearing makeup, and going out for a drink with her friend Moira ● Then she chooses a childhood memory of going to a park with her mother, where a crowd is gathered to burn pornographic magazines ● As she watches the magazine photos burning, her recollection becomes disjointed and confused Chapter 8 ● In the memory, time is lost-years She thinks she must have been restrained and drugged, and when she is conscious again, her daughter has been taken away She is told she is unfit, and there are Offred is again at the Wall with Ofglen, where three new bodies hang Offred suggests that they leave, and Ofglen says, "It's a beautiful May day." Then a funeral procession of three Econowives passes ● The bereaved woman carries a jar, and from its small size Offred knows that the woman has miscarried One of the Econowives spits on the sidewalk near the Handmaids, and another frowns at them people taking care of her child She is shown a photograph of her daughter wearing a long white dress The chapter ends as the narrator describes her life as being both like and unlike a story It is like a story in that she is narrating events; it is unlike a story in that she cannot control the ending and there is no real life to return to afterward She also makes the distinction that she must tell the story, not write it, and that there must be an audience, even if it is only an invented you. Back at the Commander's yard, Nick asks Offred a question, and she replies with only a nod. Inside the house, Offred's thoughts turn to Serena Joy, and she recalls reading that Serena Joy is a fake name She had been a singer on a religious television show and had gone on to even more celebrity by giving speeches about how a woman's place is in the home There were a couple of attempts on her life, possibly by radical feminists who objected to Serena Joy's message However, there were also rumors that she staged the attempts to garner public sympathy ● Offred remembers that Luke found Serena Joy comical, but Offred always found her frightening ● Now Serena Joy's beauty is fading, and she mostly ignores Offred as she comes and goes from the house Yet Offred knows that, in many ways, Serena Joy is more dangerous to Offred's safety than the Commander is ● ● Chapter 9 As Offred waits in the room she has now accepted as hers, by necessity if not by choice, she is reminded of the hotel rooms where she and Luke would meet secretly before his divorce ● ● As Offred enters the kitchen, the smell of bread reminds her of her daughter. She quickly shuts down this memory ● Although the room is supposed to be suicide-proof, she finds hooks in a cupboard She also finds a phrase, scratched in the floor, written in an unfamiliar language: Nolite te bastardes carborundorum As she returns to her room to prepare for bath day with Cora, she is surprised to find the Commander standing outside it There is a moment of tension before he walks away Offred is surprised that she thinks of the room as hers for the first time. ● She recalls exploring her room when she was new to the Commander's house On one day, she discovered stains on the mattress left by a couple's lovemaking, which brought on such a powerful rush of longing for Luke that she felt faint She decides that she will divide the room into sections and explore one thoroughly each day ● She finds pleasure in thinking about the woman who might have previously occupied the room and who was brave enough to leave a message-someone like the Moira she knew in college Chapter 10 When Offred asks Rita about the woman, Rita says, "What you don't know won't hurt you." ● Offred recalls song lyrics ● She notes that there is very little music in the house or anywhere else for that matter Thoughts of the upcoming summer and the shedding of the winter costume for a summer version trigger a memory of Aunt Lydia railing against the indecencies of the past ● Offred moves quickly from this memory to one of her own indecencies: Moira borrowing a cigarette and inviting her to an "underwhore" party to trade inexpensive lingerie This memory now seems unbelievable to Offred She understands that, both then and now, people behave as if abnormal behaviors are normal as long as they remain relatively unaffected She hears the sound of the car starting and looks out the window. The Commander follows Nick toward the car She imagines spitting out the window at him or throwing something This image prompts her to remember being with Moira at the college dorm, throwing water balloons out the window at the boys below As she watches the car depart, Offred tries to define her feelings for the Commander. Chapter 11 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Chapter 12 Cora sits outside the bathroom as a guard against male intruders while Offred bathes There is no worry of suicide because the bathroom, like the bedroom, has been proofed for safety The smell of soap triggers a memory for Offred of bathing her daughter She recalls a time when a strange woman attempted to kidnap the child at the grocery store She wonders whether her daughter has any memory of her She realizes that the child has probably been told her mother is dead and reveals that it has been three years since she was taken. Her daughter is now eight At Cora's urging, Offred finishes her bath, dresses, and notes a tattoo on her ankle She compares her required long but uncut hair with something she saw in a film once, in which women kneeling in a town square were being held and having their heads shaved After Offred eats a bland dinner in her room, she hides the butter in the toe of an extra shoe ● Then she waits and "composes herself" for what is going to happen next ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Alone in her room again, Offred describes the previous day's events She is driven to a monthly doctor's appointment by a Guardian Other Handmaids sit in the waiting room Chapter 13 ● This chapter falls in its own section, called "Nap." It spans the time between the narrator's bath and the next event It is a chapter focused on the theme of women in waiting Offred is bored ● When it is Offred's turn to have her fertility and general health checked, she goes into a white exam room, undresses, and gives a urine sample She uses one sheet to cover her body; another hangs suspended over her neck so the doctor cannot see her face and she cannot see him ● The doctor arrives and examines her intrusively He breaks protocol by speaking to her and lifting the sheet to view her face He suggests that the Commander may be infertile and offers to help her become pregnant by having sex with her Even her life dep ds on becomi pregnant, she refuses He leaves, and she gets dressed, but she is shaken by the idea that she might have this option. She considers other examples of boredom: women in paintings, pigs being fattened for slaughter, and caged rats and pigeons She decides to do a pelvic exercise she learned from Aunt Lydia, which is meant to prepare the body for childbirth ● ● ● ● ● ● Chapter 14 ● Offred walks downstairs to the sitting room, where she kneels in her assigned location for the Ceremony and fantasizes about stealing something The other members of the household arrive one by one: Cora, Rita, Nick, and then Serena Joy Offred thinks that Nick's foot might touch hers, but she is not sure They all wait for the Commander ● ● ● ● She recalls the drug-induced naps the Handmaid's In-waiting had to take each afternoon She remembers the time when Moira came to the gymnasium to become a Handmaid Making sure not to give their friendship away to the Aunts, they arranged to meet in the men's bathroom The next day, after a humiliating activity called "Testifying," where Janine was blamed for a confession of rape, Offred met Moira in the bathroom for a few freely spoken words As this memory fades, Offred briefly recalls her first apartment with Luke but then begins a more terrible memory of trying to escape with her daughter and being caught A bell sounds, and Offred awakens to find Cora at the door. ● Serena Joy clicks through television channels before settling on the news, which shows only victories Gilead is winning in the war against Baptists and Quakers Serena Joy turns off the TV and lights a cigarette, and Offred remembers getting into a car on some past September Saturday In the back of the car, her daughter is ready for a family picnic-a ruse to cover the escape attempt into Canada All goes as planned through the first checkpoint Luke is confident and happy. She is worried. Chapter 15 ● The chapters in the "Household" section reflect events in a home that revolve around the Commander The Commander arrives, sits, and prepares to read from a Bible that is otherwise locked away. He asks for a glass of water ● While they wait, Offred thinks about the Commander as a man who is watched by women After the water arrives, the Commander reads a variety of stories about having children to those who are not allowed to read for themselves Offred recalls listening to recordings of these and other Bible verses in the gymnasium, but she suspects that some of the verses have been altered by the government She remembers Moira telling her of a plan to fake an illness and escape the gymnasium. The Commander finishes reading and offers a prayer Serena Joy cries quietly, and Offred prays, "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum," the phrase scratched on the floor of her room, even though she does not know what it means ● ● Chapter 16 . During the Ceremony, Offred, lying between Serena Joy's legs and holding hands with her, must allow the Commander to have sex with her ● ● ● ● She remembers that when Moira tried to trick the Angels and escape, she was caught and violently punished This portion of the Ceremony concludes. ● The Ceremony is performed with as much clothing in place as possible and with no passion or intimacy Offred states that while she is not in control, the act should not be considered rape because she has chosen the role of Handmaid over other alternatives When the Commander finishes, he leaves Serena Joy tells Offred to leave Offred wonders which participant is most deplorable Chapter 17 Back in her room, Offred uses the butter she saved to moisturize her hands and face in the hope that she may one day lay claim to her own body again Through the window, she sees the moon She longs for Luke and his voice saying her name ● She decides to steal something in an effort to control her own actions ● She sneaks back to Serena Joy's sitting room and starts to steal a flower petal when Nick suddenly arrives • They kiss passionately. Nick tells her the Commander wants to see her the next day in his office Confused, she returns to her room. Chapter 18 After her encounter with Nick, Offred recalls being in bed with Luke ● In the memory, she is pregnant and can feel the baby kicking ● Back in the present, she longs to touch another person and to be touched ● Next she describes three possible fates for Luke: he is dead, he is in prison, or he has successfully escaped The idea that Luke may have escaped takes hold of her imagination, and she envisions receiving a secret message from him and escaping together She knows that these three endings to Luke's story cannot all be true, but for her, somehow, they are: "This contradictory way of believing seems to me, right now, the only way I can believe anything." Chapter 19 The chapters in the "Birth Day" section include Offred's participation in the birthing ritual as Ofwarren has her baby ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Offred begins, "I'm dreaming that I am awake." In this dream, Offred's daughter runs to meet her, but as she picks up her child, she realizes it is a dream ● ● She wakes from this dream into another dream in which her mother brings her something to eat on a tray Then she truly awakens Her breakfast is interrupted by the siren of a red Birthmobile Ofwarren is about to have her baby Offred and the other Handmaids ride in the Birthmobile to attend the birth She wonders whether it will be a baby or an Unbaby-a baby with severe deformities who will be quickly killed Toxic pollution has caused a loss of fertility for many people and a 25 percent chance of having a baby with terrible birth defects for those who are not completely sterile In light of this situation, some women have made themselves intentionally infertile to avoid the fate of the Handmaids Chapter 20 ● Both Wives and Handmaids gather for the birth ● Ofwarren is in labor in a birthing room The Handmaids and Aunts gather around Ofwarren, preparing for the birthing ritual The Wives gather around Warren's Wife, who mimics labor Ofwarren's Commander is absent The Birthmobile arrives at the home of Ofwarren, and the Handmaids disembark. Doctors wait outside the house, as they are only allowed to enter in cases of emergency. In Gilead, women are not allowed to have any painkillers during birth A separate blue Birthmobile arrives, bringing the Wives to the birth Offred recalls lessons from the Red Center. In this memory, Aunt Lydia shows them films of women being raped and beaten, explaining that the Handmaids must make sacrifices so that those who come after them will have an easier time She also shows them films of the so-called Unwomen In one of these films, Offred sees her own mother holding a banner in a feminist protest march She remembers her mother as a strong woman, a woman who fought for women's rights, and she misses her even though they frequently disagreed over politics Offred also recalls the disappearance of Moira, who did not report to breakfast one morning. Chapter 21 As Janine (Ofwarren) labors, the Handmaids chant The room is hot and loud Offred asks one of the other Handmaids whether she knows anything of Moira On Birth Days, the Handmaids take advantage of the chaos to exchange information ● ● ● Janine will nurse the baby for a short time before Janine is reassigned to a new family This successful birth means that Janine will avoid being sent to the Colonies The scene causes Offred to remember the birth of her own daughter and the happiness she felt at that time She also recalls her own mother and the goal of her feminist group to create a "women's culture." ● The Handmaids get back into the Birthmobile and return to their homes Chapter 22 ● ● ● Chapter 23 Offred muses once again on the nature of narrative: "This is a reconstruction," she begins ● As Janine nears the time for delivery, she is led to the two seated Birthing Stool, and the lights are shut off Warren's Wife sits behind Janine on the stool Janine gives birth to a girl, and the baby is washed and given to the Wife, who names her Angela ● She recognizes that all stories, including hers, are shaped by the details the narrator chooses to include or leave out She tells us that the Commander asks her to kiss him and notes that there is, of course, more to that story When Cora brings Offred dinner after a nap, they have a short conversation about Ofwarren's baby girl ● ● Offred arrives back at the house and goes to her room, too tired to sleep She begins to describe a memory of driving late into the night Then she suddenly decides to narrate instead the story of what happens to Moira, which she has pieced together from various accounts While at the Red Center, Moira causes a toilet to overflow and calls for Aunt Elizabeth. When Aunt Elizabeth comes, Moira threatens to stab her, steals her clothing, ties her up in the furnace room, and escapes dressed as an Aunt After the escape, Aunt Elizabeth asks Janine to spy on the other women The women at the Red Center are both frightened and excited by the idea that Moira has escaped, and nothing more is heard of her. ● ● The room is full of books, and he invites her to sit and play Scrabble She relishes the opportunity to spell words Before she leaves, he asks her to kiss him, and she complies ● He says, "Not like that ... As if you meant it." Then Offred resumes the story of going to her secret meeting with the Commander After the Birth, she makes an illegal visit to the Commander's office at his request The visit is dangerous for Offred If she gets caught, she will be in trouble; if she refuses to obey the Commander, she will be in trouble ● Chapter 24 ● ● ● ● She fantasizes about fashioning a weapon and then killing the Commander at the next meeting, but then she admits that this fantasy is part of the reconstruction only; she did not have this thought at the time of the incident ● Offred returns to her room She does not undress, as the red costume helps her focus on her thoughts She refers to herself as Offred and gives readers some rare defining physical details: her hair color and height She also knows this new development with the Commander is a turning point, whether an escape or a trap, and she must figure out a way to make use of it as she tries to sort out her present identity Chapter 25 This chapter is the first of a series that fall under the section heading "Soul Scrolls." Soul Scrolls is a store in Gilead that sells prayers Offred, who falls asleep on the floor, is wakened by Cora's scream and the sound of the breakfast tray crashing to the floor Cora suspects that Offred is dead ● The two unify for a moment as they discuss a possible baby and decide not to tell anyone about the lost breakfast Time passes via the flowers and other plants that grow near the Commander's home: tulips, irises, bleeding hearts, peonies, a willow tree, and green grass Offred describes the ongoing arrangement she makes with the Commander: She visits him secretly a few times a week based on clues from Nick about when to go, and they play Scrabble ● She remembers watching a documentary about World War II with her mother The documentary features an interview with the mistress of a man in charge of a Nazi concentration camp In the interview, the woman says that her lover is not a monster Then the woman commits suicide a few days after the interview Offred begins to laugh and crawls into the cupboard with her hands over her mouth to stifle it She sees the words Nolite te bastardes carborundorum and traces them with her finger. Unable to give voice to his desires, the Commander gives her small gifts, such as the chance to read a Vogue magazine or a bottle of hand lotion ● He complains that he and Serena Joy have grown apart. Chapter 26 Offred finds that the next Ceremony is awkward because of her arrangement with the Commander ● She is self-conscious and has conflicting emotions toward Serena Joy ● ● Chapter 27 ● ● ● • • ● Offred remembers when the buildings on the other side of the Wall, including a now forbidden grand library, were part of the university They pass a store called Soul Scrolls Inside, machines print out and then read aloud the prayers of those who are able to pay for them • Watching the machines at work, the two secretly agree that God does not listen to these machine-read prayers ● She notes that she is now the Commander's mistress, a word choice that hearkens back to the film about the Nazi leader and his lover Although Offred's and the Commander's social roles remain the same, the circumstances are very different She says that the arrangement makes her slightly happier now because being more than just an object of fertility makes her feel as if she is more than nothing. ● Ofglen hints that she is part of some kind of resistance group • Suddenly, the black van of the Eyes arrives; two men get out and grab an ordinary-looking man who is walking down the street Offred is relieved that she is not the target. ● Chapter 28 ● Offred sits in her room, looking out the window and feeling the summer breeze ● She thinks of talking with Moira, who disapproved of her affair with Luke ● She remembers having a job. This train of thought reveals the birth of Gilead The president and members of Congress were assassinated, and their deaths were blamed on Islamic terrorists ● It is now full summer, and Offred walks with Ofglen to do the shopping They are able to purchase fish, although it is not usually available and many types are becoming extinct ● Offred recalls bringing her daughter to an ice cream shop that is gone now The women walk past the Wall, where no bodies hang Offred is disappointed because she is not able to check for Luke's corpse ● To counter this threat, the army took over, the Constitution was suspended, roadblocks were set up, and new identity cards were required Then laws were passed that did not allow women to have their own money or jobs. Offred realized that the men with guns who forced her evacuation from her workplace were not part of the regular army but some other group She speculated that the shift from paper to electronic money laid the foundation for such an easy takeover These developments introduced an awkward dimension into Offred's relationship with Luke, as he told her not to worry because he would take care of her; she wondered whether he enjoyed having this power over her ● Chapter 29 Offred meets with the Commander, and she asks him about the meaning of the Latin phrase in her room ● ● ● ● ● In the present, she sees Nick out the window; he is wearing his hat askew, a sign that she is summoned to the Commander She wonders what Nick thinks of the arrangement and what he gets out of his role in it ● He tells her that the last Handmaid hanged herself after Serena Joy became aware of her secret relationship with the Commander She understands the Commander's motivation: he wants Offred's life to be bearable because he feels bad about the suicide ● Offred realizes that this situation gives her some power over the Commander. He reveals that it is actually a fake Latin phrase he and his friends made up when they were in school It is supposed to mean, "Don't let the bastards grind you down." He shows her the phrase written in one of his old textbooks She realizes that the previous occupant of her room must have had a similar arrangement with the Commander ● Chapter 30 Offred looks out the window at the night ● She sees Nick, toward whom she feels an attraction on which she cannot act ● She feels conflicted about her attraction to Nick because she does not know Luke's fate ● She remembers that on the night before they made their escape attempt, Luke killed their cat • They could not take it with them or leave it to advertise their absence She knows now that the cat's death was meaningless, because they were caught anyway She wonders who betrayed the family by turning them in ● She has a hard time remembering the faces of those she has lost and feels guilty With these thoughts in mind, she prays to God However, unlike the prayers in the Red Center, where the women ask to be made empty and then filled with babies, Offred prays for assistance, forgiveness, and the strength to keep living God is silent. Chapter 31 ● This chapter is the first of nine that fall under the section heading "Jezebel's," named for a brothel As Offred eats breakfast and gets ready for her shopping walk, she longs to have an argument with Luke over something unimportant, such as housework ● ● ● ● ● Chapter 32 ● Though she is excited by the prospect of smoking a cigarette, Offred considers throwing it down the toilet or eating it to save the match. She imagines using the match to burn the house down. The Commander has begun drinking alcohol when they meet The alcohol makes him lose his reserve ● ● During their walk, Ofglen and Offred visit the Wall, where one body is marked with a "J," for Jew, Offred suspects All Jews have been forced to leave the country, but Offred is not convinced that they left alive ● Ofglen shares the password for the secret resistance group: Mayday When Offred returns from her walk, she gets a signal from the Commander via Nick As Offred passes by Serena Joy, she asks Offred whether she is pregnant yet She is not. Serena Joy suggests that perhaps the Commander cannot father a child and offers to help Offred secretly have sex with Nick in hopes of conceiving a child Offred agrees because she realizes the danger no matter her answer As a kind of reward, Serena Joy offers to let her see a photograph of her daughter, gives her a cigarette, and tells her to get a match from Rita. Chapter 33 ● Offred goes with Ofglen to the Prayvaganza, where young women will be given away in arranged marriages On the way, she remembers picking flowers with her daughter While there, the women are separated by ropes into their stations: Wives, Handmaids, Marthas, and Econowives ● One night, he tries to explain the transformation of the society He claims that women's economic independence emasculated men By restricting women, men's appetite for sex increases However, he admits, "Better never means better for everyone ... It always means worse, for some." Later, in bed, Offred stares at the ceiling where the chandelier used to be She thinks about the previous occupant of the room and how she found safety in death while Offred feels buried in life. Offred learns from Ofglen that Janine's baby is "a shredder" and that it is not her first baby with deformities She recalls that Janine had an episode while at the Red Center during which she stared into space and talked to herself ● Moira slapped and shook her to return Janine to her senses ● Moira warned Offred that she may need to help Janine on another occasion Offred realized that Moira was probably arranging for another escape. Chapter 34 The main event of the Prayvaganza is the giving away of daughters in arranged marriages to Angels (soldiers who fought in the war) The ceremony includes a speech by a Commander about sacrifice and victory as well as a tirade about how terrible society used to be for women This ritual reminds Offred of a conversation she had with the Commander He asked her to give an opinion on the way he and the other men constructed the new society She told him they left out love The Commander then argued that the new society is natural and better built for survival. On the way out of the ceremony, Ofglen reveals that she and the other Handmaids know about Offred's secret meetings with the Commander ● Ofglen urges her to gather information from the Commander for the resistance ● ● ● ● ● Chapter 35 ● Offred begins again to tell the story of her family's escape They have fake passports and a picnic cover story At the border, the guard seems to have suspicions and moves to make a phone call Fearing capture, Luke rushes to drive away; later, they abandon the car in the woods and make a run for it Offred does not want to continue telling the story Instead, she considers the Commander's question about love and the nature of romance in the pre-Gilead society She is amazed at the number of possibilities that had been available to her in that life. Serena Joy arrives and shows Offred the photograph of her daughter as promised Offred realizes that she has been erased from her daughter's life and regrets seeing the photograph ● As Offred eats her dinner that night, she notes that she is never given a knife ● Chapter 36 Offred visits the Commander's office again, where the Commander, who has been drinking ahead of time, gives Offred an illegal, sexy costume of feathers and sequins to wear along with some gaudy makeup He sneaks her out of the house, wrapping her in a Wife's blue cloak Nick secretly drives the pair to a red brick building after they manipulate their way through a couple of checkpoints ● Nick drops the pair off in an alley behind the building and leaves, planning to return later to pick them up The Commander gives Offred a purple tag to wear on her wrist and tells her to say she is "an evening rental." Chapter 37 ● Inside the building, the rooms all have numbers on them, and Offred realizes it is an old hotel She recognizes it as a hotel she once visited with Luke during her first experience as a mistress There are many women present, some former prostitutes and some former professionals, all dressed in gaudy or revealing outfits and obviously there to provide sex for the men Other men are there, too, and not just men from Gilead The Commander tells her the place is called "the club" and that it serves the needs of men The Commander parades Offred around, never loosening his grip on her, as if she is his special phy or prize ● Among the women, Offred spots Moira, dressed in a sexy bunny costume • They make eye contact, and Moira signals for a secret meeting in the bathroom ● The Commander leaves briefly and returns with drinks; Offred excuses herself to go to the washroom. ● ● Chapter 38 An Aunt is on guard in the ladies' room ● As Moira emerges from a bathroom stall, the two friends greet each other with friendly insults about their costumes Moira gives Offred an overview of her story She stole Aunt Elizabeth's clothes and walked out of the Red Center, bluffing her way through the checkpoints and seeking out a Quaker couple for help She traveled from safe house to safe house on the Underground Femaleroad for about eight to nine months ● Eventually, she was caught, tortured, and assigned to this brothel, known as Jezebel's. Offred is disheartened that the old rebellious Moira seems to have disappeared, ending the chapter with "I never saw her again" Chapter 39 The Commander takes Offred to one of the hotel rooms She thinks about her conversation with Moira, recalling that Moira told her she saw Offred's mother in a film about the Colonies, where outcasts live among toxic waste. This revelation sparks the memory of when she and Luke discovered her mother's mysterious disappearance during the coup The Commander initiates sex, saying he wants it to be enjoyable for Offred ● She finds the idea unappealing but thinks she should try to please him. ● Chapter 40 Back at home, Serena Joy fetches Offred at midnight, and she goes to Nick's apartment as planned ● Chapter 41 This chapter and the next four fall in the section headed "Salvaging." ● A Salvaging is a ceremony in which women are executed and an audience participates Offred apologizes to her audience for this story and her behavior, but she continues to have a sexual relationship with Nick without Serena Joy's help or knowledge This risk seems reckless, yet she takes it She feels enormous gratitude toward Nick and shares her real name with him, along with other details about herself, although Nick does not reciprocate with such details of his ● ● She tells the story of their sexual encounter twice but then says that neither of these accounts is completely accurate-that both are reconstructions She feels guilty for enjoying sex with another man when Luke might be alive own She feels she is betraying Luke, but this feeling does not stop her ● Also, she realizes that her relationship with Nick has made her content, or at least complacent She no longer wants to escape, and she doesn't care about Ofglen's talk of resistance She wonders whether the household staff is aware of her meetings with Nick. Chapter 42 For the first time in two years, Offred goes to a Women's Salvaging on a lawn near the library As always at these public events, the women are separated by their roles: Wives, Handmaids, Marthas, and Econowives ● A lengthy rope winds its way among the audience The Handmaids kneel at the front before a stage set up with three hanging poles The three women to be Salvaged-two Handmaids and a Wife-are seated on the stage. Aunt Lydia presides over the event and refuses to name the women's crimes The women have bags placed over their heads Audience members are expected to pull on the rope so that all take part in the execution Offred refuses to participate this time, but the women are hanged nonetheless. ● ● Chapter 43 ● After the hangings, Aunt Lydia tells the Handmaids to form a circle for an event called a Particicution ● Two Guardians bring in a third Guardian, one who has been badly beaten, and Aunt Lydia announces that the man guilty of rape ● One of the victims was pregnant, she adds, and the baby died ● Chapter 44 Offred eats lunch and goes to meet Ofglen to do their shopping ● However, Ofglen has been replaced with another Handmaid The Handmaids are enraged, and when Aunt Lydia blows a whistle, they converge on the man and begin to beat him to death While Offred refuses to participate, Ofglen delivers a particularly violent blow to the man's head Later, she tells Offred that the man was not really a rapist but a political dissenter-"one of ours." ● Unsure of the new Ofglen's loyalties, Offred tries the Mayday signal, but Ofglen does not respond positively Offred fears that this development means she might be in danger As they part, the new Ofglen tells her that the old Ofglen commited suicide by hanging when she saw the black van approaching to take her away. ● Chapter 45 Offred is relieved that Ofglen's suicide means Ofglen was not forced to give up her secrets, although she considers that perhaps this report of suicide is a lie When she gets back to the Commander's house, Serena Joy confronts Offred by saying, "I trusted you... I tried to help you." Offred does not know which of her many secrets Serena Joy has discovered ● ● She plays dumb, but Serena Joy produces her evidence: the sequined costume and lipstick on the blue cloak Offred wore to Jezebel's. Chapter 46 ● Offred sits in her room and waits for the inevitable ● She considers the options: burn down the house, kill herself, beg for mercy, attack Serena Joy unaware, go to Nick, or try to run away She does nothing Presently a black van arrives, and two Eyes come for her, accusing her of spying However, Nick arrives at her room with them and says it is safe to go with the men-they are part of Mayday. She goes with them The Commander asks for a warrant that is not produced, while Serena Joy questions what is happening Rita and Cora are confused and upset as she is taken away All seem to blame Offred for putting the family in jeopardy Historical notes This section is presented as a transcript of a scholarly conference given in the distant future, on June 25, 2195 ● ● ● Gilead is now a period of time in the past that historians study Introduced by Professor Moon, Professor Pieixoto gives a presentation entitled "Problems of Authentication in Reference to The Handmaid's Tale." Cassette tapes that contain the story of The Handmaid's Tale, he says, have been found in a footlocker in Maine at the site of a well-known station of the Underground Femaleroad, suggesting that Offred survives her escape and makes it at least as far as Maine He and a colleague transcribe and sequence the story from 30 tapes The professor outlines scholars' attempts to identify the narrator and other characters and their conclusions about the causes and nature of Gilead society He speculates that Offred may have escaped to England