The Handmaids could do little for her except make small gestures of complicity — steal packets of sugar from the cafeteria and pass them to her during the night.Chapter 16 details the mating ceremony, the central event in Gilead’s struggle to survive nuclear havoc. Menu . Offred, who is simultaneously amused and compromised by the Commander’s power, quips, “I’ve got my eye on you. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. Over the visual images floats the sickly-sweet scent of lily of the valley, a fragrance that Offred connects with “the innocence of female flesh.”,As living proof of the Latin saying, Post coitum omne animal triste, Offred’s response to intercourse is an amplified version of post-coital sadness, the after-effects of anticipation and exploitation. Serena then coldly dispatches the Handmaid from the scene. As he indifferently reads passages from Genesis, Offred recalls reading from the Beatitudes at the Red Center and Moira’s failed attempt to feign illness. When the book begins, the narrator—whose real name we never learn—is being held with other women in an old school gym. Contrasting the red and white of Offred in her upstairs quarters, the subtler apricot-hued, tufted carpet and leather upholstery set against dusky rose velvet curtains provide a fashionably domestic ambience for the room’s focus — a cloyingly cliche white china Cupid leaning its arm on a lamb and flanked by two pairs of silver candlesticks. The enigma of dried arrangements alongside “real daffodils on the polished marquetry end table” epitomizes the paradox that is Serena-wizened, but alive; brittle, yet feminine; hard, but sentimental. By faking visas, packing a picnic, and drugging their daughter, they emulate nonchalance and drive expectantly toward the Canadian border. One false move and I’m dead,” a snippet of black humor that captures the potential for tragedy in their unproductive copulation.The mating scene contains, literally and figuratively, the novel’s climax. Offred’s flashback memories are interrupted by the Commander’s abrupt entry into the parlor, a violation of house protocol.Exerting a privilege of the man of the house, the Commander unlocks a box and withdraws a Bible, which is off-limits to females.

Offred remembers how Moira was hauled out to the Science Lab and beaten on the soles of her feet, a devious form of torture, leaving no readily visual evidence, administered with frayed steel cables by the darkly menacing Angels. Find summaries for every chapter, including a The Handmaid's Tale Chapter Summary Chart to help you understand the book. We later find out this is called the Women's Center.

Religion and Theocracy. The passage, as interpreted by Gilead’s cabal, justifies the use of the Eyes to spy on citizens.“The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow” an evocative line from Clement Moore’s A Visit from St. Nicholas (1823). Gender Roles. You may need to download version 2.0 now from the,Please complete the security check to access. Nick slides into view and pulls her to him for a kiss.

This central tableau, like a religious sacrament from the Middle Ages, exalts Serena as a madonna figure at the same time that it demeans Offred, the Handmaid.

He passes on a message: the Commander wants to see her in his office the next day.Exuding sexuality, the prelude to the mating scene blends details and images into a sensual, pre-coital symphony: Nick twice nudges Offred with his foot, flowers become “the genital organs of plants,” and a televised male choir punctuates the refrain of “The Little Brown Church in the Vale” with the bass counterpoint, “Come, come, come, come,” an obvious reference to ejaculation. The biblical vision of an Apocalypse, when the powers of darkness challenge the powers of light, appears in Revelation 8:2-11:19.national resources figuratively, fertile women.Quakers a pacifist religious sect that masterminded much of the Underground Railroad and helped escaped slaves elude patrollers as they followed the trail north to New England or Canada.Children of Ham a reference to black-skinned nations in Genesis 10:6, a passage that bigoted religious groups use as justification for racism.National Homeland One a parallel to schemes by Marcus Garvey and others who sought to resettle African slaves in their native land.“Whispering Hope” a familiar gospel hymn suggesting the fleeting hopes of Handmaids who may remain alive only if they conceive.Compucount a parody of modern credit cards.Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth the second half of Genesis 9: 1, God’s injunction to Noah and his family after the ark survived the flooding of the world to rid it of wickedness.Beatitudes a reference to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:311, a lyrical passage written in tight parallelism.