Bibliography
Course Hero. "The Handmaid's Tale Study Guide." Course Hero. 28 July 2016. Web. 5 June 2023. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Handmaids-Tale/>.
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(Course Hero)
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Course Hero. (2016, July 28). The Handmaid's Tale Study Guide. In Course Hero. Retrieved June 5, 2023, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Handmaids-Tale/
In text
(Course Hero, 2016)
Bibliography
Course Hero. "The Handmaid's Tale Study Guide." July 28, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2023. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Handmaids-Tale/.
Footnote
Course Hero, "The Handmaid's Tale Study Guide," July 28, 2016, accessed June 5, 2023, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Handmaids-Tale/.
Offred's family escapes but is caught. Offred is taken to the Red Center to become a Handmaid
Chapter 7Offred is assigned to the Commander as Handmaid, her third such posting.
Chapter 2Nick catches Offred stealing a flower in Serena's sitting room the night of a Ceremony; they kiss.
Chapter 17The Commander takes Offred to Jezebel's; later, Offred meets Nick to have sex.
Chapter 36The Handmaids kill a man. Ofglen hangs herself when she realizes the Eyes are coming for her.
Chapter 43| Chapter | Summary |
|---|---|
| Chapter 1 | The opening chapter is in a section headed "Night"; six other sections have this name. Night gives the narrator an oppor... Read More |
| Chapter 2 | The novel shifts into the present and the commencement of a shopping trip that will last for several chapters. Off... Read More |
| Chapter 3 | Offred walks by the garden on her way to do the grocery shopping. The garden belongs to the Commander's Wife, who spends... Read More |
| Chapter 4 | Offred walks toward the front gate, where Nick, a Guardian who lives at the house and works for the Commander, is washin... Read More |
| Chapter 5 | The two Handmaids arrive in the Republic of Gilead. The area is subdued and tidy, and there are no children present. Off... Read More |
| Chapter 6 | The two women decide to walk past the church on their way home from shopping. Their headdresses make it difficult for th... Read More |
| 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 c... Read More |
| Chapter 8 | Offred is again at the Wall with Ofglen, where three new bodies hang. Offred suggests that they leave, and Ofglen says, ... Read More |
| 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 ro... Read More |
| Chapter 10 | Offred recalls song lyrics. She notes that there is very little music in the house or anywhere else for that matter. Tho... Read More |
| Chapter 11 | Alone in her room again, Offred describes the previous day's events. She is driven to a monthly doctor's appointment by ... Read More |
| Chapter 12 | Cora sits outside the bathroom as a guard against male intruders while Offred bathes. There is no worry of suicide becau... Read More |
| Chapter 13 | This chapter falls in its own section, called "Nap." It spans the time between the narrator's bath and the next event. I... Read More |
| Chapter 14 | Offred walks downstairs to the sitting room, where she kneels in her assigned location for the Ceremony and fantasizes a... Read More |
| Chapter 15 | The chapters in the "Household" section reflect events in a home that revolve around the Commander. The Commander ... Read More |
| Chapter 16 | During the Ceremony, Offred, lying between Serena Joy's legs and holding hands with her, must allow the Commander to hav... Read More |
| 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... Read More |
| Chapter 18 | After her encounter with Nick, Offred recalls being in bed with Luke. In the memory, she is pregnant and can feel the ba... Read More |
| Chapter 19 | The chapters in the "Birth Day" section include Offred's participation in the birthing ritual as Ofwarren has her baby. ... Read More |
| Chapter 20 | Both Wives and Handmaids gather for the birth. Ofwarren is in labor in a birthing room. The Handmaids and Aunts gather a... Read More |
| Chapter 21 | As Janine (Ofwarren) labors, the Handmaids chant. The room is hot and loud. Offred asks one of the other Handmaids wheth... Read More |
| Chapter 22 | Offred arrives back at the house and goes to her room, too tired to sleep. She begins to describe a memory of driving la... Read More |
| Chapter 23 | Offred muses once again on the nature of narrative: "This is a reconstruction," she begins. She recognizes that all stor... Read More |
| Chapter 24 | Offred returns to her room. She does not undress, as the red costume helps her focus on her thoughts. She refers to hers... Read More |
| Chapter 25 | This chapter is the first of a series that fall under the section heading "Soul Scrolls." Soul Scrolls is a store in Gil... Read More |
| Chapter 26 | Offred finds that the next Ceremony is awkward because of her arrangement with the Commander. She is self-conscious and ... Read More |
| Chapter 27 | It is now full summer, and Offred walks with Ofglen to do the shopping. They are able to purchase fish, although it is n... Read More |
| Chapter 28 | Offred sits in her room, looking out the window and feeling the summer breeze. She thinks of talking with Moira, who dis... Read More |
| Chapter 29 | Offred meets with the Commander, and she asks him about the meaning of the Latin phrase in her room. He reveals that it ... Read More |
| Chapter 30 | Offred looks out the window at the night. She sees Nick, toward whom she feels an attraction on which she cannot act. Sh... Read More |
| Chapter 31 | This chapter is the first of nine that fall under the section heading "Jezebel's," named for a brothel. As Offred ... Read More |
| Chapter 32 | Though she is excited by the prospect of smoking a cigarette, Offred considers throwing it down the toilet or eating it ... Read More |
| Chapter 33 | Offred goes with Ofglen to the Prayvaganza, where young women will be given away in arranged marriages. On the way, she ... Read More |
| Chapter 34 | The main event of the Prayvaganza is the giving away of daughters in arranged marriages to Angels (soldiers who fought i... Read More |
| 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 ... Read More |
| Chapter 36 | Offred visits the Commander's office again, where the Commander, who has been drinking ahead of time, gives Offred an il... Read More |
| 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 ... Read More |
| 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 f... Read More |
| Chapter 39 | The Commander takes Offred to one of the hotel rooms. She thinks about her conversation with Moira, recalling that Moira... Read More |
| Chapter 40 | Back at home, Serena Joy fetches Offred at midnight, and she goes to Nick's apartment as planned. She tells the story of... Read More |
| Chapter 41 | This chapter and the next four fall in the section headed "Salvaging." A Salvaging is a ceremony in which women are exec... Read More |
| 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 publi... Read More |
| Chapter 43 | After the hangings, Aunt Lydia tells the Handmaids to form a circle for an event called a Particicution. Two Guardians b... Read More |
| Chapter 44 | Offred eats lunch and goes to meet Ofglen to do their shopping. However, Ofglen has been replaced with another Handmaid.... Read More |
| Chapter 45 | Offred is relieved that Ofglen's suicide means Ofglen was not forced to give up her secrets, although she considers that... Read More |
| Chapter 46 | Offred sits in her room and waits for the inevitable. She considers the options: burn down the house, kill herself, beg ... Read More |
| Historical Notes on The Handmaid's Tale | This section is presented as a transcript of a scholarly conference given in the distant future, on June 25, 2195. Gilea... Read More |
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