Flashcards for The Handmaid's Tale

Aunt Lydia

Aunt Lydia is the main enforcer of Gilead's ideology in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.

character

Janine (Ofwarren)

Janine (Ofwarren) is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, and her story paints a haunting picture of the impact the theocratic regime has on the human mind.

character

Luke

Luke is Offred's husband from the time before Gilead's rise, and his memory serves as the emotional anchor of her inner life throughout Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel.

character

Moira

Moira is Offred's closest friend from before Gilead and stands out as one of the most compelling figures of resistance in the novel.

character

Nick

Nick serves as the Commander's chauffeur and Guardian at the Waterford household, occupying a vague, uncertain position within Gilead's strict hierarchy.

character

Offred (June)

Offred — whose real name is revealed to be June — is the first-person narrator and protagonist of Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel.

character

Offred's Mother

Offred's mother plays a minor yet thematically crucial role in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, primarily appearing through Offred's fragmented memories and, hauntingly, in a documentary shown at the Red Center.

character

Ofglen

Ofglen is Offred's shopping partner and, importantly, a secret member of the underground resistance group called Mayday.

character

Professor Pieixoto

Professor James Darcy Pieixoto is a secondary yet crucial character in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.

character

Serena Joy

Serena Joy Waterford is the Commander's Wife in the Gilead household where Offred is assigned, and she stands out as one of the novel's most psychologically intricate antagonists.

character

The Commander (Fred Waterford)

Commander Fred Waterford is a key figure in the theocratic Republic of Gilead and holds a high-ranking position, serving as the male authority in the household where Offred lives.

character

The Wife

In Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, "The Wife" isn't just a minor character; it's primarily represented by Serena Joy, the Commander's Wife in Offred's household.

character

“A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze.”

This line is spoken by Offred, the novel's first-person narrator, as she contemplates the false sense of freedom that the Handmaids experience under the theocratic regime of Gilead.

Offred (the narrator)

“Better never means better for everyone. It always means worse, for some.”

This chilling line is delivered by the Commander (Fred Waterford) to Offred during one of their secret evening meetings in his private study.

The Commander (Fred Waterford)

“Ignoring isn't the same as ignorance, you have to work at it.”

This line is spoken by Offred, the novel's first-person narrator, as she reflects on the willful blindness that allowed the Republic of Gilead to gain power.

Offred (the narrator)

“Don't let the bastards grind you down.”

This sardonic motto originates from Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale (1985) and is linked to Offred's deceased, rebellious aunt figure.

The previous Handmaid (via closet inscription); also referenced by the Commander · Chapter 9 (inscription discovered) / Chapter 25 (discussed with Commander)

“My name isn't Offred, I have another name, which nobody uses now because it's forbidden.”

This line is spoken by the narrator, Offred, in Margaret Atwood's dystopian masterpiece The Handmaid's Tale (1985).

Offred (the narrator) · Chapter 1 (Night / I. Shopping)

“I am not your justification for existence.”

This line is spoken by Offred, the narrator, in Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale.

Offred (the narrator)

“There is more than one kind of freedom. Freedom to and freedom from.”

This line is spoken by Aunt Lydia, one of the strict instructors who trains the Handmaids to accept their subjugation in the Republic of Gilead.

Aunt Lydia · Chapter 5 (Part II: Shopping)

“We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print.”

This line is spoken by Offred, the first-person narrator in Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale (1985), early in the story as she reflects on life before Gilead took over.

Offred (the narrator) · Chapter 1 (Night / The Gymnasium)

“We are containers, it's only the insides of our bodies that are important.”

This chilling line is spoken by Offred, the narrator and protagonist of Margaret Atwood's dystopian masterpiece The Handmaid's Tale (1985).

Offred (the narrator)

“Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.”

In Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale (1985), Offred finds a mock-Latin phrase — a playful schoolgirl twist meaning "Don't let the bastards grind you down" — scratched into the closet floor by a previous Handmaid who lived in the same room.

Previous Handmaid (Offred's predecessor) · Chapter 15 (discovery); Chapter 29 (translation by the Commander)

“Context is all; or is it ripeness? One or the other.”

This line comes from Offred, the narrator and protagonist of the novel, during one of her typical moments of thoughtful reflection.

Offred (the narrator)

“I would like to believe this is a story I'm telling. I need to believe it.”

This line is spoken by Offred, the narrator and main character of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale (1985), in the early chapters as she starts to share her life under Gilead’s theocratic regime.

Offred (the narrator) · Chapter 7

Flowers and the Garden

In Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, flowers and the garden capture the strange beauty found within oppression, as natural fertility is manipulated by a totalitarian regime.

The Commander's Study

In Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, the Commander's study represents forbidden knowledge, the power of patriarchy, and the dangerous temptation of complicity.

The Eye (Surveillance)

In Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, the Eye — Gilead's secret surveillance network — represents totalitarian control, the loss of privacy, and the manipulation of fear.

The Red Dress/Habit

In Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, the red dress and white-winged bonnet worn by Handmaids represent the complete loss of individual identity in Gilead's theocratic society.

The Wall

In Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, the Wall that surrounds what used to be Harvard University symbolizes Gilead's oppressive regime and its reliance on fear to maintain control.

Tone

In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood maintains a tone of controlled, detached dread that makes the horrors of Gilead feel more unsettling than outright terror would.

Allusion

In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood uses allusion to weave Gilead's horrors into familiar historical and biblical contexts, making the regime feel disturbingly real instead of merely fictional.

Motif

In The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood intricately uses the motif of red throughout the story to emphasize Offred's dehumanization and the regime's control over women's bodies.

Flashback

In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood employs flashbacks as Offred's main strategy for psychological survival, weaving in memories from her life before Gilead amidst the oppressive present tense of her narrative.

Symbolism

In The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood infuses every material detail with ideological significance, allowing objects and colors to convey arguments without directly stating them.

Foreshadowing

In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood employs foreshadowing to create an undercurrent of dread within Offred's narration.

Unreliable Narrator

In The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood weaves unreliable narration into the fabric of the novel.

Irony

In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood uses irony as a powerful tool, revealing the violence hidden behind Gilead's pious facade by employing the regime's own language.

Frame Narrative

In The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood uses a frame narrative with the "Historical Notes" added to Offred's story.

Imagery

In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood employs vivid imagery to evoke the oppressive atmosphere of Gilead in a way that resonates deeply rather than just being intellectually grasped.

veil

A piece of fabric worn over the face or head, used here as part of the Handmaids' required uniform to conceal their identity and restrict their vision.

noun · Chapter 1

wings

The stiff white side-pieces of the Handmaids' headdress that block peripheral vision and hide the wearer's face from sideways view.

noun · Chapter 1

habit

A distinctive set of clothing worn as a uniform, here referring to the Handmaids' prescribed red dress and head covering, like a religious order's garb.

noun · Chapter 1

palimpsest

Something altered or reused but still bearing visible traces of an earlier form; used to describe how the present dystopian world overlays the remembered past.

noun · Chapter 1

Salvaging

A state-sanctioned public execution ceremony in Gilead, framed as a ritual act of moral cleansing, at which Handmaids are required to participate.

noun · Chapter 8

Particicution

A portmanteau of 'participation' and 'execution': a ritual in which Handmaids are ordered to kill a condemned man with their bare hands as a group.

noun · Chapter 8

Prayvaganza

A large compulsory public religious ceremony in Gilead, blending prayer and pageantry, used to celebrate events such as mass weddings or military victories.

noun · Chapter 5

Econowives

Women in Gilead who are married to lower-ranking men and must perform all domestic, sexual, and reproductive roles themselves, wearing striped dresses.

noun · Chapter 1

Marthas

A class of women in Gilead assigned to domestic service — cooking and cleaning — in the households of the elite, named after the biblical Martha.

noun · Chapter 1

Aunts

Women in Gilead who serve as enforcers and indoctrinators of Handmaids, running the Red Centre and wielding cattle prods to maintain discipline.

noun · Chapter 1

Eyes

The secret police and surveillance agents of the Gilead regime, who spy on citizens and report or arrest those suspected of disloyalty.

noun · Chapter 1

Guardians

Lower-ranking male soldiers in Gilead who perform guard and policing duties; they are considered not yet worthy of full Commander status.

noun · Chapter 1

Commander

A high-ranking male official in the Gilead hierarchy who heads a household and is assigned a Handmaid for reproductive purposes.

noun · Chapter 4

Ceremony

The monthly ritual in Gilead during which a Handmaid is required to have intercourse with the Commander in the presence of his Wife, intended solely for reproduction.

noun · Chapter 4

Soul Scrolls

Machines in Gilead that print out prayers automatically; citizens can pay to have prayers generated, giving a public appearance of piety.

noun · Chapter 5

Jezebel's

A secret, state-tolerated brothel in Gilead where Commanders entertain themselves with women who have been forced into prostitution, hidden from official ideology.

noun · Chapter 7

mayday

The code word used by members of the underground resistance network in Gilead, derived from the French 'm'aidez' (help me), to identify one another.

noun · Chapter 5

salvage

In Gilead's usage, to execute a condemned person in a public ritual; the regime repurposes the word to make killing sound like an act of rescue or preservation.

verb · Chapter 8

unwomen

Women in Gilead who have been stripped of all social status and are sent to the Colonies to perform dangerous labour, including cleaning up toxic waste.

noun · Chapter 3

Colonies

Toxic or barren areas outside Gilead's main territory where unwomen, dissidents, and other outcasts are sent to perform lethal forced labour.

noun · Chapter 3

testify

To give a formal spoken account, here used in the context of the Handmaid bearing witness to her own experience, with overtones of religious confession.

verb · Chapter 10

gideon

A reference to the Gideon Bible placed in hotel rooms; used in the novel to evoke the way religious texts are co-opted and repurposed by the Gilead state.

noun · Chapter 7

lacunae

Gaps or missing sections in a text or record; used in the epilogue to describe the breaks and silences in Offred's taped narrative.

noun · Chapter 10

verisimilitude

The quality of seeming true or believable; used in the epilogue when scholars debate whether Offred's account is authentic or fabricated.

noun · Chapter 10

subaltern

Of lower rank or subordinate status; in the epilogue, used in an academic sense to describe those whose voices are suppressed or marginalised by dominant power structures.

adjective · Chapter 10