Key Quotes: The Ceremony ch15+16

Question 1

Power - microcosm, patriarchy, isolation

Answer 1

“ In this house, little things mean a lot.”

Question 2

Male power - duplicity, innocuous, Commander

Answer 2

“Semi-retired man, genial but wary, killing time.”

Question 3

Male power - duplicity, Commander

Answer 3

“Falsely innocuous.”

Question 4

Power + control - religion, reading, authoritarianism

Answer 4

“The Bible… an incendiary device.”

Question 5

Power + control - patriarchy, powerlessness, mortality

Answer 5

“I’ve got my eye on you. One false move and I’m dead.”

Question 6

Abuse of power - commander, food, deprivation

Answer 6

“Like a man toying with a steak… pretending not to see… the hungry darkness”

Question 7

Basically why the Commander is so hypocritical + unhelpful

Answer 7

“Notices, frowns, ceases to notice” (Serena crying)

Question 8

Powerlessness - mutilation, limbs, dehumanisation, Lydia

Answer 8

“ For our purposes your hands + feet are not essential”
“They looked like lungs”

Question 9

Patriotism + male dominance - Puritan work ethic, intercourse

Answer 9

“The Commander, too, is doing his duty.”

Question 10

Isolation + powerlessness - intercourse, Offred, dissociation

Answer 10

“ Kissing is forbidden between us. This makes it bearable.”

“One detaches oneself. One describes.”

Question 11

Lack of female solidarity - Wives, Ceremony, disease

Answer 11

“The touch of my flesh sickens + contaminates her.”