The Handmaid's Tale - Key Quotes Flashcards
(23 cards)
“Blessed be the fruit.”
-Archaic register
-The pre-modifying adjective “blessed” describes an individual who has been given help/protection by God or an individual who has been made holy. This demonstrates verbal irony as the handmaids are not “blessed” as they instead seek help and an escape from the regime that is said to be part of the Lord’s plan. But, handmaids are told that they are holy (according to Aunt Lydia) who says that God has given them a gift, linking to the context of the novel as Atwood wrote the novel when Canada’s birth rate was dropping and women, in the Salem witch trials, had been killed for their infertility.
-The short declarative and concrete noun “fruit” links to the Blessings for Obedience and how it was said that God made women fruitful/fertile if they were devoted to his teachings. This shows the hypocrisy of Gilead as handmaids’ babies/blessings are taken from them and given to the unworthy wives who reject God’s teachings, demonstrating how Gilead is cherry-picking Biblical scripture for their own gain. Such practises link to the context of the novel and how Argentina military officials stole rebels’ children and placed them with military families in an attempt to prevent the next generation from following their parent’s path, similarly to the fate of baby Angela and Offred’s daughter.
“May the Lord open.”
-Archaic register
-The short declarative links to the Blessings for Obedience and how it is said that God will open his heart and provide his devoted followers with treasures. This shows the hypocrisy of Gilead as it is only those who exploit the regime that obtain such treasures, riches and wealth of any kind as we see Serena Joy has contraband items from the black market while handmaids are forbidden from reading and writing.
“It’s those other escapes, the ones you can open in yourself, given a cutting edge.”
-The abstract noun “escapes” and the metaphor (for suicide) “the ones you can open in yourself” links to the theme of entrapment and confinement as it implies handmaids can only escape the brutality of Gilead and achieve freedom through death, but the totalitarian regime forbids this and thus the handmaids are forced to remain its slaves.
-The present participle “cutting” puts a sinister twist on the idiom ‘have the edge on’, demonstrating the extent to which handmaids are confined as they are not given the ‘edge’ that will enable them to escape the brutality and inhumane treatment they’re experiencing in Gilead.
“Ordinary, said Aunt Lydia, is what you are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary”
-Indirect speech
-Repetition of the descriptive adjective “ordinary” emphasises the contrast between the normality of the time before and the abnormality of the present. This links to the context of the novel as Atwood recognised how established orders (e.g. WWII) could appear/vanish overnight and how the belief that ‘it can’t happen here’ could not be depended on, mirroring this notion when constructing the dystopian world of Gilead.
-Repetition of the modal auxiliary verb “will” displays Aunt Lydia’s true belief in the regime and how it will succeed and become normality for future generations, further foregrounded by the simple declarative “It will become ordinary.” as it shows finality of this belief. This links to the context of the novel as Nazi soldiers and their true devotion to Hitler’s regime inspired the characters of the Aunts and how they advocate for the brutalities of their society.
“A sister, dipped in blood.”
-The simple declarative shows intertextuality as it is an allusion to ‘The Changeling’ in which the “sister” refers to a virgin who, having convinced a servant to murder her fiancé because she loves another man, is forced to have sex with the servant to make amends for her sins. This is similar to Gilead’s justification for the treatment of handmaids who are deemed sinful and immoral due to their lives in the time before.
-The common noun “sister” links to the comradery/unity among handmaids amongst the brutality of Gilead and the hardships they endure together.
“He liked knowing about such details.”
-Simple declarative
-The third person pronoun “he” separates Luke from women in the novel, highlighting his status over Offred according to the Gilead regime and its gender hierarchy. This links to the context of the novel as Gilead’s gender hierarchy mirrors the Puritanism values of New England and how women were socialised to be submissive and serve their husbands who had the power over their family.
-The phrase “such details” links to the idiom ‘knowledge is power’, showing how even Luke likes to have power over his wife through “details” and knowledge.
“Yours is a position of honour, she said.”
-Indirect speech
-The second person pronoun “yours” emphasises that handmaids roles are unique to them and further foregrounds the idea that they are valuable in the totalitarian society of Gilead, similar to how breeding stock are valued on a farm.
-The noun phrase “position of honour” creates a sense of military imagery that surrounds the handmaids, linking them to soldiers in the war by justifying the nature of their role by depicting it as honourable. Such teachings subtly indoctrinates the Handmaids into thinking their lives are better and more worthwhile than before, one of many examples of Aunt Lydia’s master manipulation.
“But if I get trouble, I’ll give trouble back.”
-The syntactical parallelism encompassed within the short declarative shows the meaning behind Serena Joy’s threat as she demonstrates to Offred that she was the power to “give trouble”, unlike Offred who cannot intentionally cause trouble. As such it is evident that this threat is more than Offred being told to act accordingly as it foreshadows the imbalanced dynamic that develops between Offred and Serena Joy. This links to the context of the novel as Atwood creates opposition between women using Biblical scripture (depicting wives as the pure Virgin Mary and the handmaids as the sinful Mary Magdalene) in order to distract women from the totalitarian regime.
-The transitive verb “give” has connotations of caring and loving but this is soon contradicted by Serena Joy who instead uses the verb in a threatening and sinister context towards Offred. This is arguably due to a sense of bitterness felt by Serena Joy as she has no child to demonstrate a caring and loving side towards which, she believes, is due to Offred.
“In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from.”
-Indirect speech
-The temporal deixis “in the days on anarchy” suggests that the freedom of the time before led to chaos and uncertainty, resulting in the downfall of society. Such language shows the distorted ideology of Gilead as it is evident that its officials genuinely believe that they are saving women and giving them “freedom from” danger.
-The past participle “given” has connotations of caring and loving and shows the extent of the infantilisation of the handmaids in the Red Centre. Similar language is used towards the handmaids in the Red Centre as they are being taught how to fit in to the new world with lessons that will ensure they succeed.
“She called us girls.”
-The simple declarative creates a blunt, disgusted tone as Offred recognises how she is being manipulated and treated like a child, despite being a mother, a wife and able to hold down a career in the time before.
-Offred shows separation between the comradery of her fellow handmaids and Aunt Lydia, highlighting Aunt Lydia as being the enemy by using her to represent wider society through the infantilisation of women and the advocation for traditional values. This links to the context of the novel as Atwood wrote the novel during the presidency of Ronald Reagan in which such values were embedded into society.
-The plural, common, concrete noun “girls” shows the contrast between Gilead’s view of the handmaids and the reality of the handmaids, showing how the transition from “girls” to the fertile soldiers of the regime takes place through training. As such it can be argued that the training of handmaids symbolises the journey of womanhood in Gilead and how, despite the challenges the handmaids must endure, it brings women together through shared experiences and relatability.
“under the plaster eye in the ceiling”
-The prepositional phrase “under the plaster eye” is a metaphor for how Offred is constantly under surveillance as a slave to the totalitarian regime of Gilead. In this instance, the use of visual imagery is a physical representation of this notion by showing how Offred is always under the watch of Gilead officials. This links to the context of the novel and how Atwood wrote the novel while encircled by the Berlin Wall, experiencing wariness and the feeling of being spied on as if under strict surveillance, as such Atwood wanted to recreate such feelings with Offred while being entrapped inside of the totalitarian regime of Gilead.
“who knows what the chances are out there, of survival, yours?”
“We’re supposed to look: this is what they are there for”
“Under His Eye.”
“Really she was a little frightening. She was in earnest.”
“She has become speechless.”
“How were we to know we were happy?”
“Old love; there’s no kind of love in this room now.”
“There was old sex in the room”
“Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.”
“no wonder those things used to happen.”
“I’m giving an underwhore party.”
“We lived in the gaps between the stories.”
