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The Handmaid’s Tale
Margaret Atwood
Study Guide
Summary
Plot Overview
Key Questions and Answers
What Does the Ending Mean?
Summary & Analysis
Chapters 1–3
Chapters 4–6
Chapters 7–9
Chapters 10–12
Chapters 13–15
Chapters 16–21
Chapters 22–25
Chapters 26–28
Chapters 29–32
Chapters 33–36
Chapters 37–40
Chapters 41–44
Chapters 45–46 & Historical Notes on The Handmaid’s Tale
Characters
Character List
Offred
The Commander
Serena Joy
Moira
Luke
Aunt Lydia
Main Ideas
Themes
Plot Analysis
Protagonist
Antagonist
Setting
Motifs
Symbols
Genre
Allusions
Style
Point of View
Tone
Foreshadowing
Key Facts
Is Offred a rebel?
Quotes
Important Quotations Explained
Quotes By Theme
Complacency
Identity
Role of Women
Imprisonment
Quotes By Section
Chapters 1-3
Chapters 4-6
Chapters 7-9
Chapters 10-12
Chapters 13-15
Chapters 16-21
Chapters 22-25
Chapters 26-28
Chapters 29-32
Chapters 33-36
Chapters 37-40
Chapters 41-44
Chapters 45-46
Quotes By Character
Offred
The Commander
Serena Joy
Moira
Aunt Lydia
Quotes By Symbol
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Harvard University
The Handmaids’ Red Habits
A Palimpsest
The Eyes
Further Study
Context
Feminism in the 1980s
Feminist science fiction
Movie Adaptations
Full Book Quiz
Section Quizzes
Context
Plot Overview
Character List
Analysis of Major Characters
Themes, Motifs & Symbols
Chapters 1-5
Chapters 4-6
Chapters 7-9
Chapters 10-12
Chapters 13-15
Chapters 16-21
Chapters 22-25
Chapters 26-28
Chapters 29-32
Chapters 33-36
Chapters 37-40
Chapters 41-44
Chapters 45-46 & Historical Notes on The Handmaid's Tale
Study Questions
Suggestions for Further Reading
Companion Texts
Writing Help
How to Write Literary Analysis
Suggested Essay Topics
How to Cite This SparkNote
Further Study
Full Book Quiz
Further Study
Full Book Quiz
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1
. What do Offred and the other Handmaids call the detention center where they were kept?
The Red Center
The Gymnase
The concentration camp
The Blue Center
2
. With whom does Offred do her shopping?
Aunt Lydia
Ofwarren
Ofglen
Moira
3
. What is the name of the society in which Offred lives?
Jezebel
The Republic of Gilead
Eurasia
Narnia
4
. Why do all the shops in Gilead have pictures instead of written signs?
The entire society is illiterate
Blacks in Gilead are not allowed to read
Pictures are cheaper to produce
Women in Gilead are not allowed to read
5
. What did Serena Joy do before the new society was formed?
She was a gospel singer and an advocate of “traditional values”
She was the president’s wife
She was a prostitute
She was a noted feminist author and activist
6
. What function do Handmaids serve?
They wait on tables in restaurants
They clean and cook in homes
They bear children for Gilead’s powerful men
They raise the children of Gilead
7
. Why is the need for Handmaids so great in Gilead?
There is a great labor shortage
There is a severe infertility problem
There are very few women left alive
Most of the men have died in the war
8
. What is the title of the man with whom Offred must have sex?
The Harem Master
The Patriarch
The Captain
The Commander
9
. Who is Luke?
Offred’s husband
Offred’s Commander
An Eye
Offred’s son
10
. Where does The Handmaid’s Tale take place?
Moscow
Los Angeles
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Savannah, Georgia
11
. What happened to Offred’s daughter?
She died as an infant
She was taken from Offred after she and her family tried to escape from Gilead
She became a Handmaid
She married Nick
12
. What does the Commander ask Offred to do when he calls her into his study?
Have kinky sex
Strip and dance for him
Tell him about her family
Play Scrabble
13
. What is the Wall?
A place in town where bodies of executed dissidents are displayed
A structure built along the border between Canada and Gilead
A fence around the Commander’s house to keep Offred in
A famous structure in China
14
. What does Ofglen tell Offred when they are looking at the prayer machines?
That she is going to hell
That they need to escape
That Ofglen is part of a group of subversives
That they should try to kill the Commander
15
. Who is Moira?
Offred’s mother
Offred’s best friend
Offred’s daughter
A Wife
16
. What is the Ceremony?
The ritual in which Wives and Commanders are married
The execution of political dissidents
A visit to church
Scripture reading followed by sex between the Commander and his Handmaid
17
. What is a Martha?
The daughter of a Wife
A female domestic servant
A female soldier
A kind of car in Gilead
18
. How did the founders of the Republic of Gilead first clamp down on women’s rights?
By executing all divorced women
By banning marriage and turning women into property
By cutting off women’s bank accounts and firing them from their jobs
By making it illegal to raise daughters and taking all female children off to camps
19
. What is the name of the club where the Commander takes Offred?
Jezebel’s
The Carnival
The Whorehouse
All Flesh
20
. Who does Offred see at the club?
Aunt Lydia
Her mother
Her daughter
Moira
21
. How does Serena plan to get Offred pregnant?
By having her sleep with a doctor
By artificial insemination
She doesn’t
By having her sleep with Nick
22
. What is a Salvaging?
A prayer meeting
A mass execution
A wedding
A fishing expedition
23
. What is the password for Ofglen’s dissident group?
Freedom
Peace Out
Mayday
Hosanna
24
. What happens to Ofglen?
She hangs herself when she is about to be arrested
She escapes from Gilead into Canada
She kills her Commander and is executed
She has a child
25
. At the end of the novel, who comes to take Offred away?
A group of Marthas
The Commander’s personal bodyguard
A group of Aunts, who may be Eyes
A pair of Eyes, who may be members of the resistance
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Popular pages:
The Handmaid’s Tale
Character List
CHARACTERS
Offred: Character Analysis
CHARACTERS
Plot Analysis
MAIN IDEAS
Is Offred a rebel?
MAIN IDEAS
Quotes by Theme
QUOTES
Themes
MAIN IDEAS
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