1.

What do you find interesting about the way that people communicate with each
other in Gilead? Think about communication between social groups (e.g.
Handmaid with Wife), but also within social groups. What might that tell us
about the society?
- They talk when no one listens – always watched
- Main character doesn’t talk much - careful
- Martha feels superior – have more info – careful of what they share
- Handmaid with wife – Wife is the one carrying the conversation – it is
preferred not to answer rather than say something. Fear of losing the
husband – envy that the handmaid can have children but they don’t – treat
them as less, simulate they don’t exist so they can enjoy at their fullest
their experience with having children.
- Handmaid with handmaid: can’t trust anyone, cautious of what they say
even though they all want the same thing – look out for hints if they are on
their side.

2. How is the narrator relating to other female characters? (Consider the definition
of Sororize11)
- Sense of community between handmaids – “that was OUR fantasy” – no
matter where they came from they are living the same thing.
- Fear moves actions – no existence of word “sororize” – women can’t have
each other’s back – no collaboration is allowed.
- Trying to place them in the “before” society – Serena joy – see her more
than a wife, more than their labels.
- Jealousy – Janine and Japanese girls – contrast between what they should
want to what they actually want
- Need to find familiar faces that connect to past - Moira

3. How is order maintained within the society? Who controls whom and how?
- Violence and fear. (Aunts electric cattle – angels – guns – authority)
- Reference to the unwomen – starve and death – be grateful to not be in
that position - government
- Encaging structures - shatterproof glass, widows half open
- Color of the clothes – divides and show hierarchy
- Privileges that higher classes have over handmaids – hit them – put them in
place
- Eyes: uncertainty of who could be an eye – no trust on anyone
- Public shows: killing of Martha – remind everyone how they can be gone at
any time – the wall
- Wings: limit their view
- Censorship – only know what they are allowed to
 4. What acts of rebellion/resistance do you already see in these first 60 pages of
the novel? To what extent do you find them significant – dangerous (for the
established order) and emancipatory (for the people who make them)?
- Exchange of names – significant, emancipatory – see themselves more than
handmaids
- Listen outside close doors – danger – can hear something that she should
not - consequences
- Nick’s wink – danger – not scared of the risks
- Offred’s look and movement to the guardian – emancipatory – “ownership”
for her body
- Night stories – motivate for survival - emancipatory
- Silence of the commander’s visit – dangerous – attention of person with
power

5. How does our narrator feel about the established order under which she lives?
What makes you think that?
- Remembering before (what the gym used to be, missed talking, garden) -
nostalgia
- Not a prison, it is a privilege – be thankful for what they have
- looks for survival – wants to be free but prefers to be safe – better chance
to surviving and see again the people she loves

1:55:30