The Handmaid's Tale Chapter Summaries

Night: Chapter 1

The novel begins an unnamed narrator recounting how she was living with other women in an old high school gymnasium in the state of Gilead,she had been separated from her husband and daughter by the government.She describes how the women sleep on army beds and because they are  not allowed to talk to each other they communicating by reading each others lips.Male guards called Angels are stationed outside the building armed with guns surrounded by barbed wire.She also describes how she wished that the guards look at or talk to her during her twice-daily walks with the other women, because then she might leverage her body in some kind of exchange.

Shopping: Chapter 2

Offred has now been stationed for five week as a handmaid in the commanders home,she describes her white and clinical bedroom which contains minimal furniture and all possible item which might aid in a suicide attempt have been removed.She wears a red dress,which covers all of her body,and white wings on a headdress that limit her ability to see and be seen.Carrying a shopping basket, she enters the kitchen, where Rita, a Martha dressed in green, is making bread. Without smiling or other friendly gestures, Rita gives Offred tokens with pictured foods to use for shopping,She briefly entertains a daydream in which she, Rita, and Cora chat about their lives over coffee. She takes the tokens, listens to Rita's instructions about which foods to buy, and leaves.

Shopping :Chapter 3

On her way to do the grocery shopping Offred walks past the garden which belongs to the commander's wife who spends most of her time gardening or knitting.Offred recalls her first encounter with the commander's wife five weeks ago when she arrived,the commander's wife,who was dressed in blue, invited offred into her sitting room,where she was illegally smoking, and explained to her the expectations of Offred’s duty as a handmaid,she describes what Offred is there to do "like a business transaction.", Offred recognizes the commander's wife as Serena Joy, a woman who was once a singer on a religious television show.

Shopping: Chapter 4

Offred continues her journey to the grocery store,at the front gate she sees Nick,who is a Guardian who lives at the house and works for the commander,is washing a car and smoking when he winks at her.This is forbidden so Offred looks away with uncertainty as she thinks that he may be a spy trying to trap her.She reaches the street corner where she is joined by another woman in red called Ofglen who is the replacement for Offred's lst shopping partner who mysteriously disappeared two weeks earlier.Ofglen shares news of the war that continues in remote areas in a guarded manor.The two women encounter more Guardians as they cross the first barrier,. As Offred gives her pass to one of the Guardians, their eyes meet. She fantasizes about ********** in front of him and considers the punishment it would mean for both of them. As the two…