Chalter 21-23 Flashcards
What does the birth ritual involve
Focus of Janine and wife
Wife
‘Ridiculous white cotton gown’
‘Fluffy slippers’
Janine
‘Our eyes are on Janine’
‘She flows like a moon in the cloud’
~ fertility
What emotions are experienced by the different women present at the birth, on page 136
What will happen to Janine
Aunt: ‘a poor girl but so far so good’ —> hard life
Handmaids: ‘we smile too’ ‘tears run down our cheeks’ - lack of identity
Janine ‘she’s crying too’ ‘burnt out miserable tears’
Why did Aunty Lydia choose to confuse in Janine about Moira a escape
Aunt ‘I can rely on you’
‘Janine was a puppy that’s been kicked too often…she’d tell anything’
How does Moira treat Aunt Elizabeth
‘Not overly cruel’
‘I’ll puncture your lungs’ - prob won’t
Aunty Lydia might exaggerate
But Offred and handmaids saw her as hero or myth
How does Moira act in order to pass for aunt
‘March’
‘Proud’
‘Stood up straight and stiffly ahead’
Becomes more manly- aunts are allowed but handmaids stents
What does Offred feel about being asked to visit the commander
‘What have I done wrong’
‘My presence here is illegal’
‘We are two legged wombs that’s all’
‘I would become an unwoman’
Does she want too or is she obliged
What descriptive details are important in Offreds description of the office and the commander
‘Normal life’
‘Books and books and books’
‘An oasis of the forbidden’ - wants it, everything normal
How does Offred respond to the commanders request to play scrabble
‘I want to laugh…fall off my chair’
Thought it was sex
How does Offred respond to the commanders second request to kiss him
‘I would get the sharp level…drive the sharp thing into him…blood coming out, hot as soup’
‘All right’
‘Like you mean it’
Why does Atwood structure 3 chapters this way
- Birth scene
- Moira escape
- Commander office
- Struggle handmaids
- POSs to get out
- Offred has chance to get out
Reliability of reader
‘Reconstruction’
Art stories are subject to prejudice
