chapter 13

Question 1

loony bin

Answer 1

loony bin - Moira’s speech is typically frank and anarchic. Loony bin is slang for
lunatic asylum, the archaic term for a mental hospital

Question 2

it makes me feel safer… moira’s here

Answer 2

• It makes me feel safer … Moira is here - Atwood now uses the present tense,
  even though Offred is recalling past events. Offred’s memories consequently
  become more vivid

Question 3

• Dolores wet the floor… moaning -

Answer 3

• Dolores wet the floor… moaning - The brutality of punishment for an unintentional offence arriving
  from Dolores’ fear shows us that there is nothing tender about the so-called ‘Aunts’

Question 4

my body, my own territory

Answer 4

• my body… my own territory - Atwood shows Offred’s awareness of her own bodily functions as a
  way in which she still has individuality - though ‘the expectations of others’ about what is happening
  inside her body have ‘become (her) own’

Question 5

the flesh arranges itself

Answer 5

he flesh arranges itself - This sensual and sensitive paragraph describing Offred’s
awareness of monthly ovulation, of her own womb, and of her monthly disappointment
when she fails to conceive, is in sharp contrast to the way in which she is simply an
object to be used by the powers-that-be in Gilead.

Question 6

Luke’s wife… crying and accusing

Answer 6

Luke’s wife … crying, accusing - This sudden revelation that Luke’s first wife was
distraught by his leaving her adds a different dimension to Offred’s past and perhaps
raises new questions about her relationship with Luk

Question 7

im running, with her, holding her hand

Answer 7

• I’m running, with her, holding her hand - This vivid account, written in the present
  tense, makes the reader re-live the terror of Offred’s attempted escape with Luke and
  their daughter. Her breathless panic is re-created especially strongly at the end of the
  second paragraph (from ‘She’s too young’ to ‘carried away’) where the nine lines are
  one long sentence, with short phrases and repetitions adding to the sense of panic

Question 8

this is the worst

Answer 8

this is the worst - The chapter ends with the terrible nightmare of Offred’s
memory of the loss of her child, ironically just as she is about to be taken for
(hopefully) the creation of a new child by the Commander