The Handmaids Tale Flashcards
1
Q
In the desert there is no sign that says
A
thou shalt not eat stones
2
Q
think of it as being in
A
the army
3
Q
A chair
A
a table, a lamp
4
Q
Thinking can
A
hurt your chances and I intend to last
5
Q
the circumstances have been reduced
A
for those of us that still have circumstances
6
Q
She didn’t step aside… There is push
A
and shove, these days, over such toeholds
7
Q
I know you aren’t
A
stupid
8
Q
She did this decisively,
A
one jab and one grind
9
Q
He begins to whistle.
A
Then he winks.
10
Q
The truth is that she is my
A
spy, as I am hers
11
Q
I enjoy the power;
A
the power of a dog bone, passive but there
12
Q
Freedom
A
to and freedom from
13
Q
She a magic presence to us,
A
an object of envy and desire, we covet her
14
Q
The women teeter on their
A
spiked feet
15
Q
The smell of nail polish has made
A
me hungry
16
Q
What you must be, girls,
A
is impenetrable. She called us girls.
17
Q
Luke wasn’t a doctor.
A
isn’t.
18
Q
Ordinary, said Aunt Lydia,
A
is what you are used to
19
Q
Where should I go?
A
Somewhere good. Moira
20
Q
Those that can believe that such stories are only stories
A
have a better chance
21
Q
she presented this failure of hers
A
as a sacrifice she was making for the good of all
22
Q
The knife she uses is
A
sharp and bright, and tempting. I would like to have a knife like that.
23
Q
He is
A
violating custom
24
Q
Was he invading? Was he in my room?
A
I called it mine.
25
im communing with her
this unknown woman
26
We lived, as usual by
ignoring. Ignoring isn't the same as ignorance, you have to work at it
27
We are all
honey
28
genuine, genuine
sympathy; and yet he is enjoying this
29
I am a nat
ional resource
30
What I must present is a made
thing, not something born
31
I wish I had a pig
ball
32
its safer to make things up
than to say you had nothing to reveal
33
her fault her fault her fault
we chant in unison... we meant it, which is the bad part
| -reflect mass hysteria of salem witch trials 'safer to make something up than say you have nothing to reveal'
34
I feel ridiculously
happy
35
He looks over us as if
taking inventory
36
he manages to look
puzzled, as if he cant quite remember how we all got in here
37
The rings of her left hand cut into my fingers.
it may or may not be revenge
38
which of us is it
worse for, her or me
39
sanity is a
valuable possession; I hoard it the way people once hoarded money
40
Pleasure is a
egg
41
we grip each others hands
we are no longer single
42
you wanted a womens culture
well now there is one
43
Janine was like a
puppy that had been kicked too often
44
(moira) she is a cunning
and dangerous woman
45
already we were losing
our taste for freedom
46
we are two legged
wombs; that's all: sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices
47
To want is to
have a weakness
48
Its an
oasis of the forbidden. I try not to stare.
49
its as if he's
offered me drugs
50
words spelt in scrabble:
larynx
zygote
ziltch
limp
51
it could be important
it could be a passport, it could be my downfall
52
so there it was out in the open:
his wife didn't understand him
53
as if indulging a
child's wish for bubble gum
54
It wasn't the first time he gave evidence of being
truly ignorant of the real conditions under which we lived
55
steel yourself
my mother used to say
56
it was like being on an operating
table, in the full glare; like being on stage
57
she was a malicious
and vengeful woman
58
To him I am no longer
merely a usable body. To him I'm not just a boat with no cargo. To him I am not merely empty
59
a rat in a maze is
free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze
60
Somehow the wall is even more
foreboding when it's empty like this... potential like a storm approaching
61
hope is rising in me,
like sap in a tree. Blood in a wound
62
I want to laugh,
shout, hug her (ofglen)
63
Pen
is envy
64
If my life is bearable
maybe what their doing is right after all
65
what I have on him is
guilt. At last
66
I sit in my chair, the wreath on the ceiling
floating above my head, a floating halo, a zero
67
its hard to be afraid of a man who is
sitting watching you put on hand lotion. This lack of fear is dangerous.
68
you cant make an omelette
without breaking eggs
69
better never means
better for everyone
70
GOD IS A
NATIONAL RESOURCE
71
All we've done is
return things to natures norm
72
LOVE is not
the point
73
Lydia sucks
It was like a flag waved from a hilltop in rebellion
74
we were falling
women
75
Time has not stood still.
It has washed over me, washed me away as if I am nothing more than a women of sand
76
so now that we don't have different clothes
you merely have different women
77
I want gallantry from her, swash buckling,
heroism, single handed combat. Something I lack.
78
He is not a
monster
79
I don't want to be
a wingless angel... They can do what they want with me. I am abject. I feel for the first time, their true power
80
Faith is only
a word embroidered
81
And so I step up,
into the darkness within; or else the light
82
I still have it in me to feel sorry for him. Moira is right.
I am a wimp
83
she's frightening me now, because what
I hear in her voice is indifference, a lack of violation
84
our job is not to censure
but to understand
85
there was little that was truly original with or indigenous to Gilead:
its genius was synthesis
86
these days we're
so well behaved (few womens salvaging's needed)
87
how easy it is to
invent a humanity
| -Offred is compared to a mistress of a Nazi camp commandant
88
just another crummy
power trip
89
our big mistake was teaching them how to read
we wont do that again
90
elbows
on the table
91
im communing with her
this unknown woman
92
spiked
feet... twittering
93
the bitch
not to tell me, or bring me news, any news at all
94
ravenous
for news
95
strung up like a Christmas
turkey
96
she died that
I might live
97
truly amazing what people
can get used to if given a few compensations
98
man is just womens strategy
for making other women- exetremist
99
Don't you know how many...
womens bodies the tanks had to roll over to get that
100
a circle of red women... a low
sound like growling
101
sisters
dipped in blood
102
they can
hit us- scriptural precedent Exodus 21
103
womens bodies
turning to black ash -implies any extreme is dangerous?
104
the birthing stool with its double seat... the smell is of
our own flesh, an organic smell
105
The young ones are often the
most dangerous... the jumpiest with their guns
| -allusion to Hitler youth in Nazi Germany
106
Being with him is safety;
a cave, where we huddle together while the storm goes on outside. This is a delusion of course.
107
whispers less,
talks more about the weather... what I feel is relief
108
Moira was our
fantasy
