The Handmaid's Tale: Key Quotations (OCR A Level English Literature)
Revision Note
The Handmaid’s Tale: Key Quotations
One of the ways to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the text is through the effective use of quotations and references to the text. This means that summarising, paraphrasing, referencing single words and referencing plot events are all as valid as using direct quotations.
Overall, you should aim to secure a strong knowledge of the text, rather than memorising a list of pre-prepared quotations, as this will better enable you to respond to the question. It is the quality of your knowledge of the text which will enable you to select references effectively.
If you are going to revise quotations, the best way is to group them by character, or theme. Below you will find definitions and analysis of the best quotations, arranged by the following key themes:
Power
Power is a significant theme in The Handmaid’s Tale due to the layers of control exerted by both individuals and the totalitarian regime.
“Remember that forgiveness too is a power. To beg for it is a power, and to withhold or bestow it is a power” Offred, Chapter 23
Meaning and context
This quote is said by Offred while reflecting on her encounter with the Commander in which he asks her to kiss him like she means it
Analysis
Offred explores ideas of power and what they really mean:
She is challenging the reader to think of forgiveness, which is often seen as a kind gesture, as corrupted and used as way of holding power over someone
The Commander’s position of power allows him to break the rules and be forgiven for it
However, if Offred were to break the rules, she would be subject to much harsher consequences
“It’s difficult for me to believe I have power over him, of any sort, but I do; although it’s of an equivocal kind” Offred, Chapter 32
Meaning and context
This quote is said by Offred about the shifting power dynamics between her and the Commander
Analysis
Offred acknowledges that she does have some power in the situation, but the true nature of their relationship is unclear
This demonstrates that having power over someone is a struggle: one person can have it, and the other must fight for it
“She is looking straight at me. We can see into each other’s eyes” Offred, Chapter 27
Meaning and context
This quote is said by Offred when she and Ofglen are stood outside the shop window
Analysis
Mirrors and glass are important symbols, showing truth and reflection
Offred and Ofglen’s reflections in the window symbolise their similarities and their role as each other’s equals
They are able to connect with each other as equals, in a world in which connections are forbidden:
This is empowering - they are able to find power with each other
“But find out and tell us.”
“Find out what?” I say. I feel rather than see the slight turning of her head.
“Anything you can” Offred and Ofglen, Chapter 35
Meaning and context
This conversation is had between Offred and Ofglen, when Ofglen learns of Offred’s relationship with the Commander
Analysis
In Gilead, the handmaids’ access to information is extremely limited:
They are not allowed to read, write or watch the news
This prevents them from getting any information about the world around them, and is another strategy Gilead uses to control and oppress them
Information is power, and Ofglen seizes any opportunity to obtain information that may help the Mayday cause
The gaining of information can be an act of resistance to those in power who control the information
By wanting to work together, Ofglen wants to use the power of comradeship to gain power over the oppressors
Examiner Tip
There are a lot of quotes or references to power in the book, so it is important to consider what aspect of power and power dynamics you are exploring in relation to the question when deciding what to use as references. For example, if you were exploring the changing power dynamics between Offred and the Commander, then you might wish to consider the end of the novel, when Offred says “I am above him, looking down; he is shrinking” (Chapter 46). What is important is that you are making the most appropriate references to the question you have been set.
Gender
Gender as a theme in The Handmaid’s Tale is closely linked to both power and identity. Atwood has written a piece of dystopian fiction specifically from a female perspective, and it highlights inequalities based on gender as well as the oppression of other marginalised groups.
“I didn’t go to any of the marches. Luke said it would be futile and I had to think about them, my family, him and her. I did think about my family. I started doing more housework, more baking” Offred, Chapter 28
Meaning and context
This quote comes as Offred remembers how Gilead took over
She remembers how she and the other women in her office were “let go”, as it became against the law for women to work, and her bank account was frozen:
Her money and assets were transferred to her husband
Offred recalls the protests, which were relatively small due to fear of repercussions
Analysis
Here, the power dynamic between Offred and Luke changes, as elements of traditional gender roles and expectations embedded deep within his character begin to surface
Instead of supporting Offred, Luke tells her to prioritise her family:
This echoes the misogynistic idea that women shouldn’t protest, vote or work because it would take them away from their domestic duties
In the character of Luke, Atwood explores the idea that even the most progressive men can still hold and perpetuate patriarchal ideas when it benefits them
“Everything except the wings around my face is red: the colour of blood, which defines us” Offred, Chapter 2
Meaning and context
This quote is from the start of the novel, as Offred describes her present surroundings, comparing her living situation to a “nunnery”
Analysis
In Gilead, women’s identities and gender roles are defined by patriarchal values
The handmaids symbolise reproduction, and are only valued for their wombs
The red of the handmaids’ uniforms symbolises menstrual blood, emphasising their fertility and their role
Just as the colour defines the handmaids, the handmaids are defined by their ability to reproduce
Their gender role has been constricted and limited to just this - “two-legged wombs” (Chapter 23)
Examiner Tip
When considering gender, think about how roles are defined for both women and men in Gilead, and what those roles mean. Also consider characters in the book who subvert or challenge these roles. Offred herself, in her illegal relationship with Nick, admits that she is doing it for herself entirely, when traditionally women are considered to be vulgar if they admit to their own desires and act selfishly.
Identity
The removal of individual identity in The Handmaid’s Tale is a key way in which the state of Gilead enforces power and control over its citizens.
“I avoid looking down at my body, not so much because it’s shameful or immodest, but because I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to look at something that determines me so completely” Offred, Chapter 12
Meaning and context
In preparation for the Ceremony, Offred is obliged to bathe
She is undressing for her bath, and her body seems alien to her
Analysis
Offred’s connection with her physical self and her body are a way of expressing her identity
As she becomes more and more separated from her old identity, her body becomes more separated from her sense of self
She begins to view her own body as alien to her, as it is only her ability to have a child that determines who she is
This reflects Offred and the other handmaids’ identities being reduced to a bodily function
“I feel as if there’s not much left of me; they will slip through my arms, as if I’m made of smoke, as if I’m a mirage, fading before their eyes” Offred, Chapter 14
Meaning and context
Before the Ceremony, Offred remembers her life with Luke and her daughter, and feels powerless in her new role
She imagines a conversation with Moira while she waits for the Ceremony to begin
Analysis
Offred is losing any sense of her own identity beyond her role as handmaid
Her only purpose is for procreation
By describing herself as smoke, Offred is saying that she feels as though she is abstract and temporary, with no solid form
The use of the word “mirage” implies that she is just an illusion
She worries that, wherever they are, her husband and child are forgetting her - she is fading for them just as they and her own identity are fading for her
Just as she lost her family, she is losing herself
Paired Quotations:
“My name isn’t Offred. I have another name, which nobody uses now because it’s forbidden. I tell myself it doesn’t matter….but what I tell myself is wrong - it does matter” Offred, Chapter 14
“I keep the knowledge of this name like something hidden, some treasure I’ll come back to dig up, one day. I think of this name as buried” Offred, Chapter 14
Meaning and context
As Offred and the household wait for the Commander for the Ceremony, Offred interweaves her observations of the present with her memories of the past
Analysis
Handmaids have been stripped of their real names, instead taking on names designating them as a possession of their Commander:
This symbolises that they are no longer their own person
They are no longer viewed as individuals, as all aspects of their individual identity have been stripped, including their real names
By taking the name of her Commander, she is able to be replaced (just as Ofglen is)
Offred connects her real name to a treasure, one of the few final things that is solely hers to keep
She does not reveal even to the reader her real name, although she does entrust Nick with it later in the story as a gift of trust
Throughout the novel, Offred connects her former name with her identity, and as something which she is determined to get back to by surviving
Even later on, in Chapter 24, when she tells herself that she must forget about her secret name, that doesn’t actually happen, as Nick uses it in the final chapter before she is taken away
Survival and memory
Offred’s first priority is to stay alive, and her emotional survival, via her memories, is linked to her sense of self and regaining some small element of power and control over the regime of Gilead.
“I would like to believe this is a story I’m telling. I need to believe it. I must believe it. Those who can believe that such stories are only stories have a better chance” Offred, Chapter 7
Meaning and context
Offred’s time to escape into her own memories is at night
This quote comes from such a chapter in which she recalls a memory of her mother and her as a young girl
Analysis
Offred does not engage in active or overt resistance to either her situation or the regime
Instead, she chooses to survive by choosing to remember who she was and parts of her past, no matter how painful
Another survival technique she uses is to imagine her current nightmare is not real; it is just a story like the stories she remembers of her former life
One of Gilead’s methods of oppression and control is to dehumanise handmaids and try to make them forget their relationships with people they love:
By using her memories and thinking of her current situation as a construct, Offred is able to find a way of surviving by detaching herself from what is real
It also allows her a small sense of still being in control, as “If it’s a story I’m telling, then I have control over the ending” (Chapter 7)
“I repeat my former name, remind myself of what I could once do, how others saw me. I want to steal something” Offred, Chapter 17
Meaning and context
Offred thinks this after the Ceremony, as she lies in bed and reflects on what has just happened
Analysis
Offred retains a sense of her own identity and survives through her memories:
When she reminds herself of her old name, it helps her feel a small sense of power
Her former name is a reminder to herself that she once had an individual identity:
This reminder makes her want to own something that belongs to her, to remind herself that she is an individual
In a society where even names are removed, possessions can serve as a physical representation of one’s individual power
She is reclaiming something for herself, even if she’s not allowed to have it
Examiner Tip
Aim for quality not quantity. There are no rules about the number of references you should make about your core text, but making 3–4 thoughtful, detailed and considered references, closely focused on the question, will attain higher marks than, for example, 6–7 brief and undeveloped references.
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