NUEVO GIMNASIO SCHOOL

EVALUANDO MEJORAMOS

English B-HL
The handmaid’s tale
By Margaret Atwood
I Trimester-2023

Reading Plan No._2__

(Andres F Garcia – 10A)

ICON DESCRIPTION

? It puzzles me

??? It confuses me

! It surprises me

!!! It surprises me a lot

It reminds me about…

It is similar to…

It is different from…

It is the same as

X I don’t agree / I don’t like it

XXX I totally disagree/ I hate it

I agree / I Like it

I totally agree / I love it

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The handmaid´s Tale as a Dystopian novel.
The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian or anti-utopian novel – it presents the reader with a dysfunctional
future society. Often texts that are set in an imaginary future are actually used to criticize real aspects
of the author’s own society and it is possible to read The Handmaid’s Tale as a satire or warning
(Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four and Huxley’s Brave New World are other examples of dystopian novels
and they make useful comparisons with The Handmaid’s Tale). One of the reasons why Atwood’s novel
is so disturbing is that there are historical parallels for the way Gilead is organized and its citizens are
controlled. In an interview Atwood explained that she intended these parallels to be clear to the reader:

One of the tasks I set myself when writing the novel was to avoid including any practices that had not
already happened somewhere, at some time. One of the functions of the afterword is to indicate the
origins of some of the practices described in the novel. But it is vital to understand that every single one
of the practices described in the novel is drawn from the historical record. (Margaret Atwood)

The ideas or issues below are all important in the handmaid’s tale. Can you think of Historical parallels
for them?

⮚ The handmaid´s uniform

⮚ Public executions?

⮚ Religious wars?

⮚ Propaganda and censorship?

⮚ Resistance movements?

⮚ Re-education?

⮚ Testifying?

⮚ Enforce religious conversion?

Can you think of any other ideas or issues in the novel which have historical parallels?

Summary.
In the selected section of the story of the handmaid’s tale, we can mainly see a greater
development of key characters and the establishment of what could be considered the inciting
incident. Offred continues with her subservient life through most of the chapters, however,
something changes when she finds out that the commander has a certain interest in her, one that
presumably appears after the ceremony on which she gets pregnant with his baby. She learns this
information by Nick, who catches Offred sneaking off during the night. This eventually leads to a
sort of date between the commander and Offred, ending with them even sharing a kiss. On the

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other side of the spectrum, we finally get closure on what happed to moira, however, the
revelation of her escape and the possible involvement of Offred in the whole ordeal only opens
more questions than answers. In the meantime, Janine gives birth to a heathy child, and is
instructed by Aunt Lydia to investigate who was involved with Moira’s escape

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The characters.
Make a list of the characters that appear in the book, then write a description for each one of them as you
find information in the story, focus on their traits, and the conflicts they may have. Support your
description with textual evidence from the story. Include the page number. As you fill out this part, think
about the importance of this character for the story. (You present the information on a chart or text)

★ Offred: Main character, as always, from the story, not much is developed on her appearance or
her psyche, she still close to her beliefs of a better world, for things to be like they used to, the
main events that change her perspective and outlook over the world around her is her meeting
with the Commander and Moira’s fate.

★ Moira: Offred’s long time high school friend, once a memory that she used to reminisce of, now a
very important set piece as she managed to escape Gilead’s regime by tricking aunt Elizabeth,
most likely with Offred’s help. She becomes an icon of hope to Offred, especially because her
fate is left uncertain, for all we know, she might as well be alive

★ The Commander: Main authority figure inside his household, appears unsensitive and almost
cruel at first, however, it is revealed that he has some kind of soft side, especially towards Offred
after the ceremony. It is heavily implied if not outright said that he years for a more genuine form
of love, which might imply he had a wife and even a family before all of this happened
★ Aunt Elizabeth: Aunt who is tricked by Moira to escape
★ Offwarren: Handmaid pregnant with a commander’s daughter Offred used to know her and says
that she doesn’t like her, she is recruited by Aunt Lydia to investigate who was involved with
Moira’s escape
★ Cora: Offred’s fellow handmaid in the commander’s house
★ Rita: Same as Cora, but shows a specific enthusiasm towards hosting a birth day in her
commander’s house thanks to Offred.
★ Aunt Lydia: Aunt in charge of surveilling Cora, Rita and Offred. Is involved in Moira’s case
★ Serena Joy: The wife of the commander in the house that Offred lives in, sometimes shows the
handmaids some television in the living room.
★ Luke: Offred’s husband, might be alive, however nothing is confirmed.
★ Nick: The commanders personal assistant
★ Offred’s unnamed daughter: Offred’s very young daughter who is confirmed dead

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The Setting
Include here relevant information regarding the setting, the descriptions here.

The setting is described pretty much the same as it was back in the first reading plan control, however,
new rooms inside the commander’s house are given more flair, like for example, the commander’s office
is described as a bourgeoise room, tuned to perfection to the commanders needs. Even including a
separate room to play scramble with Offred separately, we also learn about the living room inside the
house, decorated with all assortments of paintings and even a television, operated by Serena Joy while the
commander arrives, cobbled together between all of this, is the ceremonial bedroom, where Offred is
impregnated with the commander’s child.
We learn of other places inside the town on which Offred lives during the Birth Day of Offwarren,
formerly known as Janine, such as the house in which the whole thing occurs, as well as the multiple
prancing cars and benches that decorate the streets during the entire ordeal.
Some context is given to the school that Moira and Offred used to attend to, describing places like the
cafeteria or the laboratory, as well as the bathroom in which Moira tricked Aunt Elizabeth to allow her
escape
Aside from those small instances, not much is said in regards to the setting, mainly because the story is so
self-contained in just a couple of set pieces, preferring rather to add a few minor details to previous
rooms, such as the “Faith” cushion that sits in Offred’s bedroom, details like these should be taken into
account, as they could be subtle foreshadowing to character intentions and motives.

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Conflicts
Almost all works of literature are centered around conflict. It is a fight or struggle between two opposite
forces. By identifying the nature of the conflict or conflicts within a work, you can place the events, the
themes, and the ideas in the story.

How could you link the themes and conflicts of this section of the story to the core themes from the IB.
Please Explain.

⮚ Conflict
The main conflict developed during this part of the book is the duality in Offred’s perspective over the
commander and what his true intentions are, being torn over the ideas of her old life, such as Luke or her -
now confirmed- dead daughter, unsure whether to accept how things are now, or to keep holding on to her
idea of a kinder past. Not helping this duality of thought is the news on what truly happened to moira,
turns out she escaped by tricking one of the aunts and is now on the run. This rouge show of rebellion by
her friend definitely changes her perspective on what she should strive for next, should she follow
Moira’s path? or should she stick to her life with the commander, who is, strangely, warming up to her?
⮚ Relation with IB Core Theme
As logic would imply, the conflict is clearly related to the IB core theme of Identities, as Offred is unsure
of her place in the world around her, being associated with both the commander and Moira personally,
she is unsure on what path should she follow. It could even be argued that her cushion saying Faith has a
relation with this theme of uncertainty, since at this point, Offred doesn’t know who to put her faith to,
especially because her family is most likely dead or incredibly injured.
⮚ Personal Explanation
I personally believe this is a really interesting way to tackle the story going forward, Offred’s faith does
seem to become an important asset of the character, especially because we’ve most likely already pased
the inciting incident n one way or another.