The Handmaids Tale Key Quotes (AQA A LEVEL)

We yearned for the future. How did we learn it, that talent for insatiability?

Gender politics
-She says that the atmosphere now is one of "yearning," although it's not clear what for.
-The word "insatiability"--meaning a hunger or desire that cannot be satisfied--indicates the shame associated with desire in the world of the novel.
-The women's "insatiable" desire could simply be for a world in which they are free and equal.
-Perhaps they should have been happy with what they had in the past as the future did not turn out in their favour.

Waste not want not. I am not being wasted.

Brainwashing
-Offred's statement that she is not being wasted highlights the way in which women are used like tools or instruments in Gilead, treated as objects with no value beyond their designated function.
-She expresses the view that because she is "not being wasted," it is strange or illogical that she should "want." Her use of a well-known saying highlights how deeply embedded this idea is within the culture of Gilead

I try not to think too much. Like other things now, thought must be rationed.

Oppression/ isolationism
-This statement highlights the austere, dull scarcity of life in Gilead. Not only has Offred lost access to material pleasures, intimacy with others, and freedom, but even her thoughts are restricted and impoverished by the oppressive world in which she lives.
-Offred's admission that she tries not to "think too much" suggests that too much thinking is dangerous, especially for women who, like her, live such tightly controlled lives.

I enjoy the power; power of a dog bone, passive but there

Power/ gender politics
-Offred swings her hips, hoping to inspire sexual desire in the Guardians and saying she enjoys the power of her desirability, which she compares to the metaphor the "power of a dog bone."
-Although Offred's power and freedom are severely restricted, they cannot be erased altogether; her "passive" power remains.
-By comparing herself to a dog bone, Offred emphasizes that she is treated as an object.

There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from.

Freedom
-Offred's description of the "rules" for women that existed in the past demonstrates that during this time women were not completely free, either.
-Although Aunt Lydia exaggerates how terrible life was for women before the Gilead regime, Offred's comparison reminds the reader that throughout history women have been oppressed and controlled, often with the explanation that this is for their own protection.

I would like to believe this is a story I'm telling. I need to believe it. I must believe it.

Resistance
-She confesses that she wants to believe that "this is a story I'm telling," as this will help her to survive.
-There are several layers of meaning to Offred's wish. On the surface, she seems to be referring to the importance of storytelling as a way to preserve one's dignity, and to feel loved and valued.
-Offred believes she will have "a better chance" to survive if she can imagine one day escaping her life as a Handmaid and telling her story to a willing listener.

Nolite te bastardes carborandorum.

Rebellion
-"Nolite te bastardes carborandorum," Latin for "Don't let the bastards grind you down."
-The message pleases her, as it is a secret piece of communication that has not been discovered or erased. -Perhaps the previous Handmaid committed suicide not as a way of giving up, but as a final act of defiance against the "bastards" who attempted to control her.

Nothing changes instantaneously: in a gradually heating bathtub you'd be boiled to death before you knew it.

Gender politics (potentially)
-The metaphor shows how Offred finds how the extreme misogyny in Gilead came to be, though she notes that at the time people dismissed evidence that society was headed in this direction.
-As a result, society changed in a severe way without people noticing until it was too late.
-This is both an accurate description of historical change and a powerful warning about the world in which we live.
-The Handmaid's Tale carefully shows how features of our present world might be distorted with nightmarish results, and this passage serves as a warning about how easily this could happen.

All is safe. It's the choice that terrifies me. A way out, salvation.

Freedom/ brainwashing
-She is frightened by "the choice" presented before her. -This passage shows that in the tightly controlled world of Gilead, Offred has begun to lose faith in herself.
-In her present isolated condition, Offred is much more timid and passive. She has in some ways been successfully brainwashed by the regime as the thought of freedom scares her.

A thing is valued only if it is rare and hard to get.

Gender politics/ oppression
- Aunt Lydia is referring to women's sexual availability, it is clear that in Gilead women are considered to be no more than "things."
-Aunt Lydia's concern over value is similarly degrading, by implying that women are not just objects but commodities whose value is conditional, rather than inherent.
-Even at the most basic level, many young women are encouraged to play "hard to get" or otherwise not agree to sex too early or enthusiastically.
-By drawing this parallel with our contemporary world, Atwood once again emphasizes that the contemporary U.S. may not be as far from Gilead as we think.

You wanted a women's culture. Well, now there is one. Be thankful for small mercies.

Gender politics
-This passage suggests that Offred believes radical feminism was part of a chain of events that led to the establishment of Gilead.
-While she acknowledges that the hyper-religious, restricted world she now lives in is far from what her mother and other feminists intended, it seems that the backlash against radical feminist activity helped to bring about this new, ultra-traditional era.
-Her comment "Be thankful for small mercies" is largely ironic, a reference to the religious imperative that Offred be grateful for the hellish world in which she now lives.

We are not each other's, anymore. Instead, I am his.

Gender politics
-She explains that she considered protesting, but that Luke encouraged her not to for her own safety. Instead, she became a housewife, and in this passage she remembers suspecting that Luke might have liked this shift in power.
-Offred's relationship with Luke is shown to be more complicated than it first appears
-Although Offred loves Luke, she can't help but suspect that he doesn't mind or even enjoys the power that the new state of affairs gives him over her.
-However, she never asks him about it, implying that sexism creates a communicative gulf between men and women, even those who love and trust each other.

Humanity is so adaptable, my mother would say.

-The world depicted in the novel reveals the truth of Offred's mother's words.
-Despite how quickly society has changed, and despite how oppressive life now is, people find ways to keep going and survive.

And so I step up, into the darkness within; or else the light.

Ambiguous endings
-"Darkness" in this passage symbolizes suffering, death, and the meaninglessness of Offred's life if she is indeed killed by the state. "Light" is hope, morality, and the possibility of escape from Gilead, or even the end of the regime altogether
-Offred's unknown destiny thus emphasizes the fact that people's behaviour is difficult to predict, and the fate of the world is thus equally hard to determine.

A wraith of red smoke

Identity of the individual/ oppression
-This dehumanising metaphor presents offred as a ghost- she's fading- as the totalitarian regime is grinding her down and stripping her of her identity.
-There is a sense of hopelessness within this as offred has no way of preventing this.

The main problem was with the men. There was nothing for them anymore.

Patriarchy
-This extreme toxic masculinity suggests that feminism and the sexual revolution left men without a purpose.
-Therefore the reintroduction of stereotypical roles of men as protectors and caregivers restored male purpose.