Handmaid's

Nolite te bastardes carborundorum

Mock Latin Motif for the need for inner rebellion against Gilead

This phrase was written in Offred’s room by the previous occupant, who committed suicide after Serena Joy discovered her secretly visiting the Commander  Offred clings on to this small sign of resistance like she is ‘communing’ with the writer

The pen between my fingers is sensuous, alive almost

Personification  Tactile imagery

Writing the phrase ‘Nolite te bastardes carborundorum’ down for the Commander to see  Writing has become sensual for women like Offred, and the desire to write has itself become resistance against an enforced silence.

I believe in the resistance as I believe there can be no light without shadow; or rather, no shadow unless there is also light.

Internal dialogue  Declaration

Even though Offred hasn’t seen evidence of a rebellion, she still wants to believe that one is there Belief itself becomes a form of defiance that preserves her humanity.

The night is mine, my own time, to do with as I will, as long as I am quiet.

Possessive language  Paradox (‘freedom’)

In a world where Offred owns nothing and is nothing but a ‘two-legged womb’ claiming a time for private thought allows her own rebellion to begin internally The night becomes a metaphor for the places where identity and truth can survive despite intense censorship

If I may be permitted an editorial aside, allow me to say that in my opinion we must be cautious about passing moral judgement upon the Gileadeans.

Irony  Unreliable narrator  Satire

This quote satirises academic neutrality  We just read about all these atrocities, and they are being cast aside as a ‘matter of perspective’?  Dangers of detached scholarly analysis  Raises a question: Who gets to interpret history to avoid it becoming ‘amputated’, ‘muted’, or ‘censored’?

It’s impossible to say a thing exactly the way it was, because what you say can never be exact

Paradox

Emphasises that Offred’s narrative is subjective, emotional, and reconstructed.  Pinpoints the fragmented narrative form The instability of truth under oppression

Whatever is silenced will clamour to be heard, though silently.

Personification  Symbolism  Aphorism

Says that repression intensifies the desire for expression.  The paradox of authoritarian control: the more a regime suppresses something, the more forcefully it resurfaces.

This is a reconstruction. All of it is a reconstruction.

Repetition  Metafictional reference

Highlights the difficulty for Offred to tell an accurate story.  When memories, reflections, and fear combine, it underscores how oppressed people struggle to cohesively retell their individual histories.

Better never means better for everyone

Aphorism  Paradox

Exposes the moral corruption of the Commander (this quote is his words by the way!)  Reveals that those in power claim ‘improvement’ but others are being harmed for the supposed betterment of others.

It’s the choice that terrifies me

Irony  Internal conflict

Offred considering whether to accept her doctors offer to attempt to impregnate her Illustrates how Offred has been restricted to such an extent that even small choices with little consequence seem daunting to her.

…fascinated, but also repelled

Situational irony

Offred and Ofglen’s reaction to the more revealing clothing of the Japanese tourists  Highlights how quickly the rules of Gilead have changed their minds about what is ‘normal’.

They force you to kill, within yourself.

Metaphor

Highlights how the strength of Gilead’s oppression extends to internal thoughts and reasoning

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

Metaphor  Analogy  Imagery of slow violence

Shows how authoritarian power increases incrementally. Atwood warns that the gradual erosion of rights can normalise control as being something positive in a ‘protective’ sense.