Characters
The Commander’s Wife who once promoted traditional values on TV.
Who is Serena Joy?
The monthly ritual meant to produce children.
What is the Ceremony?
The color worn by Handmaids symbolizing fertility.
What is red?
Where Offred and Ofglen go during sanctioned walks.
What is the market?
Gilead maintains authority through fear and this tactic.
What is surveillance/control?
Offred’s shopping partner who may secretly test her loyalty.
Who is Ofglen?
Public displays of executed bodies meant to control citizens.
What is the Wall?
The white ______ Handmaids wear that limit vision and interaction.
What are wings/bonnets?
Offred remembers losing this family member while escaping.
Who is her daughter?
Offred survives psychologically by relying on this.
What are memories of the past?
The rebellious friend who refused to accept Gilead’s rules.
Who is Moira?
The place where Handmaids are trained and indoctrinated.
What is the Red Center?
Signifies that the Handmaid's are property of the men they serve.
What is their name? (ex: Ofglen, Offred, etc.)
Offred secretly steals this to moisturize her body as an act of rebellion.
What is butter?
Names like “Offred” demonstrate this theme.
What is loss of identity?
The household servant who often appears annoyed with Offred.
Who is Rita?
The secret police force that monitors citizens for treason or disobedience.
Who are "The Eyes"?
The Latin phrase Offred discovers carved in her room directly translates to this.
The person who tries to "help" Offred with her fertility.
Who is the doctor?
The Ceremony shows how power replaces this human experience.
What is love/intimacy/consent?
The Commander’s driver who creates tension and uncertainty for Offred.
Who is Nick?
The belief used to justify strict gender roles and control in Gilead.
What is religious fundamentalism/Biblical justification/extreme religion?
Flowers in Serena Joy’s garden symbolize this emotional conflict.
What is control, jealousy, or suppressed desire?
What Offred believes the possible fate of the previous Handmaid is.
What is death/suicide?
Offred’s narration shifts between past and present to represent this idea.
What is resistance/rebellion through storytelling or preservation of identity?