1. Quotes and Analysis – The Handmaid’s Tale
We will take a closer look at ch. 1-10

2. What do you know about the narrator thus far?
What impressions have you gained about her situation, circumstances, and the choices she has made?
Do you support her decisions? (do you think she had no other choice?)

3. What do you not know that you would have expected to know at this point in the novel?
What might be the purpose of keeping this information from the reader?

4. Where else have we seen reference to the colour blue
Where else have we seen reference to the colour blue? What other colours are important to the story?
“On the wall above the chair, a picture, framed but with no glass: a print of flowers, blue irises, watercolour. Flowers are still allowed…” (Atwood 7)
What does this suggest?

5. “thought must be rationed.”(8)
Why? Reflect on how you would feel about a society that supports this. What examples can you list that would suggest we do live in a society that supports this.

6. What is she talking about?
“I know why there is no glass, in front of the watercolor picture of blue irises, and why the window opens only partly and why the glass in it is shatterproof. It isn’t running away they’re afraid of. We wouldn’t get far. It’s those other escapes, the ones you can open in yourself, given a cutting edge.”(8)

7. Freedom
This passage clearly forces the reader to think about freedom for different individuals in Gilead.
We are reminded that those living in the Commander’s house are not only forbidden from jumping out of a window, they have removed all possible tools to aid in suicide. The thought of running away is laughable.

8. “Blessed be the fruit” (23)
“Blessed be the fruit” - Genesis 1:28
If this is the accepted greeting, what implications can be associated with this?
How has Gilead twisted these words for its own purpose?
**On your devices, find what you can about this passage. What context is it used in the Bible? What does this tell you about authority and control in THT?

9. “The Wall is hundreds of years old too; or over a hundred… No one goes through those gates willingly.” (40)
So the obvious reference to a wall and an oppressive regime is the Berlin Wall. On your devices, try to find reference to as many as you can. Find the most gruesome horrors associated with this. How does this connect with the Republic of Gilead?

10. Do you think it is desirable or necessary to make a moral judgement about past regimes?
Is it possible to do so?