Chapters 8-13 Discussion
Still feeling major 1984 vibes, but not as much as Chapters 1 through 7. I am no longer getting déjà vu of AHS either – but seriously, AHS writers should take notes.
I read all of this in one night. I could not stand to put the book down. I can now see why my coworker wanted me to read this. All I could think was: WTAF.
Something had to have happened towards women and the ability to reproduce. The word sterile being forbidden? The thought of needing to have a child or facing death?
I am getting serious The Surrogate Colony vibes…
Okay Side Break:
The Surrogate Colony is a book by Boshra Rasti the details a town that uses DNA to match people. Those that are not matched are made into surrogates. Their only purpose is to be breed – like cattle. It’s a very interesting book and this summary does not do it justice but I wanted to be quick and point out the most similar part of both books.
In Rasti’s book, the surrogates are cattle.
In Atwood’s book, the women are cattle – specifically the Handmaids.
Check out my review of The Surrogate Colony here.
From what the protagonist says it is the job to the Handmaid to get pregnant – and even then, being pregnant is hard (since more people want to kill you then) and staying pregnant is even harder. On top of all of this, I don’t think I’ve read a part of the story in which a child was alive. The protagonist fantasies of a child, but from the way she speaks of her it sounds as if the child died when she was five – before all of this happened.
I am also very interested in the character of Nick. He seems to defy all social norms and protocols – especially towards the protagonist. I want to say Atwood is trying for a romance between the two and can understand pairing the two, but I certainly do not trust his character.
Also, WTH is up with “the wall”? Sect Wars? Gender Treachery? So the LGBTQ+ community is not allowed and neither are priests? But the society is still religious… Puritan faith taken way too far?
Discussion Question:
What do you think is happening in Gilead?
Why were the Handmaid’s mementos confiscated?
What do you think the Handmaid means when she says she is a national resource?
Rosey Reviews 