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Oppression p.89-169

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  As we read, we noticed clearly the role of women in the new society. They are no more viewed as humans but as tools. Women who can reproduce, the Handmaids, are tools while some infertile women, the Wives, are decorations.   Intimacy between two people is now a job. It is impersonal. It is required but Handmaids can not feel pleasure. It’s not their rights, they just need to reproduce while Wives need to look good. They need to be accessories to men. Indeed, men are in charge even if women are supposed to be superior. But it’s just an image because, in fact, women are inferiors. They need to be protected. They can not defend themselves. Any act of assault against them is their fault. “My red skirt is hitched up to my waist, though no higher. Below it the Commander is fuckin. What he is fucking is the lower part of my body. I do not say making love, because this is not what he’s doing. Copulating too would be inaccurate, because it would imply two people and only ...
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Glossary

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Since it is a dystopia, Margaret Atwood made up a lot of words that are important in her story. These words make sense in the Handmaid’s tale.  Handmaids ( Servantes ) are fertile women who bear children for Wives and their Commanders. They wear red. Wives ( Épouses ) are married to Commanders. It’s unclear whether they are fertile since they use handmaids to procreate. They were blue. Commanders ( Commandants ) are powerful men who use handmaids to procreate with their Wives. They conceived and devised Gilead. It is an entire class of men. The Aunts ( Tantes ) is a class of infertile women who are in positions of power. They teach handmaids. They are true believers who were involved with the cause way before the official Gilead transition. They wear brown. Jezebels ( Jezabels ) are illegal prostitutes who work in a secret club for Commanders. Marthas are another kind of servants. They are infertile women who work as caretakers and cook for the family. It is the same...
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The Final p.259-339

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The last part is full of twists. Offred took more liberty and committed more and more sins and illegal actions by, for example, letting herself be led by the Commander to an illegal club where women could dress as they wanted in addition to drink and smoke.  Offred meets Moira there. The mystery is solved: she ran away for a long time, until she ended up there, at Jezebel’s, after being caught. Otherwise, it was in the colonies that she was going to be sent and nobody wants to end up there... Offred’s mother is there, but she’s probably dead by now...  The fact that she found Moira breaks Offred’s hope a little because she thought that her friend had escaped, and if she had been able, maybe Offred could too. But no, Moira didn’t, so how could she? She hasn’t seen her old friend since that day... but she’s good at inventing scenarios to live in denial. So much that she convinced herself that perhaps Moira had, once again, ran away and succeeded in doing so.  Now, precisely...
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