Commentary on chapter one

We – this establishes a first-person narrator but she is unidentified.

Palimpsest – A palimpsest is a place on a parchment where writing has been scraped out and written over. Here, the narrator suggests that the past has been overlaid by the present.

pictures – This suggests to us that the narrator has not had the chance to experience these fashions herself.

That yearning – The speaker realises that her past young romantic fantasies never quite lived up to expectation.

Still said U.S. – This hints to us that the United States of America has ceased to exist.

Aunt Sara … Aunt Elizabeth – The names sound friendly and cosy – but then we read ‘patrolled; they had electric cattle prods.’ Our expectations are undermined.

could not be trusted – The use of the passive voice means that we do not know who does the mistrusting. The government of the state of Gilead is never explicitly identified in the novel.

Guns … for … the Angels – As with the Aunts, our expectations of the word ‘Angel‘ are undermined.

Something could be exchanged – The word ‘exchanged’ is frequently used in the novel, and becomes significant, suggesting the importance of human inter-action. (See Themes and significant ideas > Human relationships)

We still had our bodies – There seems to be a hint here of prostitution. Given that these young women are to become, effectively, sex-slaves, it is ironic that the speaker feels this is a ‘fantasy’.

We exchanged names … Alma, Janine, Dolores, Moira, June – During the course of the novel Alma, Janine, Dolores and Moira are all mentioned by the narrator, so is the narrator June? It is ironic that these women are later given new names referring to the man to whom they currently belong e.g. Offred, Ofglen, Ofwarren.