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Home : The Handmaid's Tale : Study Guide : Summary and Analysis of V: Nap - VI: Household
The Handmaid's Tale Summary and Analysis by Margaret Atwood Buy PDFBuy Paperback
V: Nap - VI: Household
Summary
This section begins with Offred simply sitting alone, waiting. She had not been prepared for all this stillness, all of this boredom. She thinks about experiments they used to do on animals, how they would give them something to distract them. She wishes she had something to distract her. She lies down on the floor and begins to do her exercises, tilting her pelvis back. She remembers how at the training center they had rest time every day from three to four. Now she thinks it was practice for all of the waiting. She remembers how Moira showed up, after she'd been there for about three weeks. They couldn't talk for a few days, but finally during a walk they were able to plan a meeting in the washroom. The first time was during Testifying, which Aunt Helena came for specially. That day, Janine was talking about how she was gang raped when she was fourteen and had to get an abortion, and the other women respond as they have learned to, chanting that it was her fault. Despite the surroundings, Offred was extremely happy to see Moira.
Now Offred thinks about her body. She used to see it as an instrument of her will, but now she sees it only as a container protecting a womb. She dreams that she is standing in their first apartment. In the dream, she is trying to find something to wear. Luke stands behind her, but he can't hear her. Then she begins dreaming of running with her daughter, but she can't keep up. They drop to the ground, and Offred prays they will escape, but then she sees that her daughter is being led away through the trees.