Chapter 16

Question 1

Setting

Answer 1

• “Healthy white cotton drawers”
• “Large white canopy”
• “Colonial-style four-poster bed”
• Lots of blue indicate SJ’s territory
• Depiction of white suggests innocence and purity which contrasts with the act
• SJ’s bedroom is the most private space which holds a public event
• “Cold” suggest emotionless and cruelty
• “Colonial”: idea of colonization, to take what does not belong to you

Question 2

The act (Sex)

Answer 2

• We are one flesh, mocks christianity
• Rape
• Taboo: “fucking” not a romantic act
• Commander hums “humanizes him” sympathizes with him and makes him less of a monster

Question 3

Attitude of the narrator (Offred)

Answer 3

• No adjectives that reference emotions, does not share emotions
• Offred avoids the trauma of story-telling
• Comical “I dare not laugh”, shows that she is becoming used to the ceremony, subsumed by the laws of Gilead
• Reflects on what the commander and SJ might be feeling
• Doesn’t see the act as rape which makes her an unreliable narrator

Question 4

The commander

Answer 4

• Views the ceremony as a duty/ chore
• Attempts to detach “one detaches oneself”
• Stoicism

Question 5

Serena Joy

Answer 5

• 100% Gilead during the ceremony, conforms
• After the ceremony, she rebels “Get up and get out”
• Reduces the chances of Offred getting pregnant and conceiving
• Questions her desire for a child

Question 6

Whom is it worse for?

Answer 6

• In Offred trying to humanize the commander and SJ, you have to pity Offred, increases tragedy around her
• “The ceremony goes on as usual”

Question 7

Positioning of the characters

Answer 7

• Both women lie down/reclined, indicating passive participation
• The commander towers over them indicating he has control, active participant, authority, power
• “If I were to open my eyes”: Offred tries to escape the reality of the ceremony
• “The rings of her left hand cut into my fingers”- SJ takes advantage of the situation showing that some women are complicit with women suffering
• “Hanging over my torso”- Highlights how Offred has been reduced to a body part and only useful for reproduction, also shows hierarchy