HISTORICAL NOTES SECTION

Synopsis
- Historical notes is a transcript section from a lecture in the year 2195 where historians are
studying the former Republic of Gilead which (is implied) to have ceased to exist sometime in the
late 20th century to early 21st century.
- The conference is held in Canada and the professor talks about Problems of Authentication in
Reference to The Handmaid’s Tale
- He describes how he and his colleague worked on transcripts of a group of 30 cassette tapes
found in a box what was before known as Gilead.
- One of the professors named it The Handmaid’s Tale.
- The voice on the tapes are the same but there was no specific order to them and were arranged by
estimation by the historians. There is also no way to know if they are authentic.
o Gilead at the time would not have made it possible for the tapes to have been recorded
since a handmaid would not be able to access these facilities. Therefore, we can assume
that Offred did not make them at the time the speaker is talking about even though she
says it in present tense.
- The professors could not establish Offred’s identity because she must have been one of the first
women forced into the regime to bear children because of fertility issues (due to AIDS, syphilis,
nuclear-plant accidents and toxic leakages).
- They do not know her name and suspect that the other names she mentions are all pseudonyms to
protect their identities.
- They tried to identify the commander and have come up with two suggestions of people.
- Waterford (one of the guesses for the commander) was in charge of designing uniforms
(especially for handmaid’s) and ceremonial details for activities like Salvagings.
- Judd (another guess) was involved in the massacre of the Congress at the time the new regime
took over and forced emigration of Jews. Judd also promoted the idea of particicution and also for
forming the Aunts.
- Waterford thought of giving the aunts reassuring names of well-known commercial products of
the immediate time before.
- Neither of these men were married to someone called Serena Joy or Pam. They think Offred had
made this name up.
- They suspect that Nick had been part of the Eyes but also an underground group.
- The historians have no idea what happened to the handmaid and if Nick really did assist her or
turn her over to the Eyes. He may have done so because he would have been in danger after
having forbidden sexual relations with a handmaid and could not risk Offred exposing him.
However, he may have helped her because it is implied that she got pregnant from him and any
man at the time would be hopeful at the aspect of fatherhood.

Commentary
The historical notes section completely alters our view of the novel. We were aware that Offred’s account
is a construct but we now know that the order of the material is totally arbitrary and what is contained in
them is anonymous beyond trace.
Gileadean studies- implies that the Republic of Gilead no longer exists and is a subject of historical
research. This is a reminder to readers that even the most powerful regime will in time fall or fade into
obscurity.
Denay, Nunavit- is an actual place in Northern Canada. Atwood’s choice of the name for this place
makes an interesting pun that phonologically sounds “deny none of it”. This suggests that, though the
historians view is patronizing and almost flippant, Atwood wants to portray that there is an essential
underlying truth behind her narrative, hidden among the anonymity and ambiguity.
The nature walk- these activities suggest a very different environment from the toxic-waste and nuclear
background that affected Gilead and caused its birth.
Authentication- the professors are only interested in proving the provenance of the material. Its actual
content and the way which Offred shares her thoughts, together with her insights to human relationships
don’t seem to be of any interest to them. Why does it matter who she was and who the people she
describes were as long as her experience is stated and dated to be true. The professor expresses his
disappointment that Offred does not further talk about ‘the workings of the Gileadean empire’ but he
never discusses what she does talk about.
“all puns were intentional, particularly that having to do with the arachaic vulgar signification of
the word tail…(laughter, applause)”- the professor and some of his audience find it amusing that his
colleague chose a title that mocks and jokes Offred’s (and other handmaid’s) circumstance of being
forced into sexual slavery.
Underground Frailroad- in Chapter 38, there was an escape route from Gilead called Underground
Femaleroad. This is an echo from the 19th century escape route used by slaves known as Underground
Railroad. The professor uses a pun on the name by substituting ‘Frail’ for ‘Rail’ or ‘Female’, since
women were once known as the ‘frail sex’. This is a sexist joke that Atwood has inserted to assert that
even after Gilead ceased to exist, times didn’t really change.
“tapes…in no particular order”- Offred’s story moves back and forth in time but seems coherent in
narrative. Atwood now suggests that the order of events is arbitrary and leaves us ro assume that thereal
significance of Offred’s tale is not WHEN things happened but that they DID happen and how she felt
about them or reacted to them.
“such judgements are of necessity culture-specific” “Gileadean society was under a good deal of
pressure, demographic and otherwise, and was subject to factors from which we ourselves are
happily more free” “our job is not to censure but to understand.”- although the audience shares the
view of the professor of not judging Gilead harshly, Atwood may be presenting to us a more profound
and complex ethical dilemma. How far can or should we stay morally neutral? If Gilead includes some
horrifying atrocities which we see in our current society, should we ignore the comparisons?
“establish an identity for the narrator”- implies that the professors’ task was to create Offred’s identity
but they fail to respond to the identity that she has established for herself.
“the first wave of women recruited”- ‘recruited’ implies that volunteers were asked for whereas Offred
expresses the forced, involuntary means by which they created handmaids.
“Nuclear plant accidents…disposal sites”- Atwood’s strong awareness of and commitment to
environmental issues led her to express her concern about humankind and civilization as a consequence of
environmental degradation.
“mistake…teaching them to read”- Atwood is aware of the extreme significance of reading and
language. She shows how Gilead closes universities and schools, bans reading in the minutiae, bans
literature and portrays reading and language as a weapon against oppression.
“particicution…echoes…fertility rites”- in such rites, men are scarified to ensure the fertility of the
earth. The irony is that such a rigorously patriarchal society like Gilead would use a practice associated
with matriarchal pagan societies.
“the human heart remains a factor”- the professor believes that Nick’s only motive is that “no male of
the Gilead period could resist the possibility of fatherhood”- the professor does not realise that the
factor of human heart could mean that Nick fell in love with or had strong affection for Offred like she
did him.
“Are there any questions?”-
Atwood does not choose to invent details of the regime or provide any form of catharsis to the anonymity
of the narration. She strives to give insight into the mind of a woman inside such a circumstance and what
her attempts are in order to survive as a body and soul.