Reading Log

Date: 10/4/22
3-4 sentence summary of the last section you read in your own words:
Offred is walking with her partner, Ofglen, in the town shopping for groceries. The two
handmaids are partnered to spy on each other in case the other breaks obedience. On their
walk they meet a pregnant handmaid and a group of tourists from Japan. They also witness
the hanging of doctors, who were executed for performing abortions.

Reading section for today:

Page # Observation Evidence and Explanation

39 Offred is reminiscing ideas about her
past and trying to remember her past,
but she can’t remember all the details
“I would like to believe this is a story I’m
telling. I need to believe it. I must believe
it.”
Offred reveals how the story she just told is
not the full story and can’t recall all the
memories of her past. However, she tries
to remember the past by storytelling since
writing is forbidden.

50 In Offred’s past life, her husband was
secretly having an affair with her while
married to another woman
“ Luke was still in flight from his wife, when
I was still imaginary for him… It might just
be an affair.”
Luke was trying to run away from a
marriage he was in and this led him to
Offred, or whatever her name was in her
previous life. They would meet in hotel
rooms to see each other because Luke
was trying to hide the fact that he was
having an affair behind his wife’s back

Date: 10/5/22
3-4 sentence summary of the last section you read in your own words:
When Offred first moved into her current situation she searched the room that was now hers.
In the room she found a secret message, which she can’t read, who she believes is from the
previous handmaid. She tries figuring out who the handmaid was from the Marthas but
couldn’t get any information. She periodically reads the message as a way to feel
communication with the girl who wrote it.

Reading section for today: The interaction between the past and the present
Page # Observation Evidence and Explanation

56 The normality in the past has “Is that how we lived then? But we lived as
changed, with the present being a new usual. Everyone does, most of the time.
normal. A new normal where even Whatever is going on is as usual”
 thinking about the past made it seem
outlandish.
63 The past is so different from the
present, that even now in the present
Offred hates the idea of how she
acted in the past.
Date: 10/6/22
3-4 sentence summary of the last section you read in your own words:
Offred goes to the doctor for her monthly checkup. However, when she's alone with the doctor
he offers to impregnate her. She’s terrified at the thought because if she’s caught she’ll be
killed. The idea conflicts her as the doctor seems sincere and she wants to get pregnant, but
she doesn’t want to get caught.
Reading section for today:
Page # Observation
65 Offred’s voice is constantly confused
and afraid as she doesn’t know the
limits of her freedom as a handmaid
81 Offred looks to expand her power and
feel less controlled
Offred recalls a past memory with her
friend, Moira. The memory is so different
from the normality of the present, that she
can’t believe she ever partook in activities
like that in her life because it's so unusual
now.
“My nakedness is strange to me already.
My body seems outdated. Did I really wear
bathing suits at the beach?”
Offred has to give herself a bath and to do
this she must undress. However, even this
feels weird to her. She reminisces about
the past, where she used to wear bathing
suits and finds it disgusting that she used
to show her body like that.
Evidence and Explanation
“Could I leave it on the plate, ask Cora not
to report me? I chew and swallow, chew
and swallow.”
Offred doesn’t know what she’s allowed to
do and not do as a handmaid. She has to
be smart about the limits she tests
otherwise she could face serious
consequences. She’s afraid of the
consequences that she knows she’d face;
however, it seems like also doesn’t care
“I would like to steal something from this
room… It would make me feel that I have
power.”
Offred is controlled by the Commander,
Serena Joy and the Marthas. She is at the
bottom of the hierarchy and would do
anything to get out of it so she could gain a
greater sense of power. Power brings her
enjoyment and with enjoyment she find the
will to free herself