Alexander Cooper 
Summary of The Handmaid’s Tale 
by Margaret Atwood — A Comprehensive Summary

Summary of The Handmaid’s Tale - A Comprehensive Summary



PART 1: OUR LIVES

The novel opens with an unknown Narrator describing her life and the lives of other girls. The reader is told that the United States no longer exists, followed by stories of the past, what women are in the present day, and what rules they have to live by, such as leaving school only twice a day to walk around a football field and not being allowed to talk amongst themselves. Several women discovered a way to communicate to each other by murmuring inaudibly, thus exchanging their names.

In the second chapter, the reader learns that the Narrator is a female currently living in a house from the Victorian era. The house, belonging to someone named the Commander and his Wife, is set up in such a way that suicide is not possible for anyone living inside.

The Narrator has a special costume that she needs to wear, consisting of a muffling red ensemble, a headdress with a veil, and white wings on the side of her face.

The woman goes shopping with tokens that the cook, Rita, gave her to exchange for food. Rita and the housekeeper, Cora, belong to a caste called the Marthas who wear green. It would appear that the Marthas are allowed certain other freedoms, such as the ability to gossip with one another.



To be continued…






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