Margaret atwood handmaids tale summary mary by chapter

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Sparknotes handmaid's tale chapter summary

Handmaids are fertile women who have been imprisoned and indoctrinated by the totalitarian Gilead regime in response to drastically low fertility rates; they are forced to bear children for the higher-ranking members of Gilead society. Any child Offred conceives will belong to the Commander and Serena Joy. As Offred goes about her restrictive, limited life, she frequently thinks about the time before Gilead overthrew the American government.

She was married to Luke, a man with whom she had previously had an affair. They had a daughter together.