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"The trouble is, I said, I don't have anywhere to keep it. In your room, he said, as if it were obvious. They'd find it, I said, someone would find it. Why? he asked, as if he really didn't know" (Atwood 159).

I quoted this conversation between Offred and the Commander because it was  shocking that the Commander doesn't know the conditions of handmaids and what really happens to the them; for example, having no belongings or privacy with their rooms being checked. It seems like something he should be aware of. It's like the people who have power are only aware of themselves and not what's going on with others in this society.

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"If I'm caught, it's Serena's tender mercies I'll be delivered. He isn't supposed to meddle in such household discipline, that's women's business. After that, reclassification. I could become an Unwoman. But to refuse to see him could be worse. There's no doubt about who holds the real power" (Atwood 136).

This quote is important because it shows how much power the commander holds over the women around him. It also alludes that Offred doesn't really have a choice in her decisions because either way she will most likely be punished. It shows how trapped Offred feels and how powerless she truly is.

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"Maybe none of this is about control. Maybe it isnt really about who can whom, who can do what to whom and get away with is, even as far as death. Maybe it isnt about who can sit and who has to kneel or stand or lie down, legs spread open. Maybe its about who can do what to whom and be forgiven for it. Never tell me it amounts to the same thing"(Atwood 135).

i found this quote interesting because Offred's whole perspective on how Gilead is ran. She seems to have seen a deeper structure to it and i think its important to see how her idea of this society changes throughout the book especially considering she is our only window into Gilead its good to see how someone who's living there is viewing this situation.

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"He was so sad.
That is a reconstruction, too." (Atwood 140)

This quote shows how Offred is trying to justify her behavior. In making the commander to be a sad, lonely man, instead of a well off rich veteran, she can excuse her heretic and potentially dangerous (to both her and the commander) behavior as a mercy to this old man. In a way, by allowing herself to pity another, she can escape her feelings towards her own pitiful life.

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"He smiles. The smile is not sinister or predatory. It's merely a smile, a formal kind of smile, friendly but a little distant, as if I'm a kitten in a window. One he's looking at but doesn't intend to buy." (Atwood 138)

I think this quote alone can show what the Commander wants with Offred and it also adds some emotion to the book. Offred never talked too much about the people around her, more about the environment and the space so this quote also stands out and shows the difference in atmosphere Offred is having with the Commander. Also, the last sentence shows how he isn't objectifying her here.

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"Moira had power now, she'd been set loose, she'd set herself loose. She was now a loose woman. I think we found this frightening" (Atwood 133).

I picked this quote because it was the first time in the book that we see a woman taking control of her own life and herself. In this new situation we see a woman holding power, and despite this frightening others, it also shows them that there is another path. This also directly connects to rebellion and resistance, where Moira is clearly rebelling, and potentially encouraging others to as well.

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"For him, I must remember, I am only a whim" (Atwood 159).

I think that this quote is important because it shows a different side of the Commander. But it also reinforces the Commander's past character traits we know him by. Additionally, it displays how the Offred is slightly more special now than in the past. She has a secret, that only her and the Commander share, and I think that secretive aspect to their situation is really significant.  I think it is room for change, and it's a starting point for what they are and what they could be, leaving hope for the future.

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"What I remember now, most of all, is the make-up"(Atwood 146).

In this passage, it explained the interview featuring the women who was married to a Nazi during World War II. Throughout the interview, the woman was constantly defending her husband and how she never saw him or his actions as evil. However, when the author finished with this quote, I found it really interesting how the author could see through the woman's lies. She knew that the woman was most likely defending her husband or simply just frightened by his power. By using the word "make-up" the author shows her confidence in knowing that the woman was secretly against her husband; just like Offred is deep down against this society.

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"What I need is perspective... Perspective is necessary... Otherwise you live in the moment. Which is not where I want to be." (Atwood 143).

This quote shows the impact Gilead has other their lives. Gilead has limited their way of viewing the world. What used to be very diverse is now "2 dimensional". The limited perspectives cause Offred to "live in the moment" but she desires something better. She needs more perspectives to life the live she wants, not the one she is currently in.

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"We are for breeding purposes: we aren't concubines, geisha girls, courtesans. On the contrary: everything possible has been done to remove us from that category. There us supposed to be nothing entertaining about us, no room is to be permitted for the flowering of secret lust" (Atwood 136).

It stuck out because it seemed to call attention to what they were not. Additionally
it provided more context to what they appeared to be.

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"But remember that forgiveness too is a power. To beg for it is power, and to withhold or bestow it is a power, perhaps the greatest"(Atwood 135). I really liked this quote because it just shows how much Offred really thinks about her life and what's going on around her. I also think that this quote can be applied to any time or place. It just is so powerful and shows that she realizes that she is important not the little thing that the Aunts make her out to be.

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"If you happen to be a man, sometime in the future, and you've made it this far, please remember: you will never be subjected to the temptation or feeling you must forgive, a man, as a woman," (Atwood 134).

I really loved that the author included this quote because I think it truly encaptures a lot of what this book is trying to convey. Women in society make a lot of excuses and accept a lot of apologies from men, a cycle that is displayed to an extreme in this book. Men will never have to experience what it's like as a woman to feel obligated to forgive certain treatments.

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"The fact is that I'm his mistress. Men at the top have always had mistresses, why should things be any different now?" (Atwood 163).

This quote is important because it shows Offred recognizing herself in a role that her mother had looked negatively upon and reflects another way she feels she would be disappointing her mother. Offred is being as defensive by asking a question she presumes people would have and is able to reinforce the power structure by justifying the privilege of the commander: Offred is clearly desperate and is opressing herself in this situation because her ability to have this "freedom" as a mistress results from a situation that a relationship is considered to be a form freedom and the only way she can access any sort of a relationship is through being a mistress.

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"I now had power over her, of a kind, although she didn't know it. And I enjoyed that. Why pretend? I enjoyed it a lot" (Atwood 162).
This quote is important because it shows Offred's desire to have power and control over others (like Serena Joy in this situation). She doesn't have a lot of power over her own life, so it shows how important this freedom is to her because it is so rare in her life.

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"He wanted me to play Scrabble with him, and kiss him as if I meant it. This is one of the most bizarre things that's happened to me, ever. Context is all" (Atwood 144).

I think this quote is really interesting because of the idea about context she shares. Where this might have been pretty normal and mundane in her old life, now this is something that is illegal and bizarre. This idea of context being all and her recognizing that shows that she remains self aware.

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"If it's only a story, it becomes less frightening" (Atwood 144). The reason I chose this quote as quote of the day is because it shows how character act in Gilead. This is a quote that I would relate to Serena Joy. She is someone who ignores what is going on in the lives of the handmaids and just does her own thing. This story that was being told my Offred's mother and it relates back to Offred's life which is seen towards the end of the reading.

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"'I want . . .' he says. / I try not to lean forward. Yes? Yes yes? What, then? What does he want? But I won't give it away, this eagerness of mine. It's a bargaining session, things are about to be exchanged. She who does not hesitate is lost. I'm not giving anything away: selling only" (Atwood 138).
This quote is important because it reveals the sort of mindset that Offred operates in, showing the readers the severe consequences that her actions then and there could have on her fate and life within Gilead. It further reveals the various things that Offred feels she must do in order to survive, as suggested earlier in the book.

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"He was not a monster, she said. People say he was a monster, but he was not one. What could she have been thinking about? not much, I guess; not back then, not at that time" (Atwood 145). This quote interested me because it reminds readers that humans are so adaptable to evil and are willing to turn a blind eye to injustice so their lives can see normal. So many people are powerless in times of tyranny, it is unfair to place our judgement onto them. Really the only choice they have is to fight it early or to flee.

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"I now had power over her, of a kind, although she didn't know it. And I enjoyed that" (162).
Offred reflects about her new found power over Serena Joy. The reason she enjoys this so much is because she also finds hope within this secret power. It is interesting though because she is also torn between powerful and jealous, she knows Serena Joy would be jealous of her but at the same time Offred is still jealous of her which creates this inner conflict that Offred reflects upon multiple times.

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"Don't do that again, I said to him the next time we were alone."(Atwood 162)
This quote stood out to me since I think it is the first time that Offred and the commander have a conversation that doesn't emphasize the difference of power they have.  The tone of the quote suggests that Offred is demanding him not to do whatever he did, showing the power balance of the two characters start to change.

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"What I need is perspective. The illusion of depth, created by a frame, the arrangement of shapes on a flat surface" (Atwood 143).

This quote is one of the first times we see Offred acknowledge the limited knowledge she has of her circumstances, but also when she realizes that there is more than what she is shown. What she sees in society is heavily controlled and manipulated, and this is a point where she realizes that taking a step back to truly understand her circumstances may be important.

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"To him I am not merely empty" (Atwood 163).
I chose this quote because I believe this is the main positive impact of the relationship with the Commander on Offred's life. His treatment of her, makes her feel human again; for he views her as one. It is refreshing for her because up to this moment, she has always been treated as an object, and now he opened a new door for her by socializing with her as he would with another human.

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"Nevertheless Moira was our fantasy. We hugged her to us, she was with us in secret, a giggle; she was lava beneath the crust of daily life. In the light of Moira, the Aunts were less fearsome and more absurd. Their power had a flaw to it" (Atwood 133).
I choose this quote because it shows the symbolism of Moira to the Handmaids. She represents the idea of potential freedom for the Handmaids, and she plants the seed of doubt surrounding the Aunt's power.

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“You can think clearly only with your clothes on” (Atwood, 143).

I think this is one of the most important quotes of our reading because she’s merely repeating what she’s been told her whole life. She’s been taught that women can’t think clearly without their clothes on, furthering beliefs that women’s bodies are bad. This is blatant sociocentrism and a prime example of “I believe it because I have always believed it.”