{"id":361,"date":"2019-11-17T15:40:21","date_gmt":"2019-11-17T20:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/?p=361"},"modified":"2019-11-17T15:40:21","modified_gmt":"2019-11-17T20:40:21","slug":"the-handmaids-tale-ch-xiii-novels-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/2019\/11\/17\/the-handmaids-tale-ch-xiii-novels-end\/","title":{"rendered":"The Handmaid&#8217;s Tale: Ch. XIII &#8211; Novel&#8217;s End"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">This final section of <i>The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/i> leaves readers with a lot of unanswered questions. Chapter 40 begins with an unreliable account from Offred regarding her interactions with Nick. As we have discussed in reference to many of the works we\u2019ve read this semester, individuals choose to reconfigure memories in order to cope with them. In reference to her encounters with Nick, Offred notes that \u201cI made that up. It didn\u2019t happen that way\u201d (261). This uncertainty feeds into the ambivalence of the novel\u2019s final scene.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">A blog post about this final section would be incomplete without mentioning the scene where Serena Joy confronts Offred. Serena Joy summons Offred to reveal that she found her winter cloak with lipstick on it and the sequin purple costume. Serena Joy is clearly disgusted with Offred; however, I suspect that these feelings stem from the fact that Offred has a relationship with the Commander that deviates from the purpose of her role as a handmaid, bearing a child.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The novel ends with Offred waiting in her room to find out her punishment from Serena Joy. As she brainstorms potential ways to escape her penalty, the Eye\u2019s black van arrives at the house. Nick enters her room to tell her not to worry as the members of the Eye who are here to take her are apart of Mayday. Serena Joy and the Commander do not understand what Offred has done. This confusion reveals that they were not the individuals who called the Eyes. The Eyes declare that they do not need a warrant due to \u201cviolation of state secrets.\u201d This ominous ending relates to both Offred\u2019s relationships with both Nick and the Commander. I can\u2019t help but wonder what Offred\u2019s relationship with Nick was truly like, and if that influenced the novel\u2019s final scene. I might have to read the sequel as I am extremely curious as to what happens to Offred.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This final section of The Handmaid\u2019s Tale leaves readers with a lot of unanswered questions. Chapter 40 begins with an unreliable account from Offred regarding&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/2019\/11\/17\/the-handmaids-tale-ch-xiii-novels-end\/\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Handmaid&#8217;s Tale: Ch. XIII &#8211; Novel&#8217;s End<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4516,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4516"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}