The Handmaid's Tale Chapter Thirty-Two: Summary, Analysis, and Study Questions
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Offred enters the kitchen and finds Rita carving radishes into flower shapes, her manner indifferent. After showing Rita the parcels she has brought, Offred asks for a match, claiming Serena Joy allowed it. Rita reluctantly unlocks a cupboard, hands over a single wooden match, and mutters about the heat and the danger of fire. Offred thanks her, takes an ice cube, and compliments the radish flowers—a rare moment of small generosity from Rita.
Climbing the stairs, Offred savors the anticipation of smoking a cigarette hidden in her sleeve. The rush of nicotine—though it might make her sick—is a welcome escape. Yet she suddenly realizes she does not have to smoke it. She could shred and flush the cigarette, eat it for a milder high, or keep the match for a more dangerous purpose: hiding it in her mattress and, one night, burning the house down. The thought of that narrow, quick escape makes her shiver.
Offred lies on her bed, pretending to nap, and recalls the previous evening with the Commander. He has taken to drinking Scotch in her presence and playing Scrabble with her, occasionally cheating or letting her cheat. He sometimes turns on a short-wave radio to flaunt his access to forbidden broadcasts. After these games, he sits on the floor holding her hand, seeking intimacy. She tries to see herself through his eyes—a woman over whom he has power but who also inspires his desire to prove things and give gifts. Offred reflects on Ofglen's claim that the Commander is at the very top, which seems hard to reconcile with his behavior.
The Commander, after a few drinks, becomes philosophical. He explains that the main problem before Gilead was not with women but with men: there was nothing for men to do with women because sex was too easy and meaningless. Men were turning off on marriage and unable to feel. Offred replies that now men do feel, and he agrees, looking at her. He asks her opinion on how things have worked out. She claims to have no opinion, knowing that her silence is the only reason he can confide in her. He comforts himself with the aphorism that "better never means better for everyone."
Lying still, Offred feels the damp air pressing like a lid. She wishes for a thunderstorm that would cut the power, allowing her to sit with Rita and Cora in shared fear. She looks at the ceiling and remembers the hanged woman who once swung from the chandelier in the ballroom below—a woman now safe, while Offred feels buried.
Key Events
- Offred requests a single match from Rita, who reluctantly gives it after unlocking a cupboard.
- Offred contemplates not smoking the hidden cigarette but instead using the match to burn down the house as an escape.
- Offred recalls her nightly Scrabble sessions with the Commander, where he drinks, cheats, and sometimes shows her forbidden radio broadcasts.
- The Commander explains the Gileadean regime's justification: men needed meaningful roles with women, and easy sex had made them numb.
- Offred refuses to share her true opinion, maintaining a facade of emptiness to protect herself.
- The chapter ends with Offred's visceral memory of the hanged woman and her own sense of entombment.
Character Development
- Offred: Grows in her capacity for secret resistance, moving from small acts (asking for a match) to imagining arson. Her internal rebellion is matched by her tactical silence with the Commander. She becomes more aware of her own power, however limited, and of the psychological weight of her captivity.
- Rita: Shows a flicker of humanity by offering an ice cube and briefly acknowledging Offred's discomfort. Her grudging compliance with Serena's order hints at unspoken sympathy.
- The Commander: Reveals his self-justifying ideology, framing patriarchal control as a necessary remedy for male alienation. His need for Offred's approval and intimacy is both pathetic and dangerous.
Themes, Symbols, and Motifs
- Forbidden Objects as Power: The match and cigarette are tangible symbols of agency in a world where every object is controlled. Offred's choice to hoard the match turns it from a trivial item into a potential weapon.
- The Omelette Metaphor: The Commander's statement, "You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs," encapsulates the regime's utilitarian cruelty. It underscores the theme that "better never means better for everyone."
- Domestic Spaces as Prisons: The kitchen, stairway, and bedroom are both familiar and suffocating. Offred's wish for a thunderstorm that would let her sit with the Marthas highlights her longing for communal, unmonitored connection.
- Memory and the Hanged Woman: The image of the woman swinging from the chandelier haunts Offred, representing both the price of defiance and the ambiguous safety of death. The line "I feel buried" sums up her living burial within Gilead's architecture.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 32 deepens the novel's critique of authoritarian paternalism. The Commander's justification turns the regime into a project of restoring male feeling—a frank admission that Gilead exists not for moral purity but for male emotional satisfaction. Offred's moment of imagining arson is a crucial turning point: she ceases to be merely a passive object and starts envisioning violent escape. The chapter also humanizes Rita, a minor character, and reinforces the complex web of authority, complicity, and small kindnesses that sustain—and destabilize—the household.
Study Questions and Answers
1. What does the match symbolize for Offred, and why does she decide not to use it immediately?
The match represents potential agency and destruction. By keeping it hidden in her mattress, Offred reserves the power to act—to burn down the house—rather than wasting the opportunity on a single cigarette. The match becomes a secret talisman of hope and control.
2. How does the Commander's explanation of Gilead's origin reflect his views on gender and power?
He claims men were "turning off" because sex and marriage had become meaningless. His solution—forcing women into total submission—is framed as restoring men's ability to feel, thereby revealing a deep-seated belief that male satisfaction justifies female oppression.
3. Why does Offred refuse to give the Commander her opinion about Gilead?
She understands that her silence is the only reason he can confide in her; any opinion would break the dynamic and put her at risk. Moreover, expressing her true thoughts would be futile and dangerous. The pretended emptiness is a survival strategy.