Chapter Forty: The Assignment in the Garage Apartment

⚠️ 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 cannot sleep in the oppressive heat. Serena Joy arrives at midnight as planned. Together they descend the stairs, Serena gripping the banister in pain. In the kitchen, Serena whispers instructions: Offred is to go outside, turn right, enter the garage door, and climb the stairs to Nick’s apartment. Serena will wait in the kitchen to intercept anyone who might wake. Offred steps into the dark night, crosses the grass, and enters the garage. She climbs the carpeted stairs, remembering a time when such apartments were called “bachelor” or “studio” and allowed private sex. Nick opens the door.

First, Offred imagines a romantic version: a passionate, silent encounter where she is alive in her skin, falling into water. Then she corrects herself. The real scene is awkward. Nick offers her a cigarette. Their banter is stilted, quoting old movies. Offred begins to cry. Nick comforts her, holds her, and leads her to the fold-out bed. They have sex with a pragmatic agreement: “No romance,” meaning no heroics. Offred reflects on her shame and thinks of Serena waiting below. She wonders whether knowing Nick were dead would change anything. She wishes to be shameless or ignorant.

Key Events

• Offred lies awake in the heat; searchlights are off (possibly a power failure or Serena’s arrangement).
• Serena Joins Offred at midnight; they walk silently to the kitchen.
• Serena instructs Offred to go alone to Nick’s room above the garage and waits behind.
• Offred navigates the dark garage, climbs the stairs, and knocks.
• Nick opens the door; the room is minimal, with a grey U.S. Army blanket.
• Offred initially imagines a tender scene, then describes the real encounter: stilted conversation, a cigarette, then crying.
• Nick comforts her and they have sex under the “no romance” agreement.
• Offred reflects on betrayal, shame, and her own emotional response.
• She acknowledges she has reconstructed the memory—the exact details are uncertain.

Character Development

• Offred: Becomes acutely aware of her own emotional vulnerability. She cannot sustain the tough, practical persona; she breaks down crying. She also reveals self-awareness about memory and shame, admitting she may have embellished the thunder to cover the sounds she made.
• Serena Joy: Shown as weak and in pain (clinging to the banister) but also manipulative and determined. She lies to Offred that the Commander stays upstairs, yet she has orchestrated the whole arrangement. Her whispered instructions and willingness to wait highlight her desperation for a child.
• Nick: Initially cold and distant, offering only a cigarette and blunt remarks. But he softens when Offred cries, offering comfort. His line “No romance” redefines the encounter: it is not about love but survival and duty. He remains a somewhat opaque figure, acting both as a tool of the system and a reluctant human.
• The Commander: Not physically present in this chapter but referenced. Serena’s claim that he never comes down late is ironic—Offred has already met him at Jezebel’s earlier in the novel.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

• Performance vs. Reality: Offred provides two versions of the night—first a romanticized fantasy, then the awkward truth. This mirrors the theme that reality in Gilead is shaped by enforced scripts. The banter they exchange (“Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder”) is a performance from old movies, a borrowed language for a situation that has no genuine script.
• Shame and Betrayal: Offred feels shame not for the act itself but for her own responsive feelings. She reflects, “this is a betrayal. Not the thing itself but my own response.” The shame stems from her involuntary emotional involvement, which undermines the fiction that she remains detached.
• Body and Control: The scene underscores that even in a forced reproductive ritual, Offred’s body and emotions escape the system’s control. Her crying and her physical pleasure (implied in the imagined version) assert a humanity the regime tries to erase.
• Memory and Reconstruction: Offred openly admits she is uncertain about the exact details: “All I can hope for is a reconstruction.” This emphasizes the fallibility of memory and the difficulty of narrating trauma. The reader is reminded that the entire account is Offred’s subjective reconstruction.
• Symbol of the Cigarette: A simple act of sharing a cigarette becomes a fragile moment of intimacy and connection. The cigarette also links to the earlier Jezebel’s scene, where Offred smoked with the Commander. Here, the cigarette replaces any expected gesture of affection.

Why This Chapter Matters

• This chapter is the first and likely only sexual encounter between Offred and Nick as part of the baby-making ceremony. It humanizes both characters and breaks the cold, clinical tone of the official “Ceremony” with the Commander.
• It deepens Offred’s internal conflict: she must participate but cannot control her emotions. The chapter foreshadows later ambiguity in their relationship.
• The explicit contrast between fantasy and reality highlights Offred’s narrative unreliability, a key structural feature of the novel.
• Serena’s direct involvement (she orchestrates the meeting and waits in the kitchen) shows how deeply the system compromises even those in power.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Offred imagine a romantic version of the encounter before telling the real one?
Offred uses the romantic fantasy to cope with the humiliation of the assigned encounter. By imagining passion and mutual desire, she temporarily reclaims agency and dignity. The stark contrast she then draws emphasizes the awkwardness and emotional pain of the actual situation, revealing her need to reconstruct memory to bear the trauma.

2. What does Nick mean when he says “No romance”?
He means that they must not pretend this is a love affair. The phrase signals to Offred that he will not risk his life for her (no heroics). It acknowledges the artificiality of the setup and establishes a pragmatic boundary. The phrase also echoes old Hollywood films, highlighting the gap between past cultural scripts and present reality.

3. How does Offred’s reflection on shame and ignorance relate to her overall position in Gilead?
Offred wishes to be without shame or ignorance because then she would not know how ignorant she is. This paradox reflects the double bind of the Handmaid: awareness brings pain and complicity, while ignorance would allow compliance without guilt. Gilead forcibly keeps women ignorant, yet Offred’s knowledge of the past—and her own desires—creates a suffering the regime cannot control.