Chapter Forty-Five: The Weight of Survival and Accusation
⚠️ 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 stands momentarily stunned after being told that someone (likely another handmaid) has died, which means she herself is safe for now. She feels great relief and thanks the dead woman for sacrificing herself so that Offred may live. Yet she distrusts the news, suspecting the woman might be lying. After recovering her composure, she enters the garden where Nick is washing the car. A wave of abjection sweeps over her: she promises God she will submit, renounce Nick, and accept her lot—everything the Red Centre taught her. She feels the true power of Gilead for the first time. Serena Joy calls her to the front steps, where she confronts Offred about lipstick on her winter cloak and throws down a purple sequined garment. Accusing Offred of vulgarity and betrayal, Serena Joy calls her a slut like the previous handmaid and sends her to her room. Nick stops whistling behind them. Offred calmly walks upstairs to her room, orderly and resigned.
Key Events
- Offred receives news of another woman’s death, which she interprets as her own safety purchase.
- She experiences an intense internal crisis, mentally promising total obedience to Gilead.
- Serena Joy confronts Offred about the lipstick-stained cloak and a purple sequined garment.
- Serena Joy verbally attacks Offred, calling her a slut and comparing her to the previous handmaid.
- Nick ceases whistling, a subtle sign of his awareness and peril.
- Offred retreats to her room with forced calm.
Character Development
- Offred / Narrator: Her internal monologue reveals a profound psychological shift. She oscillates between relief, gratitude, abjection, and pragmatic self-preservation. The crisis forces her to consider total surrender, a radical departure from her earlier defiance. Her stillness at the chapter’s end shows her learning to compartmentalize fear.
- Serena Joy: This chapter exposes her vulnerability and bitterness. She tried to help Offred (by allowing the forbidden meeting with Nick?) but feels betrayed. Her anger is laced with jealousy—possibly jealousy over Nick’s attention or over a stolen moment of intimacy. She reduces Offred to “the other one,” dehumanizing her as replaceable.
- Nick: Present but nearly silent. His stopped whistling is the only clue to his emotional involvement. He remains a passive observer, unable to intervene without endangering himself.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Abjection and Surrender: Offred’s internal plea—offering to “obliterate” herself—illustrates the psychological pressure Gilead exerts. The motif of becoming an empty vessel (“chalice”) reflects the regime’s desire to erase individual will.
- Lipstick and Sequins: These objects symbolize forbidden femininity and sexuality. Lipstick, banned for handmaids, represents Offred’s secret liaison with Nick. The purple sequined garment (likely a dress or cloak) hints at a previous life or a covert act of rebellion. Serena Joy’s disgust reveals how thoroughly the regime polices womanhood.
- Sacrifice and Guilt: Offred feels “thankful” that another woman died for her, but guilt pervades her thoughts. She knows her safety is built on another’s destruction, echoing the systemic scapegoating in Gilead.
- Power and Control: For the first time, Offred admits she feels “their true power.” The confrontation with Serena Joy is a display of domestic authority, reinforcing that even small acts of defiance are dangerous.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter marks a turning point in Offred’s emotional journey. It is the first time she fully acknowledges Gilead’s power over her psyche, even as she represses her own desires. The confrontation with Serena Joy escalates the tension in the household, setting up future conflict. Nick’s silent presence and the discovery of the lipstick-stained cloak make Offred’s precarious position undeniable. The death mentioned (likely the previous handmaid) also adds to the novel’s theme of sacrificial women.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Offred feel “abject” in this chapter, and how does this reaction contradict her earlier resistance? Offred feels abject because the news of another woman’s death forces her to confront her own mortality. Previously, she clung to small rebellions (e.g., her relationship with Nick, the secret lipstick). Now, in a moment of terror, she mentally offers total obedience, showing that Gilead can break even the most resilient spirits when survival is at stake.
2. What does Serena Joy’s accusation reveal about her relationship with Offred and with Nick? Serena Joy’s anger is personal: she trusted Offred and tried to help her, but feels betrayed by the lipstick and the sequined garment. This suggests Serena may have arranged some forbidden contact between Offred and Nick (or at least knew about it). Her rage is also possessive—she may love Nick in her own way, or at least resent Offred’s access to him. Calling Offred a “slut and “just like the other one” reveals her view of handmaids as disposable sexual threats.
3. How does the motif of silence and sound function in this chapter? Offred’s internal monologue is full of noise—fear, promises, bargaining—but she externalizes very little sound. The stark contrast is Nick’s whistling, which stops when Serena Joy reveals the lipstick. The cessation of whistling signals that Nick is aware and unwilling to betray himself. Offred’s final actions are “orderly and calm,” a quiet performance of submission that masks her inner turmoil.