Chapter 96: Epigraph – Summary & Analysis
⚠️ 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
Chapter 96 presents three epigraphs drawn from distinct sources. The first is a biblical passage from Genesis 30:1-3, recounting Rachel’s desperation over her infertility. She confronts Jacob, demanding children, and Jacob responds with anger, deflecting responsibility to God. Rachel then proposes that Jacob conceive children through her maidservant Bilhah, a form of surrogacy.
The second epigraph comes from Jonathan Swift’s 1729 satirical essay A Modest Proposal. The speaker describes years of frustration with visionary solutions before “falling upon” a shocking proposal to solve poverty by selling children as food. The tone is mock-serious, underscoring Swift’s savage critique of exploitative policies.
The third epigraph is a Sufi proverb: “In the desert there is no sign that says, Thou shalt not eat stones.” This aphorism suggests that even in an apparently lawless or barren environment, some prohibitions are so obvious they need not be stated—yet they can still be violated.
Together, these texts frame the novel’s central concerns: female bodily autonomy, the failure of institutions, extreme solutions to systemic problems, and the invisible rules that govern oppression. They do not advance a plot but establish a thematic lens for the story to come.
Key Events
- The chapter is composed entirely of three quoted texts; no narrative action occurs.
- The Genesis passage presents Rachel’s emotional demand for children and Jacob’s hostile response, leading to Rachel’s solution of surrogacy via Bilhah.
- The Swift excerpt recounts the speaker’s abandonment of idealistic plans in favor of a monstrous economic scheme.
- The Sufi proverb offers a paradoxical truth about unspoken moral boundaries in harsh settings.
Character Development
Since this chapter contains only epigraphs, no fictional characters from the novel appear. The figures referenced are:
- Rachel – A biblical matriarch consumed by envy and desperation due to infertility; she negotiates a loophole through her servant.
- Jacob – Rachel’s husband, who becomes angry when questioned about her childlessness, asserting God’s sovereignty.
- Jonathan Swift (as implied speaker) – The satirical persona weary of ineffective solutions, now pretending to advocate infanticide as policy.
- The Sufi proverb’s implied observer – An anonymous voice that notes the absence of a sign forbidding the consumption of stones, inviting reflection on natural law versus written law.
Themes, Symbols & Motifs
Infertility and Female Powerlessness
Rachel’s cry “Give me children, or else I die” captures the social death facing barren women in patriarchal societies. Her only agency is to offer another woman’s body, reinforcing her lack of control over her own fertility. This motif reverberates throughout Atwood’s treatment of reproductive rights.
Satire as Social Critique
Swift’s passage exemplifies using absurdity to expose cruelty. By having the speaker “fall upon” an outrageous proposal after exhausting constructive efforts, Atwood points to the way systemic failures drive people toward extreme, often dehumanizing solutions.
Unspoken Rules and Natural Law
The Sufi proverb operates on a double meaning: in a desert that lacks explicit prohibitions, the very absence of a sign implies that eating stones is unnatural—yet the statement acknowledges that someone might consider it. This tension between explicit and implicit rules foreshadows the novel’s exploration of totalitarian control and the limits of resistance.
Biblical Allusion and Feminist Re-reading
The Genesis passage, when paired with Swift and the Sufi proverb, is stripped of its original theological context. Atwood invites readers to view the biblical story as a prototype for female subjugation and reproductive exploitation.
Why This Chapter Matters
The epigraph chapter serves as a compressed prelude to the novel’s central conflicts. Each quote operates as a thematic seed: the Genesis story prefigures a society where women are valued only for their wombs; Swift’s satire mirrors the novel’s own satirical treatment of oppressive regimes; the Sufi proverb warns that the absence of formal laws does not mean freedom. By layering these ancient, early-modern, and folk sources, Atwood establishes a transhistorical conversation about power, desperation, and the human capacity for justifying cruelty. This chapter matters because it conditions the reader to watch for those echoes in the narrative that follows.
Study Questions & Answers
1. How does the Genesis passage relate to the theme of surrogacy in the novel?
The passage depicts Rachel using her maid Bilhah as a surrogate to bear children “upon my knees.” This arrangement mirrors the novel’s central institution where handmaids are forced to bear children for elite couples. Atwood takes the biblical precedent and literalizes it as a dystopian policy, highlighting the dehumanization inherent in reducing women to vessels.
2. In what way does Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” function as a satirical tool in the epigraph?
Swift’s essay attacks the callous economic rationalism of his era by proposing that the poor sell their children as meat. By quoting this work, Atwood signals that the novel will use similar satirical exaggeration to critique modern indifference toward suffering and the commodification of human life. The speaker’s “falling upon this proposal” suggests that extreme measures arise when compassion fails.
3. What does the Sufi proverb imply about the role of written laws versus unwritten codes in the novel’s world?
The proverb states that in a desert, no sign forbids eating stones, yet the act is self-evidently destructive. This implies that oppressive regimes do not need to outlaw every humane act—people internalize prohibitions. In the novel, the absence of explicit rules against certain freedoms does not grant liberty; instead, a brutal unwritten code governs behavior, making rebellion both urgent and dangerous.