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Chapter 1125 wordsCompleted
Offred is introduced as a Handmaid serving the Commander and his wife in the Republic of Gilead. She is allowed to leave the Commander's house only once a day to walk to food markets, where all signage is pictorial because women are forbidden to read. Once a month she must lie on her back for the Ceremony, praying that the Commander will impregnate her as the regime faces declining birth rates and values Handmaids solely for their fertility. Throughout, Offred recalls her former life before Gilead: living with her husband Luke, protecting their daughter, holding a job, earning her own money, and having access to knowledge—all of which have been stripped away under the new order.