The Handmaid’s Tale Chapter 6 Summary

Chapter Five: chapter recap, key events, character developments, and running summary.

By Margaret Atwood

46 chapters

Chapter Five

Chapter 62,584 wordsCompleted

Offred exits the Red Center and walks the streets of Gilead’s city with Ofglen. The neighborhood is composed of tidy, model‑town houses, a Guardian mowing a lawn, and a silent, museum‑like atmosphere with no children. They pass a main street where black and grey cars move, and see women in red Handmaid dresses, dull‑green Martha uniforms, and striped econowives, noting the absence of Commanders’ Wives on sidewalks.

The two Handmaids reach the “Milk and Honey” shop, identified by a wooden sign of three eggs, a bee, and a cow. A line forms two by two; they wait for tokens to be exchanged with two Guardian men behind the counter. Offred looks at oranges, which are scarce because of the war, and plans to tell Rita about obtaining them. While waiting, Offred hears other women whisper about a newly arrived, heavily pregnant Handmaid. She recognizes the pregnant woman as Janine, a former Red Centre inmate, and feels envy and jealousy toward her protected status.

After purchasing milk and eggs, Offred and Ofglen move to the “All Flesh” butcher shop, marked by a hanging wooden pork chop. Ofglen buys steak; Offred selects chicken wrapped in butcher paper. Offred recalls obsolete plastic shopping bags and the wasteful habits of her pre‑Gilead life.

Outside, a group of Japanese tourists arrives, led by an interpreter in a blue suit with a winged‑eye tie‑pin. The tourists are enthusiastic, photographing the surroundings. The interpreter asks the Handmaids if they may be photographed; Offred shakes her head, aware that showing only the white wings is permissible, while the rest of her face must remain hidden. She notes the interpreter may be an Eye.

The interpreter then asks if the Handmaids are happy. Offred, after a brief internal struggle, replies softly, “Yes, we are very happy,” complying with Aunt Lydia’s instruction to appear impenetrable. Throughout the scene, Offred reflects on the regime’s definition of “freedom from,” the controlled visibility of women, and the lingering longing for the freedoms of her past life.

What happened until now

Summary of the chapters no chapter name to Chapter Five.

Offred, now a Handmaid in Gilead, lives under strict rules: daily trips to picture‑sign markets, monthly sexual ceremony with the Commander in hopes of pregnancy, and she reflects on her lost past with husband Luke and daughter. Women are confined to a repurposed gymnasium, sleeping on army cots under dim lights while Aunt Sara and Aunt Elizabeth patrol with electric cattle prods; the “Angels” (guards) guard the perimeter, and the women develop a silent network of whispers, lip‑reading, and hand‑touch to exchange names such as Alma, Janine, Dolores, Moira, and June. Offred provides a detailed description of her Red Center room—the chair, lamp, half‑opening window, wooden floor, rug, flower print, lack of glass, and the bell that marks time. She notes her red uniform elements (shoes, gloves, skirt, wings) and the symbolism of blood. She moves through the hallway, observing the runner carpet, grandfather clock, front sitting room, fanlight, mirror, and umbrella stand with distinct umbrellas for the Commander, his Wife, and herself. In the kitchen she meets Rita, a Martha, who hands her three tokens after kneading bread and engages in a brief, tense dialogue about the colonists, reproductive control, and the token exchange system. Rita’s sister‑like companion Cora appears, discussing the Colonies and the risk of “Unwomen.” Offred reflects on the enforced isolation, the desire for touch, and the invented term “sororize.” The chapter ends with Offred receiving tokens for fresh eggs and a chicken, cementing the quotidian barter system in the Red Center. Offred meets the Commander’s Wife for the first time; the Wife’s garden, knitting, and black‑market cigarettes are described; a tense initial confrontation over Offred’s arrival and belongings occurs; Offred identifies the Wife as Serena Joy, revealing her public persona and personal cruelty. Offred meets Nick, a low‑status Guardian who works on the household car and is hinted to be an “Eye”; she is paired with a new Handmaid walking partner, Ofglen, and they exchange the standard greetings while discussing war news; they pass a checkpoint guarded by two very young Guardians, experience a brief, almost‑defiant eye‑contact moment, and Offred reflects on the power dynamics of the encounter. Offred and Ofglen leave the Red Center, walk through Gilead’s residential streets, shop at Milk and Honey and All Flesh, encounter a visibly pregnant Handmaid (Janine), observe a group of Japanese tourists and an interpreter, and reflect on the regime’s imposed “freedom from” and their own constrained happiness.

Chapter Intelligence

Characters and settings known up to the selected chapter.

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Offred