The Handmaid’s Tale Chapter 7 Summary

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

By Margaret Atwood

46 chapters

Chapter Six

Chapter 71,553 wordsCompleted

Offred and Ofglen leave All Flesh and choose the long route, stopping at Ofglen’s request to “pass by the church.” The sun is bright, clouds like “headless sheep,” but their “wings” and “blinkers” force them to glance upward in brief, fragmented looks. They walk past a river‑side boathouse, old dormitories with painted turrets, and a football stadium used for Men’s Salvagings. When they reach the small, centuries‑old church‑turned‑museum, they remain outside, noting its free admission, the interior paintings of women in sombre dresses and unsmiling men, and the weathered gravestones with skulls, crossed bones, angels, hourglasses, urns, and willow trees. Ofglen bows her head as if praying, a habit Offred suspects may be linked to a personal loss, though she doubts its sincerity.

Turning away, they come to the Wall, a centuries‑old red‑brick barrier now fitted with sentry‑post floodlights, barbed wire, and broken‑glass spikes. Beside the main gate there are six bodies hanging by the necks, hands tied, white bags covering their heads, some stained with blood. The hanging men are recently executed “Men’s Salvage” victims—doctors or scientists—each wearing a white coat and a placard around the neck depicting a human foetus, marking them as “angel‑makers” retroactively condemned for illegal abortions. Offred notes the hooks in the brick, the eerie “steel question‑mark” shapes, the white bags that make the heads look like empty snowmen, and the single bag with blood seeping through, forming a gruesome red smile. She reflects on the intended horror of the display, the regime’s demand for hatred, and her own blank, detached reaction, noting a small relief that none of the bodies is Luke. Offred juxtaposes the red of the blood‑stained bag with the red tulips in Serena Joy’s garden, concluding that each object exists independently. She feels a tremor in Ofglen, wonders if she is crying, and tightens her grip on her basket, reminding herself to appear ordinary as Aunt Lydia taught. The scene ends with Offred observing the Wall’s spectacle, the guards and sentries, and the silent, forced conformity demanded of the Handmaids.

What happened until now

Summary of the chapters no chapter name to Chapter Six.

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. Offred and Ofglen take a detour past All Flesh, stop at an old museum‑church, then view the Wall where six newly‑hanged men—identified as former doctors by fetal‑drawn placards—are displayed under floodlights, prompting Offred’s stark reflections on the regime’s punishment and Ofglen’s ritualistic posture.

Chapter Intelligence

Characters and settings known up to the selected chapter.