What pushes someone to survive when everything—name, body, freedom—is stripped away?
In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood crafts a dystopian America called Gilead, where women are sorted, silenced, and controlled.
Through Offred, a Handmaid forced to bear children for the elite, we feel oppression, memory, and quiet rebellion. These 40 quotes pull you in—ready to spark?
Yearning for More
Offred’s hunger for a lost life cuts deep. She’s trapped in Gilead’s grip, yet her mind drifts to a time when the future felt limitless, not a cage.
These quotes capture that ache—a longing for meaning in a world that’s stripped it away. They ask us: What freedoms do we take for granted today?
Let’s dive into her yearning for what’s gone. Her words echo a universal ache for the past.
“We yearned for the future. How did we learn it, that talent for insatiability?”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 1, Page 3
“It isn’t running away they’re afraid of. We wouldn’t get far. It’s those other escapes, the ones you can open in yourself, given a cutting edge.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 2, Page 8
“We thought we had such problems. How were we to know we were happy?”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 9, Page 51
“To want is to have a weakness.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 23, Page 136
“I hunger to commit the act of touch.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 17, Page 99
Why It Matters: “We thought we had such problems…” (p. 51) stings with hindsight. Offred’s nostalgia mirrors ours—do we miss happiness till it’s gone?
It’s a gut punch, pushing us to see today’s freedoms before they fade. Her words linger like a warning.
Freedom’s Double Edge
Gilead twists freedom into a weapon—safety over living fully. Aunt Lydia preaches this gospel, claiming it protects women from chaos.
But Offred sees the cracks, feeling the cost of “freedom from.” These quotes clash control with true liberty, a tension we face today.
What’s freedom worth when it’s just a prettier cage? Let’s explore how Gilead’s rules choke the spirit.
“Ordinary, said Aunt Lydia, is what you are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Aunt Lydia, Chapter 6, Page 33
“There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don’t underrate it.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Aunt Lydia, Chapter 5, Page 24
“A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 27, Page 165
“That was when they suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary. There wasn’t even any rioting in the streets.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 28, Page 174
“We were a society dying of too much choice.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 5, Page 25
Why It Matters: “A rat in a maze…” (p. 165) hits hard. It’s freedom as a lie—choice in chains.
Are we blind to our own mazes? Atwood’s stark image warns us—genius.
The Weight of Being Seen
In Gilead, to be seen is to be owned. Offred recalls a time when women could choose visibility, wearing what they wanted.
Now, Aunt Lydia demands invisibility as virtue, equating sight with violation. These quotes dig into identity under scrutiny, a pressure we feel in our surveillance age.
Who gets to define us when every move is watched? Let’s unpack how Gilead’s gaze strips away self.
“They wore blouses with buttons down the front that suggested the possibilities of the word undone. These women could be undone; or not.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 5, Page 25
“Modesty is invisibility, said Aunt Lydia. Never forget it. To be seen—to be seen—is to be… penetrated.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Aunt Lydia, Chapter 5, Page 28
“I avoid looking down at my body, not so much because it’s shameful or immodest but because I don’t want to see it.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 12, Page 63
“My name isn’t Offred, I have another name, which nobody uses now because it’s forbidden.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 14, Page 84
“Give me children, or else I die.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator quoting scripture, Chapter 11, Page 61
Why It Matters: “My name isn’t Offred…” (p. 84) is her anchor. It’s defiance—a self Gilead can’t steal.
In our labeled world, it asks: who are we beyond the tags? Her fight for identity resonates deeply.
Memory’s Fragile Hold
The past is Offred’s refuge and torment. She clings to beautiful moments she can’t reclaim, like a fading dream.
Yet pain slips away too, leaving only shadows in her flesh. These quotes weave a thread of loss, both personal and universal.
They ask: how do we hold what shapes us when it’s gone? Her memories blur the line between joy and sorrow.
“When we think of the past it’s the beautiful things we pick out. We want to believe it was all like that.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 6, Page 30
“We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 10, Page 57
“But who can remember pain, once it’s over? All that remains of it is a shadow, not in the mind even, in the flesh.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 21, Page 125
“Night falls. Or has fallen. Why is it that night falls, instead of rising, like the dawn?”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 30, Page 191
“It’s impossible to say a thing exactly the way it was, because what you say can never be exact.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 23, Page 134
“As all historians know, the past is a great darkness, and filled with echoes.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Historical Notes, Chapter 46, Page 311
Resistance in Silence
Rebellion doesn’t shout—Offred proves it. She finds strength in small acts, like Latin scratched in a closet.
These quiet moments defy Gilead’s grip, showing power in the shadows. They’re a nod to silent fighters everywhere, resisting where power can’t see.
What small rebellions keep us going under pressure? Her defiance whispers hope in the dark.
“Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 9, Page 52
“Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 10, Page 56
“I believe in the resistance as I believe there can be no light without shadow.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 18, Page 105
“The night is mine, my own time, to do with as I will, as long as I am quiet.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 14, Page 87
“You can’t help what you feel, but you can help how you behave.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator quoting Moira, Chapter 30, Page 192
Why It Matters: “Nolite te bastardes carborundorum” (p. 52) is raw hope. A fake Latin lifeline, it’s Offred’s proof that resistance beats despair.
It’s a middle finger to Gilead—and any system betting we’ll break. Her quiet fight inspires us all.
Sanity on the Brink
Gilead warps reality till Offred doubts her own mind. She fights to stay whole as control tightens, clinging to small truths.
These quotes trace her struggle, showing how sanity slips under pressure. They mirror our own moments of doubt, when the world feels unsteady.
How do we anchor ourselves when everything shifts? Her battle for clarity is hauntingly familiar.
“Nothing changes instantaneously: in a gradually heating bathtub you’d be boiled to death before you knew it.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 10, Page 56
“Maybe the life I think I’m living is a paranoid delusion… Sanity is a valuable possession; I hoard it the way people once hoarded money.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 19, Page 109
“You can wet the rim of a glass and run your finger around the rim… I feel like the word shatter.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 18, Page 103
“What I need is perspective. The illusion of depth, created by a frame, the arrangement of shapes.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 24, Page 143
“There’s always something to occupy the inquiring mind.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 24, Page 144
Power and Forgiveness
Gilead’s power isn’t just force—it’s forgiveness and betrayal. Offred unpicks this in sharp quotes, revealing who holds mercy.
Control isn’t only physical; it’s who can absolve or condemn. These lines sting with truth, challenging us on control and grace.
Where do we draw the line in our own lives? Her insights cut to the core of the power game.
“But remember that forgiveness too is a power. To beg for it is a power, and to withhold or bestow it is a power.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 23, Page 134
“The moment of betrayal is the worst, the moment when you know beyond any doubt that you’ve been betrayed.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 30, Page 193
“Knowing was a temptation. What you don’t know won’t tempt you.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator quoting Aunt Lydia, Chapter 30, Page 195
“But people will do anything rather than admit that their lives have no meaning.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 33, Page 219
“How easy it is to invent a humanity, for anyone at all.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 24, Page 146
Love’s Fleeting Shape
Love in Gilead is a ghost—craved yet warped by circumstance. Offred’s memories of it clash with her present, full of ache.
It’s a longing so human yet so out of reach in her world. These quotes hit hard, asking where love lives when all is against it.
Can love survive in a place that denies it? Her reflections pierce the heart.
“I feel like cotton candy: sugar and air. Squeeze me and I’d turn into a small sickly damp wad.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 23, Page 118
“Falling in love, I said… That kind of love comes and goes and is hard to remember afterwards, like pain.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 35, Page 225
“You can only be jealous of someone who has something you think you ought to have yourself.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 26, Page 161
“I wish this story were different. I wish it were more civilized… I’m sorry there is so much pain in this story.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 41, Page 267
“Truly amazing, what people can get used to, as long as there are a few compensations.”
~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred as the narrator, Chapter 41, Page 271
Why It Matters: “Falling in love…” (p. 225) is a quiet ache. Offred’s take on love’s rise and fall feels real—beautiful, dumb, and lost.
It’s universal: love fades, but its weight stays, even in the dark. Her longing speaks to us all.
Sources
Book:
- MLA: Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. McClelland & Stewart, 1985.
- APA: Atwood, M. (1985). The Handmaid’s Tale. McClelland & Stewart.
Article:
MLA:
- Mortis, Jeremy. “45 The Handmaid’s Tale Quotes With Page Numbers to Stir Your Soul.” Ageless Investing, 15 Jan. 2024, https://agelessinvesting.com/the-handmaids-tale-quotes/, Accessed [Access Date].
APA:
- Mortis, J. (2024, January 15). 45 The Handmaid’s Tale Quotes With Page Numbers to Stir Your Soul. Ageless Investing. https://agelessinvesting.com/the-handmaids-tale-quotes/
Published on: Jan 15, 2024 | Updated: March 27, 2025
About Me
I’m Jeremy, a quote hunter and book enthusiast who digs into tales like this. Let’s find what moves us.
Jeremy Mortis, founder of Ageless Investing, applies a rigorous analytical approach (the SPARK framework) to distill timeless wisdom and contextualized quotes from classic literature, saving you time while deepening understanding. Learn more about Jeremy’s unique background and methodology on his author bio page.