Library Resources: GCC Reads- The Handmaid's Tale: Getting Started

Book Trailer

Reading Schedule by Week

Week 1- Introduction Meeting; Hand out book (Sept. 11-15)

Week 2- Chapters 1-11 (Sept. 18-22)

Week 3- Chapters 12-20 (Sept. 25-29)

Week 4- Chapters 21-29 (Oct. 2-6)

Week 5- Chapters 30-38 (Oct. 9-13)

Week 6- Chapter 39 to the End (Oct.16-20)

Introduction

"Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now..." Goodreads

25 Facts about the Handmaid's Tale and the Hulu Adaptation

GCC Catalog Description

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Call Number: FICTION ATW Leisure Read
ISBN: 9780307264602
Publication Date: 2006-10-17
(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed) A gripping vision of our society radically overturned by a theocratic revolution, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid's Tale has become one of the most powerful and most widely read novels of our time. Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife. She may go out once a day to markets whose signs are now pictures because women are not allowed to read. She must pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, for in a time of declining birthrates her value lies in her fertility, and failure means exile to the dangerously polluted Colonies. Offred can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost even her own name. Now she navigates the intimate secrets of those who control her every move, risking her life in breaking the rules. Like Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Handmaid's Tale has endured not only as a literary landmark but as a warning of a possible future that is still chillingly relevant.