Synopsis of Historical Notes
This section is supposedly a transcript of one lecture from a conference, held in the year
2195, of historians interested in the former Republic of Gilead, which, it is implied, ceased to
exist some time in the late twentieth/early twenty-first century. The conference is being held
in Canada, and the speaker is a Professor Pieixoto from the University of Cambridge,
England, talking on ‘Problems of Authentication in Reference to The Handmaid's Tale'.
He describes how he and a colleague, Professor Wade, have been working on transcripts of a
group of about thirty old cassette tapes found in a metal box in what had once, before Gilead,
been the State of Maine. Professor Wade has given the title The Handmaid's Tale to these
tapes. The voice on all the cassettes is the same, but they have no way of knowing the correct
order in which they should be organised, nor even if they are authentic. Pieixoto points out
that, in Gilead at the time the material deals with, the tapes could not have been recorded,
since a Handmaid would have had no access to such facilities, so presumably they were not
made at the time the speaker is talking about (even though most of the material is in the
present tense).
Professors Pieixoto and Wade have tried to establish the identity of the Handmaid, but with
no success. They realise that she must have been one of the first women forced by the régime
to try to bear children because of the fertility problems in Gilead - the result of AIDS,
syphilis, nuclear-plant accidents and toxic leakages. However, they do not know her name,
and suspect that other names she mentions may be pseudonyms to protect identities.
They have tried instead to identify the Commander in the story, and have come up with two
suggestions: a Frederick Waterford and a Frederick Judd. Waterford was responsible for the
design of uniforms, and details of names and ceremonial details for activities such as
Salvagings, whilst Judd was involved in the massacre of Congress at the time the new régime
took over, and for the forced emigration of Jews. Judd was also responsible for promoting the
idea of particicution, and for forming the group known as the Aunts, whereas Waterford
thought of giving them the reassuring names of well-known commercial products.
However, neither of these men was married to a woman called Serena Joy, but they think this
name may have been invented by the Handmaid. They think the evidence is most in favour of
the Commander being Waterford, who was executed for being in possession of literary
material and for ‘harbouring a subversive', which could have been Offred.
Pieixoto admits that they have no idea what happened to the Handmaid, and whether Nick
really assisted her. He may have done so, Pieixoto suggests, because Nick himself would
have been in danger after indulging in illicit sexual activity and could not risk Offred talking
under torture.
Pieixoto then asks if there are any questions.
Commentary on Historical Notes
These ‘Historical Notes' completely alter our perception of the novel. We have been made
aware throughout that Offred's account is a construct, but now we are told that the order of
the material is totally arbitrary. We are also asked to consider the Republic of Gilead not as a
possible future state, but as one that existed in the past, as far as the speaker is concerned
(even though this is our future from our now).
Notes - This term perhaps suggests something relatively unimportant, as if the whole of
Offred's experiences is a mere side issue for these historians
Gileadean Studies - The Republic of Gilead no longer exists, and is merely the subject of
historical research. This is a reminder to Atwood's readers that even the most powerful
régime or empire will in time fail or fade into obscurity.
Denay, Nunavit
Nunavut is a genuine place - a large region of northern Canada
famed for Inuit culture and ‘handmade’ artefacts. Being a
Canadian, it seems apt that Atwood chose this location. It also
suggests that the MayDay underground group may have
originally (in the future) moved even further north into Canada.
Atwood's choice of the names for this place and region create an interesting pun:
‘Denay’ is Latin for denial or deny – so Denay Nunavit = ‘deny none of it'! This suggests
that, although Pieixoto is patronising and flippant about Offred's experiences, Atwood may
well be indicating that there is an essential truth to be found in her narrative.
Chair ... Keynote Speaker - The Chair is a woman, and her name “Maryann Crescent
Moon” suggests that she is of native Canadian Indian descent. Another reference is made to
this with “Professor Johnny Running Dog”. This suggests strong Indigenous academinc
community in the future post-Gilead.
However, the Speaker – Pieixoto – is from a different academic background, is male and
indulges in patronising comments belittling women.
The Nature Walk - these activities suggest a very different environment from the toxicwaste and nuclear fall-out background which so affected Gilead. Atwood herself spent her
childhood summers in the Canadian backwoods with her entomologist father.
Republic of Texas - We learn that the structure of the USA has obviously changed if Texas
is now a separate republic.
Gileadean Civil Wars - Presumably the rebels grew in numbers until civil war erupted - an
echo of the Civil War in nineteenth century America.
If not personally - The word ‘personally' is significant: ironically, Pieixoto, like Offred, is
only known through what is written; yet his writings are obviously impersonal and, as we see
later, he does not value her revelation of her own thoughts and personality.
Authentication - The Professors are only interested in proving the provenance of the
material. Its actual content, and the way in which Offred shares her thoughts with us, together
with her insights into human relationships, seem of little or no interest to them. Later Pieixoto
expresses regret that the Handmaid did not talk about ‘the workings of the Gileadean empire'.
He never discusses what she does talk about.
This reference to authenticity also plays into Atwood’s choice of structure and style. The first
person, reflective, journal-style narration and the structure of the text brings into question the
authenticity of Offred’s account.
‘enjoy' - Pieixoto indulges in a sexist punning joke: he enjoyed eating the fish, char, and he
finds the Chair pleasant, but he implies that a man such as himself might once have ‘enjoyed'
such a women sexually.
Also, the “obsolete third” meaning of “enjoy” in Latin (now archaic and not used) meas to
“rejoice”. Here is the suggestion that there is no religion following the fall of the theocratic
Gilead. Hence, no “rejoice” – it is obsolete as an act.
“superscription ‘The Handmaid's Tale' – superscription means to etch or write upon a
surface, again, an allusion to Atwood’s palimpsestic structure and use of voice. Ironically,
Offred’s tale is not even named by her, furthering the sense of loss of power and agency.
Chaucer - Chaucer, the fourteenth century English poet wrote a series of
stories in verse called The Canterbury Tales, including, for example, The Wife of Bath's Tale.
puns … intentional, particularly … tail - Pieixoto - and some of his audience - find it
amusing that his colleague has chosen a title which makes a joke about Offred's being forced
into sexual slavery.
Underground Frailroad - In chapter 38, there was an escape route from Gilead known as
the Underground Femaleroad - an echo of the nineteenth century escape route for slaves
known as the Underground Railroad. Pieixoto puns on the name substituting ‘Frail' for ‘Rail'
or ‘Female', since females were once known as the ‘frail sex'. This is another sexist joke
which Atwood - a feminist - ascribes to the Professor, suggesting therefore that she is
presenting a type of man whose views we are not to share.
U.S. Army issue - Nick had a U.S. Army blanket, though this does not offer any proof that
he was involved in hiding the tapes. As Pieixoto says, ‘This fact of itself need have no
significance.'
two or three songs - In chapter 10, Offred recalls her mother's old cassette tapes of songs.
She says that her mother had ‘a scratchy and untrustworthy machine, too' and would play the
music tapes for her friends.
camouflage – the suggestion that Offred kept the opening songs on a tape and only then
began to record her voice enhances her need for expression but also privacy and secrecy. Her
story is hidden between a soundtrack of songs.
tapes … in no particular order....approximate - In the rest of the novel, Offred's story
moves backwards and forwards in time, but seems a coherent narrative. Now Atwood seems
to suggest that the order of events is arbitrary – a best-guess construction by these historians leaving us to assume that the real significance of Offred's tale is not when things happened
but what happened and how she felt about them or reacted to them.
Several instances of such forgeries – Atwood may be alluding to the Hitler Diaries – a set
of fake diaries which a German newspaper paid over 9 million Deutschmarks for, only to
discover that they were complete fakes. Again, she is using her context of production (novel
published in 1985 and written in Berlin) to enhance the fiction of her text.
There is a certain reflective quality about the narrative that would to my mind rule out
synchronicity… - Pieexoto identifies that the tapes were made after the resolution of
Offred’s narrative to the reader.
judgements are … culture-specific ... not .. censure but .. understand - Although the
audience seems to share Pieixoto's view that we should not judge Gilead harshly, Atwood
may well be presenting us with a more complex ethical dilemma: how far can, or should, we
stay morally neutral? If the depiction of Gilead includes some terrible atrocities which we
find echoed in our own society, should we ignore the comparisons?
establish an identity for the narrator - Pieixoto and Wade see their task as ‘establishing an
identity' for Offred, but fail to respond to the identity which she has established for herself
through her narrative.
The first wave of women recruited - ‘Recruited' suggests that volunteers were asked for,
whereas Offred's account makes it clear that women were arrested, imprisoned and forced
into sexual slavery. Pieixoto goes on to describe the men who ‘required such services and
could lay claim to them', which seems to suggest that men such as the Commander had a
right to use women in such a way. The Historical Notes provide a contextual understanding
of Gilead which is more historical, facual, than one which takes into account Offred’s
emotions and experiences.
Birth control…abortion…AIDS epidemic – Atwood’s inclusion of historical events that
are familiar to a 1980s reader reinforces the sense of cognitive estrangement to base the
fictional Gilead into a factual context.
Nuclear-plant accidents … disposal sites - Atwood's strong awareness of, and commitment
to, environmental issues has in recent years led to her writing two dystopian novels about a
cataclysmic end to most of humankind and to civilisation as we know it: Oryx and
Crake and The Year of the Flood. Her inclusion of these 20th and 21st century contextual
factors reinforce her message.
Romania…anticipated Gilead - Nicolae Ceausescu was a Communist official and leader
of Romania from 1965 until he was overthrown and killed in a revolution in 1989. A
tyrannical dictator, he was executed in a revolution.
Utah in the nineteenth century - A reference to the Mormons, a religious group founded in
America in the mid-nineteenth century, which initially supported the idea of polygamy (men
having several wives).
[Gilead’s} racist policies…firmly rooted in the pre-Gilead period…emotional fuel…as it
did – Prescient words. The reference to pre-Gilead racism is to slavery, however, to our
current context of reception, the “emotional fuel” of Trump’s Twitter-speak and the conflict
between the MAGA movement and BLM in 2020/2021 provides a stark reminder that history
repeats itself.
Our author … was one of many - Pieixoto seems to undermine the idea of Offred's
individuality. As she herself said in chapter 30, ‘One and one and one and one doesn't equal
four. Each one remains unique.' (See also Themes and significant ideas > Individualism and
identity.)
Names … connection - Pieixoto's choice of terminology again diminishes the horror of what
happened to these women. They did not ‘take' the names, but, against their own wills, were
called by their ‘owners'' names. Their relationship with these men was not the bland one
suggested by ‘connection' but a forced imprisonment for sexual purposes.
Sons of Jacob - The twelve sons of Jacob were the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Jacob's two wives were Rachel and Leah, after whom Gilead's Rachel and Leah Centre (the
Red Centre) was named.
mistake … teaching them to read - Atwood is extremely aware of the significance of
reading and of nuances of language. She has shown how Gilead closed the Universities and
banned literature, knowing that the dissemination of ideas through reading could be a vital
weapon against oppression. (See also Social / political context > Political satire > Hitler and
the Nazis or China and the Cultural Revolution.)
Scapegoats … useful throughout history - A scapegoat is someone who is blamed for the
faults or sins of others. For example, in Orwell's novel 1984, the populace is invited to
scream in hatred (“Two Minutes Hate”) at a supposed enemy of the state, Emmanuel
Goldstein, to divert their attention from government failures. The term comes from a ritual,
described in the Bible in Leviticus 16:6-22, of sending a goat out into the desert, symbolically
carrying away the sins of the Israelites.
Particicution ... echoes … fertility rites - In such rites men are sacrificed to ensure the
fertility of the earth (as described in Mary Renault's novel The King Must Die). It is ironic
that such a rigorously patriarchal, and supposedly fundamentalist Christian, society as the
Republic of Gilead should use a practice associated with strongly matriarchal pagan societies.
As I have said elsewhere, there was little that was truly original with or indigenous to
Gilead: its genius was synthesis – A self-referential comment about Atwood herself here.
She herself is well documented on saying that all the punishments and systems in her novel
have historical precedent in the real world. Here the professor’s voice almost sounds like
Atwood’s own voice.
It must have been most gratifying for these Handmaids…to be able to tear a man
apart… - Suggests that the professor does not truly understand the horrors of these acts for
the Handmaids.
As the architects of Gilead knew…in return for those you remove – poses the question as
to how far we will go for our freedoms. The suggestion that “Particicution” would be a
cathartic experience may be true, or misunderstood. But the careful distribution and control
of powers and freedoms is what any totalitarian system needs to balance.
Aunts.. When power is scarce, a little of it is tempting. – An explanation for those women
who became Aunts.
invention by our author - There may be a sly joke here by Atwood: for Pieixoto, ‘our
author' who has created the name ‘Serena Joy' is Offred - but we are also reminded that ‘our
author' is actually Atwood. (The same is true of the later phrase ‘our anonymous author', even
though Atwood is not ‘anonymous'.)
the workings of the Gileadean empire - Pieixoto has missed the point of Offred's - and
Atwood's - narrative. Atwood has not chosen to invent the details of a totalitarian regime.
What we do learn about its methods are echoes, deliberately chosen by Atwood, of tactics
used in many real tyrannies, so we do not need to have further invented details. Instead,
Atwood has chosen to give us an insight into the mind of a woman trapped in such terrible
circumstances, and her attempts to survive in both body and soul.
the human heart remains a factor - For Pieixoto, Nick's only motive would be that ‘no
male of the Gilead period could resist the possibility of fatherhood.' Pieixoto fails to realise
that the factor which is ‘the human heart' could mean that Nick felt love, or at least strong
affection, for Offred, as she did for him.
We cannot always decipher them precisely in the clearer light of our own day - Atwood
leaves us to wonder whether we can, in any case, ‘decipher' the voices of the past. How do
we begin to do this, and is ‘our own day' at all ‘clearer' than the past?
Are there any questions? - We should, after reading The Handmaid's Tale, have many
questions to ask about our own society, and what we find acceptable or unacceptable in it.
Activity: Investigating Historical Notes
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In what ways do the Historical Notes change your perception of the novel?
What does Atwood gain by adding the Historical Notes?
Does she lose anything, in your opinion?
What would have been the effect if the Historical Notes had been put as an
Introduction