The Handmaid’s Tale: Chapter 13 Summary & Analysis

Offred thinks about how she has too much time, and wishes she could have a hobby like knitting. She remembers nineteenth century paintings of fat women in harems, with whose boredom she now sympathizes. She, too, is waiting for a man to put her to use. She sympathetically imagines a caged pig or lab rat.

Offred lies on a rug, practicing pelvic exercising like Aunt Lydia advised. Offred remembers the naptime in the Rachel and Leah Center, thinking that it was training for later boredom. She and her fellow Handmaids slept, but she didn’t know if they were truly tired, shocked, or on drugs.

Offred remembers Moira’s arrival at the Rachel and Leah Center, three weeks after her own. She and Moira tried not to be obvious about their friendship, but managed to schedule an appointment to talk in the bathroom. They plan to meet up at two thirty, during Testifying. Aunt Lydia and Aunt Helena lead the Handmaids to describe Janine’s rape as her fault, and as God’s will to teach her a lesson.

Offred remembers the previous week, when Janine began crying during Testifying, and the others hated her and called her a crybaby. This week, Janine admits that it’s all her fault. Offred carefully times her bathroom request, as she knows that sometimes the Handmaids are not permitted, pee on themselves, and are punished. Offred is allowed to go out. In one stall, there’s a peephole through the wall to the women’s bathroom, and she manages to make contact with Moira.

Back in the present time, Offred thinks about her body, her blood like red waves, and her failure to become pregnant. She imagines the first apartment she shared with Luke, all empty, with no suitable clothes. She remembers running through the woods with her daughter, whom she drugged to be quiet. Shots are fired behind her, so she drops and protects her daughter, momentarily fascinated by a beautiful red leaf. She loses consciousness, feeling her daughter pulling away. Cora and a bell wake her from her nightmare.