The previous chapter had ended with Offred talking about her own room and how the Commander might have invaded her space. This is also a childish idea. One that a sibling has. She picks up from her room in this chapter and plays with the idea of rooms and spaces. Her room is sometimes a waiting room, sometimes a bedroom. Waiting rooms are the areas outside doctor’s offices and such. Where you, you know, wait for whatever is going to happen next. For Offred, never a good thing. She also draws attention again to this narrative being a story she’s telling. Again, we are being reminded that this is not necessarily an unbiased story being told. Again, Offred could be an unreliable narrator. She goes on to imagine the Handmaid who must have been living in her room before. This will become important later. She then talks about the room as if it’s a hotel room. And so she will re-explore her room as if she is discovering a hotel room, slowly, for the first time. She says the phrase “rented license”...