Offred is able to indulge in another luxury. She gets to take a bath alone. Here, she has a “freedom from” the dress and petticoat, wings and veil, and all the other suffocating clothes she’s forced to wear. The decoration of the bathroom is from another time as well. It’s decorated in a style from a much older time. I can see it as being a grandparent’s bathroom from my childhood. The person who decorated it would have been from the 1950s. An innocent time. There’s a vulnerability in her taking a bath naked. But what is she vulnerable to? The mere fact of being seen? Rape? But they’re in a safe place, aren’t they? Still, Cora guards the door. Remember that we’re seeing things naively through Offred’s eyes. She’s probably being guarded against committing suicide. Or is she being guarded against the Commander peeking in? Makes the reader wonder what has happened with past Handmaids. She remembers Aunt Lydia saying that it’s a sin to be seen with long hair, that St. Paul had said so. Aunt Lydia was referring to what St....
Chapter 12
Part IV: Waiting Room
Chapter Summary
Offred takes a required but still luxurious bath with Cora guarding the bathroom door. While bathing she recalls the time her baby daughter was stolen from a supermarket cart but quickly returned to her and Luke by an employee. Offred surmises the regime has probably told her daughter, who must be eight now, that Offred is dead—if her daughter is actually still alive. Later, Offred steals butter from her supper to use later as skin care.
