abortion rights1 absence1 accuracy of retelling events1 affluence1 afterimage1 amputation/dismemberment1 barrenness1 bias1 birth and youth / old age and dying1 blackmail1 blasphemy1 boredom2 brainwashing1 castration1 censorship for control over women1 cheating as subversion1 childhood defects1 Christianity1 class stratification2 cognitive dissonance1 commodified sexuality1 companionship1 conformity1 consumption (as in eating)1 cooking (and motherhood)1 culpability of those in power1 cultural and historical allusions1 death1 death and decay1 dehumanization5 desire1 digitization of society1 distinct gender roles1 distinctions between men and women1 entertainment1 eroticism1 escape1 escaping dire situations1 escaping reality1 estheticism1 exploitation1 facades or false fronts1 facades people put on1 faith1 faithfulness to loved ones1 false appearances2 false beauty1 false images of self1 fear1 fear of consequences1 fear of punishment1 femininity1 feminism2 fertility1 fertility of spring1 fetishization of young women1 fictional and frame narrative1 forbidden fruit1 former elegance and decay1 freedom5 freedom (or lack thereof)1 friendship1 friendship and loneliness1 games of power between men and women1 guilt3 heroism1 homosexuality and punishment1 hope6 hope and belief1 human need for touch2 human touch1 hypocrisy1 idyllic life1 importance of procreation1 importance of the past1 imprisonment/inability to escape circumstances1 independence1 indoctrination1 infantilization9 infantilization of women1 innocence1 innocence/loss of innocence1 interpretation of the past1 intimacy1 lack of freedom1 lack of self-actualization1 lasciviousness1 liberty2 licentiousness1 life after death1 life and death circumstances1 loss of faith1 lost hope1 love3 lust1 luxury1 male dominance1 male toxicity1 manliness1 marginalization of women1 martyrdom1 memories of lost loved ones1 mischief (of a child)1 motherhood2 necessity of conformity1 need for companionship1 need for escape1 need for intimacy1 need for music1 nonviolent resistance1 normality1 nostalgia3 nostalgia (out of time)1 obedience1 objectification1 objectification of women1 old age and decay1 one out of many1 oppression1 out of time/outside of time1 pain of birth1 passion2 patience1 peer pressure1 personal space1 perspective1 power6 power and control1 power and fear of women1 power and passivity1 power in forgiveness1 privacy1 privilege1 procreation1 projecting an alternative self-image1 punishment1 rebellion6 religious disagreement/dissent1 religious fanaticism1 repentance1 repression of women1 resignation to fate1 return to former glory (make America great again)1 ritual3 sacrifice1 saintliness1 self-dehumanization1 self-identity1 self-objectification1 sex and games1 sex as transactional1 sexual coercion1 sexuality1 spring1 sterility1 subjugation1 surveillance1 sympathy1 temptation2 the difficulty of breaking habits1 the need for a hero1 the past1 touch1 toxic masculinity/locker room humor1 traces/echoes of the past1 tyranny through surveillance1 underground clubs1 unjust punishment/execution1 unmet desires1 vanity3 vengeance1 violence1 vulnerability1 womanhood1 women as property1 women's rights1 working as a community1

allusion to Reader's Digest and Esquire1 allusions (fictional and real)1 allusions: 80s pop culture1 allusions: Manhattan Project1 allusions: Middle Ages and Renaissance art1 allusions: pop culture, whore of Babylon1 allusions: Shakespeare's Macbeth1 amputation1 amputation of limbs1 anachronism (noted by Offred)1 analogy: cloth and cloud1 analogy: prison circumstances1 breaking the fourth wall1 dysphemism: crotch rot1 emphasis on single lines1 euphemism: single-minded journey1 euphemism: unhygienic1 euphemism: women powdering their noses1 extended metaphor (of a pig)1 extended metaphor: steel yourself1 extensive imagery of the dead1 flashback2 flashback (to college days with Moira)1 flashbacks1 frame narrative structure1 image: empty vessel or cargo hold1 imagery of castration1 imagery of restriction and suffocation1 imagery/simile: blue bedroom slippers like toilet seat covers1 irony1 irony: bird as freedom but stuffed on a hat1 irony: mutilation of women1 irony: salvaging as execution1 juxtaposition: fairytale scene versus reality1 meta-reference1 metaphor/symbol/motif of the egg1 metaphor: amputation/disembodiment1 metaphor: large vase or window1 metaphor: tree for friendship1 metaphor: Underground Railroad1 metaphorical language: like dead butterflies1 metaphorical language: snake skin1 metaphors: flowers and love1 motif "outside of time"1 motif of amputation (amputated glory)1 motif of rotting fruit1 motif: constant allusion to fairy tales1 motif: dismemberment/amputation1 motif: echo of the past1 motif: echoes of the past1 motif: vessel1 motif: woman as a vessel1 motifs: old age and decay, spring and procreation1 near-homonyms of secret and secrete1 neologism: Birthmobile1 neologism: Compudoc1 neologism: Libertheos1 neologism: Pornomart1 paradox: end or beginning1 play on phrase: "out of sight, out of mind"1 play on the word "eyes"1 play on the word household, hold, hold of a ship (vessel)1 play on words: Birth Day1 play on words: Gyn Ed1 play on words: master bedroom1 pun (two centuries, two sentries)1 pun on "speechless"1 pun on loved one1 pun/double meanings: habit1 pun: Particicution1 pun: Pen Is Envy1 pun: salvage and salvaging1 red smile1 repetition of "room"1 repetition: believe/belief1 repetition: still in, still with1 simile of infantilization1 simile: like Martians1 situational irony2 symbol of cigarette of freedom and privilege1 symbol/motif of the egg1 symbol: cheating at games1 symbol: cigarette as rebellion1 symbol: eye between wings1 symbol: halo above bed1 symbol: plucking ripe fruit1 symbolism (Caduceus, Rod of Asclepius)1 symbolism of smoke and ash1 symbolism: artificiality of once-natural items1 symbolism: birds and bridge1 symbolism: fake flowers1 symbolism: flag/semaphore1 symbolism: ripe fruit and empty vessel1 symbolism: Serena Joy under the mirror1 symbolism: the moon (motherhood)1 symbolism: the Wall1 symbolism: white canvas covers and men as scarecrows1 symbolism: wreath on the ceiling1 symbolism: wreath, moon, flowers, eggs1 symbolism: yoke1 synesthesia1 typographical imagery1 unreliable narrator2 verisimilitude1

(dull) green1 beige2 black26 black (small black jar)1 black van1 blond1 blue22 brown3 dark blue1 dark-blue1 gold14 gray3 green17 green (evergreen)1 hot blue1 indigo1 light blue3 lime-green1 mauve2 multicolored1 multicolors (of the econowives)1 orange9 pale6 peach1 pink18 purple14 red36 reddish1 shriveled white1 silver10 sky-blue1 white34 white (curtains and nightgown)1 white (Serena Joy's fright)1 yellow7 yellow and black stripes1

1 Corinthians 13:131 10 Commandments: Thou shalt not covet1 1980s culture1 2 Corinthians 5:151 Adam and Eve1 American culture references1 American history1 American pop culture1 angels in snow1 art nouveau1 Balm in Gilead1 Biblical references1 blitzkrieg1 Book of Job1 Catholic saints1 Charles Dickens1 Christian denominations1 Christianity1 churning butter1 Donne's "For Whom the Bell Tolls"1 Dutch art1 early American pioneers1 Early Modern households1 Elvis Presley1 fairy tales3 Garden of Eden1 Genesis 1:281 Greek philosophy (logos)1 Ham from the Old Testament1 high school gymnasium dances1 Jacob from the Bible1 Jesus in Matthew 5:51 Jewish kapos in Nazi concentration camps (influence for the Aunts)1 Jezebel1 John 1:141 kamikaze1 Karl Marx1 knitting1 Lady Macbeth's "out out damned spot"1 Late Victorian1 Liberty and Death1 Lilith and the Garden of Eden1 Mantovani (known for easy listening tunes during "The Age of Mood Music")1 Marx (Marxist slogan)1 Matthew 7:6 (casting pearls before swine)1 Medieval times (Catholic priests and the Bible)1 Middle Ages1 Mother Mary1 nativity scenes1 New Testament3 Old Testament2 Old Testament (Genesis)1 Orpheus and Eurydice1 Platonism1 pop culture: movies1 Raymond Chandler1 Romanesque architecture1 Sam Houston1 songs ("Me and My Shadow" on 22)1 Sons of Jacob Think Tank1 St. Paul2 St. Paul, 1 Corinthians 11:5-161 Tennyson1 The Byzantine Empire1 The medieval practice of Charivari1 the moon in mythology1 the Puritans of early America1 The Republic of Texas1 The Russian KGB influence on The Eyes1 Twisted Sisters1 Victorian age1 Victorian era1 WordPerfect software1