a circle . . . the stem of a cross the traditional scientific symbol for woman. The male counterpart is a circle sprouting an arrow. The two symbols derive from the hand-mirror of Venus and the shield and spear of Zeus. Ironically, the male symbol reflects militaristic strength as opposed to the shallow vanity implied by the female symbol.
a familiar the owl, cat, toad, or other animal that traditionally guards a witch or wizard.
a handprint on stone a reference to the bloody handprints of women who participated in suttee, the sacrifice of Indian wives who followed their husbands' funeral processions, then leaped or were forced onto their crematory pyres. British rulers outlawed the barbaric Hindu custom in 1829, but it continued to thrive in outlying areas.
"And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband" Leah's comment at the birth of Issachar, Jacob's fifth son, Genesis 30:18.
a parlor, the kind with a spider and flies an allusion to the nursery rhyme that begins with "Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly." The parallel between the sticky web and Serena's sitting room echoes the theme of entrapment and powerlessness.
Aged Primipara an elderly first-time mother, as opposed to multipara, the medical term for a woman who has borne several children.
Agent Orange a defoliant employed by the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War to strip the jungle of hiding places for Communist insurgents. Returning soldiers discovered that exposure to the chemical seemingly increased the likelihood of birth defects in their children.
All alone by the telephone an Irving Berlin duct sung by Grace Moore and Oscar Shaw in the 1924 version of The Music Review.
All Flesh Gilead's meat center, taking its name from a warning in Isaiah 40:6 that, unlike God's word, human life is fragile and transitory.
All flesh is grass a biblical warning in Isaiah 40:6-8, noting that "all the goodness thereof is as the flower of the field. . . . The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand for ever."
Amazing grace a popular Protestant hymn written by reformed slaver John Newton, who established a new life as minister and hymn writer.
an F on it instead of an M letters denoting gender of cardholders.
an Unbaby the one-in-four child born deformed, "with a pinhead or a snout like a dog's or two bodies, or a hole in its heart or no arms, or webbed hands and feet." Atwood's speculative novel suggests that environmental pollution may trigger prenatal malformations, a belief held by agitators against Agent Orange, a defoliant used during the Vietnam War, and the noxious substances said to have affected the reproductive cells of soldiers during the Persian Gulf War.
Angels a euphemism for soldiers, or guards.
Angels of the Apocalypse, Baptist guerrillas, Angels of Light satiric parodies of holy war in which euphemistic names deflect the murderous intent of religious sects fighting for supremacy. The biblical vision of an Apocalypse, when the powers of darkness challenge the powers of light, appears in Revelation 8:2-11:19.
Arctic char a pun on a small-scaled trout and the British slang for charwoman, a domestic worker.
Aunts staff members who blend the prim role of academy schoolmarms with the sadism of prison matrons.
Aztec hearts The ancient Aztecs worshipped at stone altars, where priests used obsidian knives to cut the hearts from sacrificial human victims.
Balm in Gilead the concluding question in Jeremiah, chapter 8, in which the prophet mourns Judah's slide into wickedness and depravity.
Bangor, Maine city in south central Maine. Brewer, across the bridge from Bangor, was once a Quaker waystation on the Underground Railroad. The town's location on the Penobscot River made it a useful connection point to seagoing vessels. From Brewer, abolitionists could transport escaping slaves downriver to the Atlantic Ocean and northeast around the coast to Canada.
Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth the second half of Genesis 9: 1, God's injunction to Noah and his family after the ark survived the flooding of the world to rid it of wickedness.
Beatitudes a reference to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:311, a lyrical passage written in tight parallelism. Manipulative propagandists add "Blessed are the silent," which Offred recognizes as a spurious interpolation.
Bestow an ironic usage of a biblical synonym for give.
Birthing Stool a primitive seat with a hole in the center. By centering a laboring woman upright on the stool, an ancient midwife utilized gravity to guide the infant out of the birth canal.
Birthmobile a vehicle that transports Handmaids to a birthing so that they may encourage their fellow Handmaid during labor and profit from the experience by conceiving and producing children for Gilead.
black patch an advertising ploy for the Hathaway Shirt Company, whose rakish male model often sports a patch over one eye.
candles you would light to pray by an image suggesting Catholic worship, during which the devout light prayers and pray for the souls of loved ones, particularly those in Purgatory who have not yet reached Paradise. The metaphor suggests the limbo in which Offred's family existscut off from one another, possibly incarcerated, tortured, or dead.
carved on the stone walls of caves, or drawn with a mixture of soot and animal fat an allusion to prehistoric art, particularly the energetic drawings of Lascaux, a series of isolated chambers in the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain, where Neolithic artisans inscribed ritualistic pictures of animals.
Children of Ham a reference to black-skinned nations in Genesis 10:6, a passage that bigoted religious groups use as justification for racism.
Christmas crèche a manger scene displaying the Holy Family.
Colonies those areas beyond Gilead that are permeated with radioactive toxins. Clean-up crews consist of incorrigibles, old or sterile women, and other expendable citizens not suited to the rigid caste system of a theocracy or the need for state breeders.
"Come to the Church in the Wildwood" an enticingly idyllic gospel 'hymn that depicts worship as bucoYic, innocent, and inviting.
Commanders of the Faithful a euphemism for the privileged, authoritarian hierarchy of Gilead.
Compuchek a parody of computerized scanning devices that read credit cards and bar-coded pricing and inventory symbols.
Compucount a parody of modern credit cards.
Compudoc medical computer like the Compuchek, which ascertains patient identity.
Compunumber a credit registration number, a means by which the religious right controls Gilead's apathetic citizens.
Computalk an extension of Compuchek, representative of Gilead's multiple internal forms of electronic communications.
Context is all a paraphrase from Shakespeare's King Lear: "Ripeness is all" (V, ii, 9). The requests for a game of Scrabble and a kiss, under normal circumstances, would not seem bizarre, but in the context of Gilead, the Commander's desires appear perverted and racy.
crowning the protrusion from the birth canal of the top of the baby's head.
