Chapter 1, the lone segment of Section I, introduces a gymnasium scene in which Alma, Janine, Dolores, Moira, June, and other Handmaids-in-training sleep in a barracks arrangement beneath flannel sheets and army blankets and contemplate their yearnings for freedom. Like girls at a restrictive camp, they reach out to their sisters to learn their names and to touch hands. The women, doubly protected by Aunts, armed with electric cattle prods and whistles, and Angels, or guards, outside the building, receive a brief privilege — twice-daily walks in pairs on an adjacent football field. The inmates fantasize about making deals with the guards, employing sex as a bartering medium.
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