The Handmaid's Tale: Context

Question	Answer
What is Gilead named after?	Gilead is a mountain, referred to in Genesis 31:22, where an oath was taken to let God be the judge in human affairs and disputes.
(Epigraph 2) Jonathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal'	A deeply ironic work published in 1729 which attacks the cruelty and selfishness of the wealthy Englishmen's treatment of the starving Irish. It offers a satirical solution to food shortages with the proposition that those could not feed their children should eat them. Atwood's reference to this work suggests that she intends for her writing to be perceived as satirical also.
(Epigraph 1) Rachel and Leah centre	The 1st book of the Bible, Genesis, describes how the infertile Rachel told her husband Jacob to have sex with her handmaid, Leah. This is a biblical justification of the 'Handmaids' bearing children in a society where infertility is common and gives inspiration to the name of the Red Centre (Rachel and Leah Centre)
(Epigraph 3) Sufi proverb: 'In the desert there is no sign that says, Thou shalt not eat stones'	1)potential meaning= in the desert there is nothing to eat but stone but no one wants to eat them as they cannot sustain life meaning there is no point in prohibiting something that no one wants to do anyway. 2)OR it could mean that you need to live with what you have, however terrible or life destroying (People in Gilead live in reduced circumstances bu the instinct for human survival continues)

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	Created by Isabel Knight over 6 years ago