The Handmaid's Tale: Chapters 25–30

by Margaret Atwood
In this dystopian novel, America is a totalitarian theocracy in which young women are conscripted to serve the political elite.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–17, Chapters 18–24, Chapters 25–30, Chapter 31–Historical Notes

Click here to explore our lists for the novel's sequel, The Testaments.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. penance
    voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for something
    Saint Serena, on her knees, doing penance.
  2. subversive
    in opposition to an established system or government
    There is something subversive about this garden of Serena’s, a sense of buried things bursting upwards, wordlessly, into the light, as if to point, to say: Whatever is silenced will clamor to be heard, though silently.
  3. languid
    lacking spirit or liveliness
    A Tennyson garden, heavy with scent, languid; the return of the word swoon.
  4. insinuate
    suggest in an indirect or covert way; give to understand
    The willow is in full plumage and is no help, with its insinuating whispers.
  5. sibilant
    a consonant characterized by a hissing sound
    Rendezvous, it says, terraces; the sibilants run up my spine, a shiver as if in fever.
  6. connoisseur
    an expert able to appreciate a field
    A Vogue. This like a wine connoisseur dropping a name.
  7. indoctrination
    teaching someone to accept beliefs uncritically
    He might be testing me, to see how deep my indoctrination had really gone.
  8. compunction
    a feeling of deep regret, usually for some misdeed
    Nevertheless I couldn’t shake it, that small compunction towards her.
  9. ignominious
    deserving or bringing disgrace or shame
    I am the outside woman. It’s my job to provide what is otherwise lacking. Even the Scrabble. It’s an absurd as well as an ignominious position.
  10. sedition
    an illegal action inciting resistance to lawful authority
    I could turn from her silently, to show her I won’t tolerate this kind of talk in my presence. Subversion, sedition, blasphemy, heresy, all rolled into one.
  11. macabre
    shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
    I guess you get all my money, I said. And I’m not even dead. I was trying for a joke, but it came out sounding macabre.
  12. perfunctory
    as a formality only
    Part of my disapproval was that, I’m sure: perfunctory, routine.
  13. precocity
    intelligence achieved far ahead of normal development
    The Commander likes it when I distinguish myself, show precocity, like an attentive pet, prick-eared and eager to perform.
  14. illicit
    contrary to or forbidden by law
    As it is, this illicit reading of mine seems a kind of performance.
  15. flippant
    showing an inappropriate lack of seriousness
    “Know what?” he says.
    “Whatever there is to know,” I say; but that’s too flippant.
Created on Fri Dec 09 17:18:29 EST 2016 (updated Tue Aug 12 11:10:24 EDT 2025)

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