The Handmaid's Tale (spoilers likely)

[dandelions]

(I'm going to make an exception to the bumping rule for the book discussion threads because this is a quiet forum, and the bumps are likely to be more detailed and worthwhile than "I don't like it" after three months on new colour threads.)

I sort of wanted her to be saved but didn't really believe she had been. Easy enough to leave a tape recorder behind, though, if there was a struggle or anything- or even just leaving in a hurry.

[danceu4ia]

My understanding was that she escaped, but not all was happy...she probably never got in touch with her daughter, we're all pretty sure Luke is dead, and her mother was dead for sure.

When they discuss the tapes, they diccuss how someone went through the trouble of using old, banned cassette tapes with songs for the first couple of minutes, to disguise the real purpose of the tapes.

Since the books are supposed to be the transcript of the tapes, all of the past tense references, and foreshadowing would not make sense if she had made the tapes in the middle of her ordeal as a handmaid.

Plus, with all the restrictions on her, isn't someone going to notice her trying to hide 5 illegal tapes or so, and a bulky tape recorder? She couldn't even hide a match properly

[AngharadTy]

As for the ultimate fate of our narrator, it remains obscure. Was she smuggled over the border ... ? ... If so, why did she not take her taped narrative with her? Perhaps her journey was sudden; perhaps she feared interception. On the other hand, she may have been recaptured.

... Did our narrator reach the outside world safely and build a new life for herself? Or was she discovered in her attic hiding place, arrested, sent to the Colonies or to Jezebel's, or even executed? Our document ... is on these subjects mute.

All right, so we know--according to the notes--that she was rescued from being Offred, at her house. But we have no idea if she was saved. My point was off-kilter, but with this correction, I think it still stands. ;P

oh--also, I never meant that she had made the recordings during her ordeal. They were clearly after she left the house. I did not say otherwise.

[danceu4ia]

AngharadTy, we're agreeing on the same things, arguing on a parallel, as my mom would say.

I agree, she escaped being Offred, (thanks to your quote I was too lazy to look up ) I took it as she was actually on the "Outside", but what kind of life would she have led? No daughter, Luke and her mother are gone...

My point about the tape recorder was to dandelions post, maybe I misunderstood it, but that's the impression I got, that they thought the tape was made during her ordeal.

dandelions- "Easy enough to leave a tape recorder behind, though, if there was a struggle or anything- or even just leaving in a hurry." (added this in with an edit-unsure how to quote without a double post. )