The Handmaid's Tale Multiple Choice Quiz | 10 Questions

Answer: Serena Joy

Serena Joy, the ex Gospel singer, was supposedly based on Phyllis Schlafly, a right wing activist who maintained that it was a woman's duty to stay in the home. Realising the irony of touring the country to put across this message, she made out that it was a great sacrifice for her to do so in order that other women would not need to.

Answer: Pam

Offred says she read this in a biography before women were banned from reading. She remarks that the stage name 'Serena Joy' sounds like a hair product.

Answer: Rachel and Leah Centre

Called the Red Centre by its inhabitants because of the red clothes Handmaids are forced to wear, the Centre is actually named after the two wives of Jacob who gave him their handmaids in order to conceive children.

Answer: Scrabble

Since women are forbidden from reading or writing in Gilead (even the shops are signed by pictures rather than words so as not to 'tempt' them), being asked to play Scrabble is an act of rebellion against the regime to Offred. Unfortunately, however, it goes unnoticed by all except her and the Commander, so it is ultimately fruitless.

Answer: Particicution

The Particicution is actually the final event within the Salvaging, a ceremony in which those who have defied the principles of Gilead are hanged and put on The Wall as an example. Speaking of examples, two of the crimes that could get you this punishment are following any religion (or in fact denomination of Christianity) other than the denomination followed in Gilead, and 'Gender Treachery', the dysphemism created to refer to homosexuality.

Answer: Mayday

Ofglen eventually reveals that she throws the word 'May day' into conversation with any Handmaid she is partnered with, and the reaction it gets tell her whether her partner is aware of the rebellion.

Answer: The Colonies

Offred worries several times about being sent there. When Moira says she has seen Offred's mother working in the Colonies on television, Offred's initial reaction is relief. This is quickly dashed when Moira says she would be better off dead.

Answer: Her real name

Whenever Offred is feeling especially opressed by the Gilead regime, she thinks about her name. She also tells it to Nick when she feels she is falling in love with him, as a way of letting him get closer to her. As readers, we never find out her real name, but in the 1990 film starring Natasha Richardson, we quite quickly find out that Offred is really called Kate. I think this diminishes the power of the knowledge, but others may disagree.

Answer: Ofwarren

Janine has had it bad in the past. She was attacked at 14 and then convinced by the Aunts at the Red Centre that it was her fault. When things start to get too much for her, she starts to briefly regress back to her past life as a waitress, a world which she eventually retreats to permanently.

Answer: Luke

Fred is the Commander she is assigned to (hence Offred), and Nick is his chauffeur with whom Offred attempts to have a baby when it becomes clear it will not happen with the Commander. John was just a random name I threw in.