The Handmaid's Tale, #2
The Testaments
by Margaret Atwood
Contents
53
Overview
Nicole reaches Gilead and confronts its coercive rituals and orchestrated violence. A vigil exposes the danger of any misstep when a new Pearl is demoted to Handmaid. A brutal double Particicution shatters Nicole’s expectations, sharpening the stakes of her mission and revealing Gilead’s power through terror and spectacle.
Summary
Jade/Nicole arrives inside Gilead and immediately feels disoriented by its coded behavior and speech. During a first chapel gathering, Aunt Beatrice guides Nicole to a pew as the assembled women watch her with a mix of welcome and predation that unsettles her.
That night, Nicole is plunged into an unexpected all-night vigil for new Pearl Girls. Uncertain of rules and fearing mistakes, she stays silent. When a new Pearl—likely from Mexico—breaks down screaming, two Aunts remove her. Nicole later learns the woman was reassigned as a Handmaid, a warning that dissent brings swift punishment.
The next day, the recruits receive drab brown clothing and are herded to a sports stadium. Expecting games, Nicole instead confronts a Particicution: a double execution where a frenzied crowd of women, led by blood-soaked Handmaids, tear two men apart, brandishing bloody trophies amid cheering.
Horrified, Nicole revises her assumptions about Gilead and about Handmaids, recognizing the regime’s orchestrated violence and mob control. She wonders if her own mother might have been capable of such ferocity, revealing Nicole’s deepening fear and the psychological pressure of Gilead’s spectacle.
Who Appears
- Jade/NicoleNew arrival in Gilead; disoriented by customs; witnesses vigil and gruesome double Particicution.
- Aunt BeatriceGuides Nicole in the chapel, seating her among the women during first rituals.
- New Pearl (from Mexico)Breaks down during vigil; removed by Aunts and reassigned as a Handmaid.
- HandmaidsLead the violent Particicution, tearing apart two condemned men amid cheering.
- AuntsEnforce discipline; remove the hysterical Pearl; manage ceremonies and order.