The Handmaid's Tale, #2
The Testaments
by Margaret Atwood
Contents
8
Overview
Daisy describes weekends at her parents’ thrift store, where Melanie keeps her close for safety. She observes George, a suspicious regular, and Ada, an unsentimental "charity" collector with shifting cars. Pearl Girls push Gilead propaganda, provoking Daisy’s contrarian views. Melanie warns that Pearl Girls recruit girls and insists Daisy avoid them.
Summary
Daisy explains that Melanie keeps her at The Clothes Hound on weekends, claiming safety and legal concerns about leaving her alone. Daisy helps sort and price clothing, watching the store’s flow of customers and non-customers from a back table.
She notes George, an older regular who borrows the washroom and panhandles nearby. After school lessons on predators, Daisy labels George a pervert, but Melanie dismisses that judgment, reflecting Daisy’s adolescent certainty and Melanie’s cautious tolerance.
Ada, a hard-edged acquaintance of Melanie’s, frequently arrives through the back door to take boxes of low-value clothing for “charity,” always using different cars. Daisy distrusts Ada’s appearance and manner but observes Melanie’s longstanding connection and practical generosity.
The Pearl Girls visit in pairs, distributing brochures glorifying Gilead and demanding the return of Baby Nicole. Daisy recalls school teachings about Gilead’s oppression and her own contrarian school paper that earned a C for arguing Baby Nicole was being used by both sides, which angered her teacher.
When Daisy offers to confront the Pearl Girls, Melanie sharply forbids it, warning that they target girls Daisy’s age by appealing to idealism. Daisy bristles but complies as Melanie accepts brochures to hasten their departure, concluding that even the Pearl Girls’ pearls are fake—signaling broader deceit.
Who Appears
- Daisy (Witness 369B)Narrator; helps at her parents’ thrift store, distrusts George and Ada, clashes over Baby Nicole at school, and is warned off Pearl Girls.
- MelanieDaisy’s mother; keeps Daisy at the store for safety, humors regulars, gives to Ada, accepts brochures, warns that Pearl Girls recruit girls.
- AdaMelanie’s tough, unsmiling acquaintance; regularly collects boxes of unsellable clothes for “charity,” arriving in different cars.
- GeorgeOlder man and frequent washroom user; seen as creepy by Daisy, tolerated by Melanie as a known street regular.
- Pearl GirlsGilead missionaries in pairs; distribute brochures about Baby Nicole, persistently proselytize, and target girls for recruitment.