Birthmobile: A car that transports
Blessed Be The Fruit: This is essentially 'hello' in Gilead speak, and it's usually met with the response “May The Lord Open” (see below). Alongside being a greeting, it's also meant to encourage fertility – aka, that a Handmaid will be 'blessed' with the 'fruit' of a child.
“Blessed Be the Fruit”: The standard greeting amongst Gilead residents. The traditional reply is “May the Lord open.”
It's the standard greeting between people in Gilead, and it is supposed to mean that the people having the conversation are under God's watchful gaze and protection. However, when women use the greeting to each other, it gains another meaning. All of the women in Gilead are subject to the will of men.
In Margaret Atwood's „The Handmaid's Tale“, „Blessed be the Fruit“ is a form of greeting between the people of the Republic of Gilead. This encourages fertility in a society where women with healthy reproductive system must produce children for the ruling class of men „Commanders“.
This is to symbolize that they are "of one flesh" and alluding to the Bibical story of Rachel, Jacob and their handmaid Billah, who bore children for the barren Rachel "upon [Rachel's] knees".
“Under His eye”: How Handmaids formally say goodbye to each other in person. By extension, the phrase suggests that someone—a Guardian, a Commander, a fellow Handmaid, God—is always watching.
She is fiercely jealous of June, for whom Fred has repressed romantic feelings; she often punishes June unjustly simply to vent her jealous rage. She also feels inadequate because she cannot get pregnant, again taking it out on June.
Unbaby, or shredder, is the term used in the Republic of Gilead to describe infants that are suffering from birth defects or physical deformities. These die shortly after birth due to their defects.
The clothes traditionally worn by handmaids have become symbol of the oppression of women. The cap covers the woman's hair, and in many ways, her femininity. The bonnet obscures her face and identity, making her an anonymous figure used only to serve others.
Econowives can also return to their postings as handmaids, if they are needed. Both Emily and Janine were “rescued” from the Colonies by Aunt Lydia. The Marthas rank higher than handmaids and are assigned to Commanders as household servants rather than sex slaves.
“Better never means better for everyone... It always means worse, for some.”
“We've been sent good weather”: one of the few small-talk phrases Handmaids are allowed, typically used while on their shopping excursions. The proper reply is “Which I receive with joy” or “praise be”.
Show runner Bruce Miller also spoke to Business Insider about the reveal of the mouth rings. He said: “It was my idea to put it in the show. It was an extrapolation of the enforced silence, which is the idea that handmaids are told to be quiet, and they're forced to be quiet.”
It is hinted that, besides finding her oppressive life unbearable, this Offred also feared what Serena would do to her in revenge for the affair, and so she committed suicide to spare herself from the very real possibility of either a slow and humiliating public execution, being mercilessly tortured by the Eyes, or ...
“the Handmaid's Tale” By Margaret Atwood
“We slept in what had once been the gymnasium.” Though the first line of Margaret Atwood's dystopia is simple, there's an undeniably ominous tone, and it raises many more questions than it answers—an ideal start to a terrifying, mind-bending book.
On the surface, Marthas are a downtrodden lot — not powerful enough to be Wives or Lydias, not fertile or young enough to be Econowives. The name "Martha" comes from the bible, after one of Jesus' friends who is a pragmatic and focused on domestic concerns; hence the Marthas' role as housekeepers in Gilead.
It is implied that some Wives are capable of bearing children, but most are older women and thus have difficulty conceiving (or their husbands are infertile), which is also hampered by widespread infertility. As a result, Wives have to 'share' their husbands with Handmaids, in order to get a child.
If, after the third time, they are not able to produce a living, healthy baby, they will be sent off to the Colonies to face certain death. Handmaids that become infertile or reach a certain age without having ever conceived are also sent to the Colonies, as are women who refuse to become Handmaids.
Wives are dressed in modest dresses of varying shades of teal/blue, indicative of their supposed 'purity' as non-sinners (compared to the violent, but fertile, shade of red the handmaids wear).
The Commanders knew, Serena knew, even Nick knew that right from the off, Fred was abusing the Handmaid system he'd helped to design and market. Instead of performing one ritual rape a month as Gilead's laws decreed, he was getting his rocks off by forcing his Handmaid to be his live-in mistress.
Even though Serena had written books supporting Gilead before they went into power she too faced brutal punishment. This was seen during season two after she rebelled and read a Bible verse out loud, as a result, the top of Serena's pinky finger was amputated.
June Osborne
Luke and June first began seeing each other when Luke was still married to Annie (Kelly Jenrette), whom he later divorced. Due to their marriage being Luke's second, June is considered an "adulteress" in Gilead, and because of her fertility, is forced to be a handmaid as reparation for her sin.
According to the Sons of Jacob, lilac means that Hannah – renamed Agnes by 'adoptive' parents the MacKenzies – is ready for her next stage of life: marriage. At the grand old age of 12, Gilead thinks that June and Luke's daughter and her peers should be settling down and doing their duty to Gilead by starting families.
The rise of the Christian right in "The Handmaid's Tale" draws from American history. To depict the authoritative world run by the extremely religious right in "The Handmaid's Tale," Atwood drew upon history — mainly, 17th-century Puritan theocracy in America and the political climate of the country in the early 1980s.