Part II; Shopping

• Offred describes her room in the commander's house as being sparse and lacking character with its "white ceiling"
• asyndetic listing of "a chair, a table, a lamp" to describe Offred's room makes it feel bland and unemotionally described
• Offred's situation is so miserable that "anything you could tie a rope to" has been removed from the room to prevent her suicide
• Rita, a martha, treats Offred with disinterest as she gives a "nod" that Offred cannot tell if it is a "greeting or an aknowledgement"
• Handmaids wear red and a white bonnet that prevents them from seeing or being seen