Throughout the entirety of the fifth chapter, we see that Offred juxtaposes her past and present life using interior narrative. She directly compares the power structures of both periods, along with the amount of freedom that she possessed. Atwood shows readers two extremes. The first being in pre-Gilead, a more liberal and equal America has caused women to be free and independent; however, due to this freeness, there has been a subsequent increase of sexual predation on women. The second being post-Gilead where women were under draconian control, being extremely safeguarded but ‘protected’ from sexual attack. However, Gilead is operating under the facade of protecting women; they are exploiting them. The idea of protection is what Gilead is trying to instil to its people, to make them feel protected from external dangers rather than being imprisoned for demeaning uses. 

Offred again juxtaposes her past and present life with the word ‘undone’ regarding women’s clothes, thus, bringing upon the idea of revealing types of clothing. This alludes to ‘undone women’ a term created in the 17th century which are women considered to be ‘whores’ due to having sex outside of marriage, ergo, being promiscuous. This demonstrates how the Gileadean regime sees the sexuality of women to be dangerous and that they must be fully covered to negate the possibility of being ‘undone’. We see that the only reminisce of power that Offred attains is when she can attract the Guardian with her sexuality as she is deprived of everything else. Offred is devoid of power and possessions, and thus when she says “my own clothes, my own soap, my own money” the repetition of the word ‘own’ portrays how she does not have anything to associate herself with, she is stripped of everything including her own identity, and this power is taken away from her by the regime. 

The regime continually embeds itself into everyday life, trying to creep into the minds of the population. The quote “The Republic of Gilead, said Aunt Lydia, knows no bounds. Gilead is within you.” is a direct parody of when Jesus says “The Kingdom is within you (Luke 17:21)”. This demonstrates how the regime misinterprets a spiritual idea with a political doctrine. The quote by Jesus suggests that the kingdom is within a man’s heart, being apart of something greater. This is Juxtaposed by the Gileadean interpretation, which suggests that everything is controlled. Gilead is not just a place where one resides; however, it becomes apart of one’s identity and that the individuals do not have choices as the government makes it for them.

As Aunt Lydia said “Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don’t underrate it.” Lydia insinuates that the time when women were free where the ‘days of anarchy’, suggesting that freedom causes chaos. She wishes that the Handmaids view protection to be more valuable than freedom and that although being protected negates women to be autonomous, it keeps them safe from the dangers of the world.

Finally, Atwood introduces a motif in the form of the double. Double refers to an alter ego who bears uncanny or partial resemblance to an individual which reveals aspects of themselves that have been repressed. Therefore, this motif is used to both draw parallels between Offred’s past and present lives. Offred has fragmented memories of her past (pre-Gilead) and this in itself is a form of resistance showing that she is not fully consumed (indoctrinated) by the regime and she still has the freedom to think about her past life, giving her control.