Handmaid's Tale Chapters 8-17: the Plot's Slow Unraveling

     Throughout the chapters more information is presented, although the feature that sets this section of the book from the previous one of seven chapters is the formation and sustained focus of a timeline going forward. As the first set focused on setting things up, this one tries to give momentum to the story line. Of course, as aforementioned, there is still the foundation and beginning of a story,  only in the next set the forward march of chronology is more tangible to the mind as it takes time to settle in to the compound narrative. The transitions between timelines, from past flashbacks to the present, are nearly seamless, although in order to implement such a sustained effect on the reader the pacing has to be rather slow. Consequently, the book moves in a steady, formulaic fashion that has purposeful references to the past woven in at intervals which the author presumably deemed most appropriate.
     In order to retain the reader's interest, the author also purposefully leads little tidbits of information through which the one reading may paint a picture that develops along with the progress of the plot. One example is how the protagonist's name is not revealed outright; instead, the reader is given a singular reference point that has multiple names in which the main character's name is also mentioned, albeit indistinguishable from that of the other girl's names in practice. Throughout the novel the name of the protagonist is never explicitly mentioned and thus the reader has purpose to continue reading as the intrigue to find out such a basic component of the narrative is nurtured. As the novel goes forward the names of other characters are revealed, allowing the reader to disqualify them as practical candidates as to the name of the protagonist. Such a writer's choice is very deliberate and profound, clearly portraying to the reader a reward of information in exchange for a continued engagement of interest.
     Another example of purposeful measures taken to sustain interest is how characters are developed. At the start the characters are relatively bland and raw, but as the novel develops-backward as well as forward- they exhibit more individualized features, such as the interest of Nick in the protagonist. By way of forming or revealing the more intimate relationships with or around the main character, the individuals are given more defined characteristics that make them more unique and memorable. Even though this practice of elaborating on characters is extremely common, it is especially important in a novel that depends on delivering information as a means of keeping interest. With the progression of the novel it is also becoming more evident that the protagonist is developing connections with other characters almost solely as a way of obtaining power, freedom or security, with the three rarely being simultaneous factors. Thus it may be reasonably predicted that some other relationship might form with the main character and someone of power as a way of leading up to the climax through the rising action of getting closer to such an event. Such a scenario seems to match up nicely with how the book is progressing up to this point and how it concludes the  second set of chapters. It should be interesting to see how the character, who seems to be heading towards a tragic ending, continues to live in the community.