The Handmaid's Tale Chapters 40-Epilogue: June's Story Stops

     June is finally freed of her struggles by all likelihood in the final set of chapters and the epilogue. No longer is she trapped by what seems to be at least in part a fable made by her to keep her sanity. Instead she is escorted by Eyes members who are apparently actually part of the Mayday liberation underground movement which secretly send females away from Gilead, most likely to England. The reader also obtains the final bit of exposition and information that is sparsely placed in the entirety of the novel. Characters get a small bit of extra detail with the Commander being revealed as helpless and weak while Serena Joy is depicted as extreme. Cora and Rita are more or less the same as always as they were described in the beginning, being caretakers of the house that had no palpable personality. 

     Perhaps the character to come out of the novel in the best light is Nick, who is shown to be a sort of hero who supposedly helps others out, being able to ascend and retain his post while taking pity on June, appearing to help her to boot. Where in the beginning he was mysterious and dull, at the end he seems complex. He is kind to June in the context of Gilead and offers to help her multiple times in his unfeeling way. Therefore it seems unlikely that he would betray her at the end when June is being carried away by Eyes as he was extremely kind to her otherwise, risking his status on several occasions. 

     Ambiguity is an important concept in the novel as shown by how the story is minimal, fragmented and even called into question at the end due to it being written by an unreliable narrator who almost certainly altered names for some reason. Apparently, the most likely scenario for June is that she was saved by the Eyes who shipped her off to England where she spent the rest of her life as a shell. Speaking in terms of personality, June would fit the possibility offered by Pieixoto and Wade, the two professors giving exposition to the tale. Based on June's actions and inner thoughts, she would not say anything to gather attention and prefer to try and play the survivor role, living out the rest of her life as a recluse. Maybe June had accepted the mentality of Gilead so much that she could not break out of it and still followed its creed by not saying anything that would be seen as inflammatory or she could be in shock. Regardless, June has achieved peace in the literary text and will now have a life that is finally resolved.