The Handmaid's Tale Part 11: Night

Offred returns to her room. Night has fallen. It presses upon Offred like a stone. Nick walks across the lawn below her window and looks up. They hunger for each other, but Offred pulls a curtain between them. Indulgence is impossible, and also unfaithful to Luke. The night they left their apartment, Luke killed the cat so it would not tip off a search for them. "That was one of the things they do. They force you to kill, within yourself." Chapter 30, pg. 193 It was useless because someone betrayed them anyway.

Tonight Offred prays, but not the type of prayer she was taught at the Red Center. She does not pray for emptiness or fruit. She prays for the safety of those she loves. She prays to be delivered from temptation and evil. She is desperate and tempted to commit suicide. She wishes she knew what God was doing. She wishes God would answer her.