1/4 Handmaid's Tale

The first quarter of The Handmaid's Tale had a lot to do with inroducing us to all these characters, describing different people - what they did, what they wore, etc. It was confusing for me to read because of how Offred, one of many Handmaid's, talked about her past and present. I was trying to describe the book to someone and all I could really do was tell them about the Wives in blue, Guardians in green, etc. And it was hard to tell them how her past was like our present, and her present seemed like it should have been her past. In my mind it should have been flipped, which is why I was confused as to what could have happened to make society that way. I didn't understand how she could go from having freedom with her husband, daughter, money, clothes, etc. to having to hide under the red dress and veil and not being able to talk or touch anyone. Her life was now meant for bearing a child from the Commander, instead of having the Wife do it! When reading the first quarter of this book I also ran into some parts that I could relate to our lives today, such as the walk they went on to go to the market. They weren't allowed to talk to anyone (like we are not supposed to talk to strangers). Also, when they ran into the Japanese tourists who were wearing what our modern society might wear, asking if they could take a picture of them as if they were a tourist attraction - some kind of object for the world to look at. This book is confusing because of how it jumps around sometimes from what she's actually doing to what she's dreaming/thinking of. I keep having to go back and double check what I read.