Chapter IV: The Clothes Hound is the 4-th chapter of The Testaments. It contains section 7-11 with Daisy as narrator.
Synopsis[]
Daisy recounts her childhood, leading up to her sixteenth birthday when her parents are car-bombed by Gileadean agents.
Plot[]
Section 7[]
(Witness Testimony 369B) Daisy is a young woman in Canada. Neil and Melanie are her parents, and they run a used clothing store called the Clothes Hound. Melanie works in the shop itself while Neil runs the accounting end.
Section 8[]
Daisy spends weekends helping her parents at the Clothes Hound, sorting clothes and pricing items. Many people are in and out besides customers: some street people that Melanie allows to use the washroom, missionaries from Gilead clad in white pearl necklaces often show up in pairs trying to evangelize, and an old friend of Melanie's named Ada who collects clothing donations for charity. The Pearl Girls bring brochures that advertise Gilead and demand the return of “Baby Nicole,” a child who was smuggled out of Gilead by a Handmaid. Nicole’s whereabouts are unknown, but she has become a rallying cry for both sides.
Section 9[]
Daisy recounts how she does not have any pictures of herself. A protest is planned about Gilead, and Daisy's class is attending. Neil and Melanie forbid her from going and call the principal to ensure that she doesn't go.
Daisy attends the Wyle School, a private school that takes strict attendance. On the day of the protest, nobody other than the bus drivers are taking attendance and don't know who anyone is, so Daisy trades ID cards with a basketball teammate and sneaks on the bus using her ID card.
Section 10[]
Daisy at first enjoys the protest, and listens to speakers from SanctuCare, a Gilead refugee charity, talk about their lives before they escaped. Counter-protesters, including Pearl Girls, arrive and the protest turns into a riot. Ada arrives and extracts Daisy from the riot, taking her home. On the news later that night, Daisy can be seen participating.
Section 11[]
A few days later there is a break-in at the store and some merchandise is stolen along with several of Neil's collectable cameras. The day after, a Pearl Girl is found dead.
On Daisy’s birthday, Melanie tells her she has something important to tell her later, but while she’s at school, her parents are murdered by a car bomb. Her parent’s friend, Ada, picks Daisy up and tells her the news.
Notable Quotes[]
“Their pearls are fake. Everything about them is fake.” — Melanie to the appearance of Pearl Girls[1]
Trivia[]
(e.g. observations, cross-references, 'useless knowledge')
Notes[]
(e.g. contextual implications)
References[]
- Initial plot summary taken from: The Testaments on Bibliofile.com. A review by Jennifer Marie