“I'm getting myself in deep shit.”— Commander Lawrence about the escape plot he devised [1].
Emily's escape is an event in The Handmaid's Tale.
History[]
Prelude[]
Emily reluctantly presents herself for the Ceremony in her new household, however, Commander Joseph Lawrence refuses and sends her back to her room. Aunt Lydia arrives the next morning and tells Emily she heard the Ceremony went "splendidly" according to Commander Lawrence. She proceeds to lecture Emily as a result of her refusal to engage in a dialogue, to which she mocks Emily's genital mutilation by likening her silence to having cut out a "tongue" and walks out of the room. Infuriated, Emily stabs her in the back and pushes her over the banister to a landing. She kicks Lydia the rest of the way down. Cora comes and grabs Emily before calling Commander Lawrence. She takes Emily back to her room and tells her to stay there. Emily proceeds to have a meltdown[1].
Event[]
Commander Lawrence walks into Emily's room and asks what they're going to do with her. He grabs her and puts her into his vehicle and they drive off with the music playing. Frightened, Emily asks him to turn it off. They stop on the outskirts where June Osborne and her baby daughter Holly join them. June embraces Emily and tells her that she's getting out of Gilead as a truck arrives, with Lawrence remarking that he's getting into deep trouble for what he's doing. When Emily gets on the truck, June gives her the baby, telling Emily to call her Nichole (her name given by the Waterfords) only to shut the door and stay behind as the truck drives away with Emily screaming June's name repeatedly[1].
After being carried in the vehicle to the border with Canada, Emily continues her journey on foot with Nichole in her arms, trying to keep her quiet. She hides as much as she can from nearby drones and is not spotted by them until she reaches the riverbank marking the border. The drones prevent her from crossing the river on a nearby bridge, so she wades through the river, manages to get out of the water and collapses to the ground. After a brief moment until the baby starts crying again, she is spotted by Canadian police officers who ask if she wished to seek asylum before taking them to a hospital. [2].
Aftermath[]
June persuades Commander Lawrence to to take her to Commander MacKenzie to get her daughter Hannah (to Gilead as Agnes MacKenzie), only to be rounded up there and taken back to the Waterford house and later to the Red Center. Before she's taken away, Mrs. MacKenzie speaks to her and threatens to have her summarily executed in front of the child if she returns for any reason. Aunt Elizabeth eventually reassigns her to the Lawrence household[2]. Back in Canada, Emily gets in contact Luke and Moira who take Nichole in.