All Flesh

All Flesh is a butcher shop in the Republic of Gilead, identified by a large wooden sign depicting a pork chop hanging from two chains. It is one of the few retail establishments Handmaids are permitted to visit during their twice-daily shopping walks, and it operates within the regime's token-based rationing system. The shop's name, drawn from the biblical phrase "all flesh is grass," carries an ironic weight in a society that simultaneously elevates the body's reproductive function and subjects it to strict control.

Location and Economy

All Flesh is located on the main street of the town, past the checkpoint that separates the Commanders' compound from the commercial district. Meat is expensive and not available every day, even to Commanders' households. When Offred's shopping partner Ofglen obtains steak twice in one week, the fact is noted as significant gossip that the Marthas will enjoy hearing about, as it provides a basis for comparing how different households are run. Offred herself purchases a chicken, wrapped in butcher's paper and trussed with string, a reminder of the pre-Gilead era when plastic shopping bags were ubiquitous.

Social Dynamics and Surveillance

The shop functions as a space where the rigid hierarchies of Gilead are both reinforced and subtly contested. Handmaids in their red dresses and white wings stand in line alongside Marthas in dull green, Econowives in striped dresses, and occasional widows in black. The presence of a pregnant Handmaid, such as Janine (then known as Ofwarren), draws immediate attention and whispered commentary, with one voice hissing "Showoff" at her decision to appear in public. The Guardians behind the counter enforce order, entering token numbers into the Compubite while distributing purchases. The shop is also a site of potential connection: women's heads move furtively from side to side, searching for familiar faces from the time before or from the Red Center. Just catching sight of someone known is described as "an encouragement."

Narrative Significance

All Flesh serves as a recurring landmark in Offred's weekly routine, a fixed point in the monotonous geography of her constrained life. It is from this shop that she and Ofglen set out on the walk that leads them past the church and to the Wall, where the bodies of executed men hang. The shop's name echoes Aunt Lydia's warning that "all flesh is weak," a phrase Offred silently corrects to "all flesh is grass" from the Book of Isaiah. This linguistic slippage underscores the tension between the regime's biblical justifications and the lived reality of its subjects, for whom the flesh is both a source of vulnerability and the only currency they possess.