Loaves and Fishes

Loaves and Fishes is a retail establishment in the Republic of Gilead, identified by a wooden sign bearing a fish with a smile and eyelashes. Despite its name, the store does not sell loaves; most households bake their own bread, though dried-up rolls and wizened doughnuts can be obtained at Daily Bread if supplies run short. The store is hardly ever open, a condition that reflects the collapse of the sea fisheries several years before the narrative present. The few fish that are now available come from fish farms and taste muddy. The news claims that the coastal areas are being "rested," a euphemism that conceals the ecological and economic devastation that has made once-common species like sole, haddock, swordfish, scallops, tuna, lobsters, and salmon possibly extinct, like the whales. A rumor, passed on in soundless words with hardly moving lips while women stood in line outside waiting for the store to open, suggests that these fish may indeed be gone entirely. The store signals its stock by placing a picture of succulent white fillets in the window when it has something to sell and taking it away when it does not, a form of sign language that the Handmaids have learned to read. The store's irregular operation and the poor quality of its goods illustrate the material scarcity and the breakdown of the food supply chain that characterize life in Gilead, even for the privileged households of the Commanders.

Location and Appearance

Loaves and Fishes is situated on the main street of the town, among other shops such as Milk and Honey, All Flesh, and Lilies of the Field. Its wooden sign, a fish with a smile and eyelashes, is one of the emblematic markers that replaced written store names after the regime decided that even the names of shops were too much temptation for the Handmaids. The store's infrequent openings and the reliance on visual signals rather than written advertisements underscore the regime's control over information and its effort to limit the desires of the population.

Goods and Supply

The store's primary commodity is fish, but the supply is erratic and of poor quality. The sea fisheries have been defunct for several years, and the remaining fish come from fish farms, which produce a muddy taste. The news media, controlled by the regime, reports that the coastal areas are being "rested," a phrase that masks the likely extinction of many species. The rumor that sole, haddock, swordfish, scallops, tuna, lobsters, and salmon may all be extinct, like the whales, circulates among the Handmaids, passed on in whispered, soundless words while they wait in line. This rumor, though unverified, reflects the deep uncertainty and the breakdown of reliable information that pervades Gileadean society.

Narrative Significance

Loaves and Fishes serves as a concrete marker of the material deprivation and the systemic failures of the Gileadean economy. Its near-constant closure and the poor quality of its goods contrast sharply with the regime's propaganda of order and provision. The store also functions as a site of covert communication among the Handmaids, who exchange rumors and information in the lines outside, their lips hardly moving, as they wait for the store to open. The store's sign language—a picture in the window when there is something to sell, its removal when there is not—is a small but telling example of the ways in which the regime's restrictions force even the most basic commercial transactions into a coded, non-verbal form.