Offred in Chapters 5 and 6

We already know a little about Offred and her situation as a handmaid in the home of the Commander and Serena Joy. However, we learn a great deal more about the character of Offred through reading chapters five and six. She and Ofglen go shopping for their respective households, coming across a pregnant handmaid and some Japanese tourists whilst they are out. On their way home, Offred and Ofglen stop at ‘the Wall’.
The thematic concept of the double is introduced by the first few words of chapter five; Atwood has opened the chapter with the words ‘Doubled, I walk the street.’ Ironically, the word ‘Doubled’ also has more than one meaning in this part of the novel. On the face of it, Atwood means that Offred and Ofglen are doubles, in the same, red outfits, leading probable identical lives. However, we also share Offred’s condition of double vision, where the present shops with their biblical names like 'Lilies of the Field' and 'All Flesh' and the queues for rationed good...