Handmaid's Tale Palimpsests

Description

Respond to the following writing prompt. Your response should be details, refer directly to the text of Handmaid's Tale, and be at least 200 words.

A palimpsest is a medieval parchment that scribes attempted to scrape clean and use again, though they were unable to obliterate all traces of the original. How does the new republic of Gilead's social order often resemble a palimpsest?