Night is often, though we wouldn't think so, a symbol of comfort and safety. Offred lives in a society that has enslaved her to the needs of a particular, powerful group, and the structure of the society has been manipulated to make sure she, and all other women, remain enslaved to the system.

Daylight, then, represents the watchful eyes of society at large, a reality which requires her to at least act as if she is going along. The "eyes" are everywhere, and everyone may be suspected of membership in the spy organization. Even the other handmaids take part in the act of making sure everyone is following the rules. When the sun is out, everyone can see clearly what everyone else is doing.

Daylight also represents a clear view of the current state of affairs. On their walk back from shopping, Offred and Ofglen see the hanging criminals by the church, and in chapter 42, the hanging, or "salvaging" of the three women that the handmaids are expected to take part in, is carried out in an open square. The women are required to watch the killing of these rule-breakers, and furthermore, they are required to take part. These public executions serve as both a reminder of the constant threat against defiance and also a suggestion of universal complicity in the system.

Therefore, night offers the opposites of these horrors. In the dark, in her room, she can turn away from the brutality of her life, remember the past, and reject the patriarchal oppression of Gilead. She can rest and think, without concern for what someone else may see in her eyes. The eyes cannot see her in the dark.

Night is a comfort. At the beginning of the novel, the handmaids exchange names in the darkness, an act of camaradery at odds with a society that seeks to isolate women from each other, and later, Offred recalls her previous life at night in her room.