The end of 1984 is similar in that we don't know what happens to Winston, but on closer inspection, we see that the Newspeak dictionary is written in past tense, indicating that the totalitarian regime eventually ended. She doesn't really know whom she can trust, and since we are seeing everything through her eyes, the readers also don't know however, if you read the Historical Notes at the end (and yes, these are part of the novel), what becomes evident is that Offred did, indeed, get away at some point as the academics in the far future refer to her audio tapes and the ultimate defeat of Gilead. It is left purposely ambiguous because Offred herself doesn't know how it will end when she steps into the van. For those reviews that have mentioned being unsatisfied with the ending, I think they're missing the point. The prose is poetic yet matter-of-fact, and it demonstrates that people are complicated and capable of both good and evil acts depending on the particular situation. It's a wonderful example of first-person point of view and can help to initiate a discussion about unreliable narrators. As an English teacher who has taught this book for somewhere around 14 years, I can tell you that this book has a profound impact on students and succeeds in teaching students many literary skills and helps them to connect literary fiction with relevant, real-world current and historical events.
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