The Social Hierarchy Of June In The Handmaid's Tale

In The Handmaid’s Tale episode we watched we were introduced to the character of June (renamed Offred). June lives in Gilead as a handmaid as she is one of the few fertile women left. In order to survive in this oppressive society June has to follow certain rules such as: not being able to go by her real name. Handmaid’s are named after the men that they serve, so Offred literally means “of Fred.” Handmaids are used as the breeding stock of the Commanders since their wives are infertile. They are forced to participate in a monthly ceremony where the handmaid has to have sex with the commander while the wife is present. If the handmaid gets pregnant and delivers to term she has no right to her child and must give them up to the commander and his wife. She is then sent back to the Red Center, where handmaids are trained, to await reassignment. Handmaids are also prohibited from reading. They also can’t even go outside by themselves, they must go out in pairs.

The commanders are all men, men in charge of the society and its laws. The next most powerful in the society is the commanders wives. They don’t actually have much power in the society, but they are the most powerful women, even having more power then some man. They are allowed to read and write in special circumstances. They are all infertile and are given handmaids. Next is the men who aren’t commanders. They are given jobs and sometimes infertile women to marry. They are allowed to read. Then theres Marthas who are infertile women who act as maids and cooks, they are not allowed to read or write. At the very bottom of the social ladder are the handmaids who are the only fertile women in the society. They have very few rights and are not allowed to read and