Viewing The Commander In The Handmaid's Tale

“…I think about how I could approach the Commander, to kiss him, here alone, and take off his jacket, as if to allow or invite something further, some approach to true love, and put my arms around him and slip the lever out from the sleeve and drive the sharp end into him suddenly, between his ribs. I think about the blood coming out of him, hot as soup, sexual, over my hands” (139-140). At the beginning, Offred creates a reconstruction that mocks Moira’s rebellious attitude and intensifies hostility and her revulsion towards the Commander. Atwood employs the use of the word ‘sexual’ to signify that the experience for Offred would be erotic, voluptuous, or purely enjoyable. This reconstruction is one example of Offred’s callous narration

The Handmaid’s Tale is narrated by and follows the life of the handmaiden Offred—the most oppressed class, yet most important. Because the book is set up in Offred’s narration, it gives readers a sense of sympathy for her misfortunes but also empathy for her, and other women’s, social status(s). Having a rank of importance, power, and simply being a man in a society that tyrannizes women, the Commander is perceived as a bad guy of sorts. Despite being a founder of Gilead, he is also a prisoner. He is trapped in a prison he was responsible for building; his sorrow and desperation for companionship make him a prisoner to Gilead’s restrictions. Referring to the illegal magazines, Atwood writes, “‘Who else could I show it to?’ he said, and there it was again, that sadness” (158). His response to Offred wondering why he would show the magazine to her conveys a sadness that Offred clearly notes in her narration. A sadness that takes root in his longing for an intellectual connection. This question implies that the Commander and his wife do not have the intimate relationship he desperately craves. It may also allude to his lack of