The Commander’s Power

“His hand pauses. “I thought you might enjoy it for a change.” He knows that isn’t enough. “I guess it was a sort of experiment.” That isn’t enough either. “You said you wanted to know.” (254)

“Whatever there is to know,” I say; but that’s too flippant. “What’s going on.” (188)

This section of the reading frustrated me because the Commander used this outing as an opportunity to take advantage of Offred, even twisting her words to justify why he did what he did.

At the end of chapter 29, the Commander and Offred are talking about what happened to the last Handmaid that was in the house and the Commander tells her that Serena Joy had found out about their meetings at night, and that she had killed herself because of it. Offred sees how their meetings can be very dangerous for her, and she wonders if it would be best if she stopped coming to meet him. He believes she has been enjoying them and doesn’t see why they should stop. “You want my life to be bearable to me.” she says but means it as a question, to which he says, “Yes, I do. I would prefer it.” (187) This section of the book gives Offred and the reader the thought that the Commander wants to meet with her at night for her own benefit, that he hopes that their meetings are bringing some kind of value to her life. It makes the reader believe that he is on her side, when it is the complete opposite. After this interaction is where the quote from page 188 takes place, “Whatever there is to know,” I say; but that’s too flippant. “What’s going on.” The Commander later uses these words against Offred while taking advantage of her.

Even though at the start of their “relationship”, the Commander makes his intentions quiet clear when telling her he would like for her to kiss him “As if you meant it.”(140) This quote shows us what the Commander has wanted from Offred this whole time, but still I couldn’t help but feel hope for her when he told her he hoped for her life to be bearable for her. After the Commander has paraded Offred around Jezebel’s, he takes her upstairs to one of the old hotel rooms and takes advantage of her. He uses her want to know what was going on in the world to justify him taking her to Jezebel’s just to get what he wants. “His hand pauses. “I thought you might enjoy it for a change.” He knows that isn’t enough. “I guess it was a sort of experiment.” That isn’t enough either. “You said you wanted to know.” (254) He only says this to her after he sees that she is visibly upset with where she is, and notices that she isn’t as enthusiastic about having sex with him as he is. This part of the story made me feel disgusted towards the Commander, as it felt that he had done so well up until this point at masking his true intentions. To see his true intentions come to the surface again for the first time since their first meeting was frustrating and quite surprising. This whole situation also feeds into the theme of the abuse of women throughout the book, not just on the Commander’s part, but also on Serena Joy’s part, as she unknowingly sent Offred to go see Nick the same night she was forced to have sex with the Commander outside of a ceremony. While Serena was unaware of what had just happened between Offred and the Commander, she was still willing on her own part to exploit Offred for her own gain. Both the Commander and Serena Joy have put Offred’s life at risk for something that would only benefit themselves, and would most likely not get them into any trouble on their side.

It is also important to consider the fact that Offred could not stand up against Serena Joy of the Commander if she truly wanted to. He holds no power in a society built off of power and gender roles, if she were to speak up she would be risking her life. The Commander once asked her during one of their meetings what her true thoughts were on Gilead as a society, to which she responds with “There’s hardly any point in my thinking, is there? I say. What I think doesn’t matter.”(211) She has no room to speak up for her opinions and beliefs in Gilead, so she has no room to stand up for herself against Serena Joy and the Commander.