Birthing process

In chapter twenty one, the narrator talks about the birthing process. The birthing process seemed so ceremonial and cultish in many aspects. The way that the narrator described the handmaid chanting in a circle creeped me out. There were three main moments that had me so frustrated. Number one being the wife acting like she gave birth to a baby when in reality it was Janine. Number two being the commander’s wife taking credit for the birthing process. The final one would be the fact that the wives get to name the baby’s instead of the handmaids.

After Jannie gave birth to the baby, I started to get emotional. I got frustrated at the fact that “The two wives in blue help the third wife, the wife of the household, down from. The birthing stool and over to the bed they lay her down and tuck her in”(126). I hated the fact that the wife that literally did nothing in this process was acting as if she had the child. Jannie had the child she should be the one receiving the most help and care.

When the wife is all tucked into her bed. She receives the child from one of the aunts. What I thought was so irritating about this was the objectification of the baby. The narrator starts to say that “The commander’s wife looks down at the baby as if it’s a bouquet of flowers: something she’s won as a tribute”(126). I interpreted the commander’s wife looking at the child as an award for her hard work. Although we never got to learn the relationship between Jannie and the commander’s wife, I believe that it’s safe to assume that there was distance kept. I think if i were in that situation I would have been crying. I wouldn’t be filled with jealousy just because of the baby I had been carrying. It’s the long nights that I was suffering. I would be thinking I did it, not the commander’s wife. That is a frustration I have with the commander’s wife. On top of all of that it’s the wife that gets to name the baby. I feel like the least they could let the handmaid do is name the child they just gave birth to. I feel so sad for the handmaids.