The Commanders Delusion

Quotes:

CH #17 PG #99 Nick says. “He wants to see you in his office.” … “Tomorrow,” he says

CH #23 PG #136 After that, reclassification. I could become an Un-Woman. But to refuse to see him could be worse. There’s no doubt about who holds the real power. But there must be something he wants from me. To want is to have a weakness.

CH #23 PG #139 “Thank you,” he says. “For the game.” Then he says, “I want you to kiss me.”

CH #23 PG #140 He draws away, looks down at me. There’s the smile again, the sheepish one. Such candor. “Not like that.” he says. “As if you meant it.” He was so sad.

CH #24 PG #144 I can ask for something. Possibly not much; but something. Men are sex machines, said Aunt Lydia, and not much more. They only want one thing. You must learn to manipulate them, for your own good.

This entire situation is extremely weird and makes me very uncomfortable not to mention living through it. We have an understanding of the secrecy surrounding the ordeal starting on page 99. Offred is sneaking around outside of her room after dark and accidentally runs into NIck however for Nick this is no accident, “Nick says. “He wants to see you in his office.” … “Tomorrow,” he says.” Originally this prompts a world of uncertainty for Offred and in turn the readers. There is no way of telling why the Commander would want to see her aside from assumptions. Regardless, Offred knows she is left with no choice as we see on page 136 “After that, reclassification. I could become an Un-Woman. But to refuse to see him could be worse. There’s no doubt about who holds the real power. But there must be something he wants from me. To want is to have a weakness.”. Even in the reality of her powerlessness and his control of her and the situation she can use this to her advantage. “To want is to have a weakness.” The quote clears all of the mystery surrounding the meeting. It no longer matters what the Commander wants, the situation has been put into perspective, the commander has a want and that is a weakness to be taken advantage of. Page 144 “I can ask for something. Possibly not much; but something. Men are sex machines, said Aunt Lydia, and not much more. They only want one thing. You must learn to manipulate them, for your own good.”

We eventually get to the meeting where we finally learn the commander’s intent, it turns out to not be as we assumed. As they played scramble and talked (the commander talked) I got the sense that the commander was looking for a sense of companionship. This would make sense as even in the relationship with his wife there seems to be a lot of formality. The titles husband and wife appear more so to be more job titles than symbols of their bond. By the end of their meeting I was questioning how much of his intent was companionship and how much of it was out of romantic interest. I don’t mean romantic interest as in a sexual connection but more so a true partner. Page 139 “Thank you,” he says. “For the game.” Then he says, “I want you to kiss me.” As he said this I wondered if he was trying to create an illusion of that partnership he desires, maybe this meeting is how he imagines a date. Page 140 “He draws away, looks down at me. There’s the smile again, the sheepish one. Such candor. “Not like that.” he says. “As if you meant it.” He was so sad.” To me this confirmed my assumptions. He is trying to have Offer act out his ideal romantic relationship. I say this because of the line “Not like that.” he says. “As if you meant it.” He was so sad.” This quote for me symbolizes him realizing the reality of the situation where offered is just a stranger and she doesn’t see him the same as he does her, or share his interests. The line also reassures the idea of the commander imagining how things should ideally be happening as this entire interaction is very formulated and staged out to create this illusion for him.