The artwork depicts when offered and her partner were walking and were stopped by an interpreter from Japan. However, the Interpreter was not the only one there; he also brought a group of Travelers who asked whether they were happy in Gilead. Offred was left unsure of how to respond, but continued to say they were happy in Gilead. To start off, I designed my piece of artwork in this way to clearly represent how I imagined it to be in my head. I made the buildings in the back darker colors because of the Helpless/chilling vibe that Gilead gives off. The reason why I found this moment in the book to be interesting is because it shows how, when something is not really your problem, you have great ignorance towards it. Not feeling the full effect of someone else’s pain somehow makes people curious and have lack of empathy for those going through traumatic experiences. I feel like it’s some type of chemical imbalance in our brains not to have empathy for others in pain. This Moment In the book also makes me think of how the Dynamics in Gilead would play out in another country and what other rules would they have towards tourism. Would they let people ask questions, or would they keep people clueless about what is happening within their country. I do think that the person who controls the gilead wants people in other countries to perceive handmaids as some type of a live-action artifact that they can be curious with. in my mind this scene feels like a social experiment to see what the handmaids would do if they had people asking them questions about the gilead and whether they would stay loyal and not say anything like they were taught. Generally, they think tourists are just eyes that come to ask some questions so they can see how they respond, which I believe could be true, given how strict everything is around them, and they already don’t want people from that country to be involved in anything. I also wonder If The Interpreter was Japanese or American, because if he were to be American, how did he escape the rules bound to him from living in the States. Did he create some type of pathway of living in another country, which led to him being safe from all rules. This moment also makes me think of what roles can be bent to be beneficial for some people and also cause chaos for others.

How will they get to a safe place