The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood addresses how people around you can greatly influence you into doing something you aren’t too comfortable doing just for their benefit. In the book, Serena Joy is trying her best to manipulate Offred to cheat on the Commander with Nick. Serena Joy is getting very impatient with the Commander, who has not been able to get Offred pregnant. But Offred was not comfortable with it because she knew that she couldn’t get pregnant by anyone that isn’t the Commander. After all, if it came out, it could leave her with a great punishment, which could even lead to death. We see this kind of manipulation most clearly in the scene where Serena Joy tells Offred that she is getting impatient with her and that the Commander is still not able to get Offred pregnant. So Serena comes up with a plan that Offred would have an affair and get pregnant by somebody else. Offred is hesitant because she tells Serena, “It’s against the law. You know the penalty,” which is exile to the colonies and death. This is when the manipulation begins. Serena helps ease Offred by saying “Women do it frequently. All the time.” Serena is saying that she wants to use Offred even if it puts Offred at huge risk. Serena is minimizing the risks of this illegal act by the old “everybody does it” logical fallacy. “But it’s done,” Serena says as a way of providing proof that they can get away with it successfully. She offers Ofwarren as a successful example. She doesn’t, however, mention any times when this kind of plan went wrong, which is why this is her manipulating Offred by leaving out any possibility that they will get caught. Then, Serena manipulates her further by saying that Serena would make sure they didn’t get caught. Then, she adds, “The Wife knew, of course… .I will help you. I would make sure nothing went wrong.” Of course, there are no guarantees that she could do this, and if they did get caught she would deny everything and only Offred would be punished. Offred is pulled into the plan by Serena’s manipulation, even to the point where she imagines that they are only girlfriends who are talking about boys. “…for this moment at least we are cronies, this could be a kitchen table, it could be a date we’re discussing, some girlish stratagem of ploys and flirtation.” Serena has no interest in Offred’s well-being, she’s only using this to make more of a reason for Offred to trust her by making it seem like they are in the same team working together when in reality they never could be friends because of the widely different roles they play. She continues with the “we are in this together” attitude when Offred asks, “What about the Commander?” Serena replies, “We just won’t tell him, will we?” Serena reassures Offred that she has this planned out and that they will have each other’s backs no matter what.
Of course, Offred has her reasons for wanting this plan. She knows that if she doesn’t get pregnant soon they will blame her and send her off to the colonies anyway, and she is attracted to Nick, who Serena suggests as the possible one to get her pregnant. But even here, we can see Serena’s manipulation. Serena must know that Offred is attracted to him, and she might even have used him before, as Offred suspects: “Is this what he always gets, in return” for running black-market errands, Offred wonders. Serena has essentially hemmed Offred in while making it seem they both came up with this plan and agreed to it, even though Offred has no real choice. If she says no, Serena could accuse her of all sorts of things. If she doesn’t get pregnant, bad things will happen, and if she goes through with it, the consequences are just as bad. Throughout the book, Serena uses her influence on people to get what she desires, without care or thought about how it can harm others in the long term.

Do you the importance of clouds and the things they do? Well, my essay will answer all of your questions.