On her way to Offwarren’s birth, Offred is speculating about the conversations that happen between the commander’s wives when the handmaids leave the room. She imagines how they praise and patronize Offwarren when she’s present, feeding her treats and complimenting her physique, but as soon as she is dismissed, their demeanor switches. They call all handmaids whores, and complain about how dirty and disobedient they are. “You take what they hand out, right girls?,” Offred imagines her commander’s wife saying. She imagines Offwarren as well, up in her room; “what does she do? Sits with the taste of sugar still in her mouth, licking her lips. Stares out the window. […] Thinks of nothing.” Offred can play out this whole series of events in great detail, even noting who says what, but this conversation would happen at Offwarren’s house, when no handmaids are present, so how would she have actual proof that a conversation like this would happen? I think this is an example of Offred being a narrator that we should question, and I think this was the author’s intention when Offwarren reassured the reader that she “knows the sort of thing that goes on,” with no further explanation of how she knows.

As she said on page 47, “In this house, we all envy each other.” It seems to me that these personalities and conversations that she makes up for the Commander’s Wives and for Offwarren are a manifestation of her own jealousy. The Commander’s Wives have the freedom to do something she is deprived of; gossip. Perhaps imagining the Commander’s Wives as two faced makes her feel better or righteous about her own isolation. And to imagine Offwarren as absent-minded and complacent, like she’s just a vessel (the “perfect” handmaiden) yet still seen as “less-than” by the Commander’s Wives makes Offred feel less bothered by Serena Joy’s dislike of her.

This scene resonates with me because it highlights how people often fill gaps in knowledge with their own fears and desires. Offred’s narrative is not just a recounting of events, but a window into her mental landscape. Just as Offred imagines the wives’ duplicity and Offwarren’s emptiness, I have found myself imagining the motivations and feelings of others in moments of uncertainty, sometimes projecting my own emotions onto them to make sense of my experience. In this way, Offred’s narration reminds us that stories are not always objective truths, but are often influenced by the narrator’s perspective and emotions.