Handmaid Tale Blog #4: Problem with men

Ross Schonberg

Ms. Gubanich

English

May 10, 2016

Problem With Men

In the book A Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, we have learned more about the relationship between Offred (the main character) and the commander, who basically owns her. From previous parts of the story we have learned that their relationship is getting stronger and closer. As they are getting closer, the commander has begun to open up to Offred, and says to her “the problem wasn’t only with the women…. The main problem was with the men”(210 Atwood),

In this part of the story Offred and the commander have been having their little “get-togethers” for a decent amount of time and so one night when they are talking he talks This quote certainly says a lot about the roles men and women in this dystopian society and what the roles were like prior to the society. What the commander was trying to say about how “the main problem was with the men”(210 Atwood) was that, before the days of the Republic of Gilead, men were always meant to take care of and control the women. Once Gilead was created, the women were kept safe and did not need to be controlled or kept safe from any harms, because there are no harms, so basically “There was nothing for men to do”(210 Atwood). Of course the men did and still have sex to control, like how the commander talks about how “the sex was too easy”(210 Atwood) and that he could always just hire a prostitute. In the book, this quote (and the context around it) is also telling us a little bit more about the commander on an emotional level, and how he feels kind of useless, so him opening up to Offred, makes her feel kind of equal, since “Right now I’m not afraid of him. It’s hard to be afraid of a man who is sitting watching you put on hand lotion.” (210 Atwood). To add more emotional baggage on to the commander, he is always feeling guilty about the previous handmaiden that he would secretly talk to, who got caught by Sarena, his wife, and the handmaiden ended up killing herself. So from then on the commander also feels as if he needs to make sure that Offred is okay, so that she too doesn’t end up killing herself. This is very similar to a part of a paper we have read in our class, which talks about how men do not open up about how they are truly feeling, the connection between these two papers is that the commander feels that he is close enough with Offred, to the point that he can trust her with his sharing his feelings and guilt.

In conclusion, this quote speaks volume about the commander and how he feels in this society of equality. In a way it is almost understandable for him to think this way, since he is the commander of the house and even though there is less for him to do, he still needs to be the leader. So the relationship between Offred and the commander has gotten much deeper and more personal than Offred had imagined, as she is learning (and remembering) new (and old) things, and it doesn’t seem that she want’s it to stop.