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Summary The Handmaids Tale - commander notes
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The Handmaids Tale notes Character notes, the commander in The Handmaids Tale Summary character notes for AQA English Literature Paper 2
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IEB Summary & Notes: THE HANDMAIDS TALE
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The CommanderTheCommander likesit when I distinguishmyself showprecocitylike anattentiveperprickearedand
eagerto perform
the commander's reactionstoherduringoneoftheir Scrabblegameswhensheplaysaword
Offeredcharacterizes
hedoesnotknowOffered's showofintellect inflatesthe commander'spride His Handmaid is cleverer than
others Eventhoughthecommanderseemstoseeoffered as ahumanmorethanothers inpower inGileaddoher
observationhereshows thathis throwbackattitude towardswomen that
theyexist formen'spleasureand
entertainment
Nowit'sdangerous Nowit'sindecentNowit's somethinghe can'tdowithhiswife Nowit'sdesirableNow
he'scompromisedhimself It's asif he'sofferedmedrugs
In Gilead womenare forbiddenfromreadingandwritingsoOffreddescribesplayingScrabbleas anindulgentandsensual
activity
Thegamealsorepresents ashiftintherelationshipbetweenthecommanderandOfferedHetrustsherwithsomethingthatis
forbidden butheis
onlyindulgingherbecause it benefitshimaswell In otherwords eventhoughOffred isenjoying
thegameanditgivesher asenseofidentity thecommanderisstilltheoneinpower
Sometimesafter afewdrinkshebecomes Chapter32
sillyandcheatsat Scrabble Heencouragesme todoittoo
Scrabbleis a metaphor forthelargerpowerdynamicsofGileadeansocietyEventhoughOffredis empowered
by thegame
arefemale sheisonly allowedtoholdpowerwithincertainboundariesandstillremainsin a role
of submission Similarly the
olesinsociety Commandercancheatwithoutconsequenceandevenencouragesofferedto do sotoo WhileOffredhastoremaincautious
duetothe constantthreatofviolence the commandercanbreaktherulesbecausehe'stheonewhomadethem
OffereddiscoversNolitere bastardescarborundorum scratchedintothewar inhercupboardlefttherebythe
Handmaidwhocame before her chaptera Shelater learnsfromthecommanderthatitmeans don'tletthe
bastardsgrindyoudown chapter291 Shealsolearnsfromthecommander thattheprevious Offredhangedherself
OfferedhavingtoasktheCommanderwhatthephrasemeansis significant This implies thattheprevious
Handmaidwho
leftthepreviousmessage alsolearneditfromthe Commander Thisisironic asAtwood
undoubtedlyintendsforthe commanderto betheone whoisgrindingpeopledownFurthermorethisshowsthatthe
commander evenhascontrol overthesmallestactsofresistancethat Handmaids areabletocommit REBELLION
In theepilogue we learnmoreabout the commander First we learnthathisnamewaslikely
FredWaterford a formermarketresearcher whodesigned thered Handmaids costumesandcameupwith
thenames forParticicationandSalvagingThenwelearnthatWaterfordwasexecutedforhis liberal
harbouring a subversive i eOffred
tendencies Epilogue possession forbiddenliterarymaterials and
of
Whilethe Commanderwieldspowerthroughoutthenovel theepiloguerevealsthat hewaseventuallykilledfor
thethings heusedto demonstratehispowerwith Ultimately it wasthe commander'shubristhatledto his
death
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