Friday, April 17, 2009
The Handmaid's Tale post #3
So, a few very important things have happened in the last few chapters of the book. One of them is that Offred has established some relationships that she did not have prior to now. There is her relationship with Ofglen and also her relationship with the commander. Before this point in the book, Offred prefered to stay distant from Ofglen. Her reasoning for this is that she didn't know if Ofglen was a true believer and follower, and she didn't want to take the risk of being turned in. After Offred finds out that Ofglen is not a believer either, a friendship begins to form between the two since they know that they can trust each other. Offreds other relationship is with the commander. I find this relationship between them a little bit odd. It's sort of wierd that when he has a wife that he can hang out with he would call a handmaid in to his office so they can talk and play scrabble. I'm not quite sure why he would do this when he knows what the consequence is if they got caught. I think that overall the friendships that are forming between Offred and the people around her are good. Even though secretely socializing with these people puts her in a great deal of danger, I think it is good for her to have some friends. Especially now that Moira is not in the picture, she needs someone for moral support, for her to know that she's not this alone.
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Hi Holleigh, I enjoyed reading your blog, and It's cool that we sort of had the same observations about Offred's new forming relationships. I was wondering, do you really think that Offred really needs these "risky" friends, when she already has her Aunts, and Ofglen? By Risking friends, I'm referring to the Commander. In my opinion, I do not think that Offred should even be friends with the commander because the risk of being caught by the eye is too dangerous. If her secret relationship with the commander is blown, she could be executed, or redistributed. If the commander thinks that this entire way of life is wrong, why does he go through with having sex with Offred, and not really treating her as an equal. I'll admit that I am sort of relieved that Offred is able to bond with her new "partner" Ofglen because I think if I were alone in this situation, I would have probably been diagnosed with depression or something like that. Ofglen provides Offred as an emotional outlet, and most importantly, a friend to keep company.
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