It starts off with Offred getting raped, again, by the Commander while staring at the blue ceiling. “Our car was that color,” she muses, almost absent-mindedly, “We bought it off Craigslist.”
It’s getting more normal now.
Is that better or worse?
Today offred gets to leave the house, not for a grocery trip though. another handmaid is in labor so offred needs to come help, along with the other handmaids to go assist with her labor. She gets into a van they call the birth mobile specifically for baby type rides so everyone knows that’s what it’s for.
As she’s about to leave to get in the birth mobile, she runs into Nick who tells her not to trust ofglen, that she is dangerous. He also adds that commander Waterford wants to meet her in his office that evening.
It’s really odd that he requested it because they are only allowed to be in the same room if it was ceremony time.
as she’s sitting in the birth mobile with the other handmaids, she sits there thinking, “what on earth could the commander want with me in his office?”
they walk into this home that seemed so serene and calm but with the feeling of expectation.
the first thing offred sees is a candy-colored tower of macaroons, and a wife dressed in a white gown faking labor while a harp plays in the background.
She’s the one who will steal the child away from the handmaid giving birth, and so she has to pretend to give birth to it. Offred chuckles quietly to herself because these people are too ridiculous to take seriously, but you have to or they will kill you.
offred goes upstairs where the other handmaids are encouraging Janine, the one who is giving birth to breathe and exhale.
Aunt lydias face shows love, courage, and concern as a proud mother would do. This would be the only way an aunt would show any love and concern for a handmaid is if they were about to have a baby.
“Good girl,” says Aunt Lydia. “We’re so proud of you!”
She’s only that nice to any handmaid that is giving birth because she knows they are going to be having their baby taken away from them and given to another woman.
Janine gets closer to labor and needing to push, the woman in white sits behind her and pretends to push as Janine actually starts pushing and finally gives birth. It is a sad moment for all the handmaids and Janine, especially because they know she can never have her baby.
they immediately give the baby to the woman in white, who names her angela.
it is now later in the evening and time for offred’s secret meeting with the commander, no women, even his own wife is allowed in his office so she’s terrified and quotes about one of those scary movies about a stupid girl going down into the scary basement, thinking her boyfriend is playing a scary prank.
The Commander is feeling very gracious and happy she “decided” to come to his office. “Thank you for coming,” he tells Offred after she enters. Of course, she had no choice. He’s so magnanimous that he’s willing to go through the motions of pretending that she did.
They love to be forgiving, Ofglen told her. They love to be generous. They like to take things away so they can feel your gratitude when they give you a fraction of it back, to starve you so they feel like heroes when they secretly feed you scraps beneath the table.
Apparently, he wants to play a game with her. He pulls out a game of scrabble and they play. The game ends with the commander “winning” when offred let him win.
He suggests a rematch after he comes back from his next trip. “I’ll check my schedule,” she dares to joke, testing him, “See if you can squeeze me in,” he zings back.
He shakes her hand as she goes to leave. As soon as offred is in her room, she laughs at how ridiculous the whole thing was.
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