Anton Garret
February 14, 2013
ENGL239-01
Handmaid’s Tale Paper The Commander and Nick are two male characters in The Handmaid’s Tale, which is stating the obvious or generally speaking. Though amongst these two characters they share similarities, in which this paper will reveal as the book did, but less broad. Also, there are the differences between the Commander and Nick that the author Margaret Atwood points out in the novel, herself. What makes the Commander and Nick both alike and different are distinguished by their behavior, their power (and/or lack thereof) and most significantly, their relationship with Offred. Through careful reading and understanding how the novel transitions; the Commander is an individual who changes, unexpectedly. The Commander at first is seen as the guy in charge. His duty is to basically have sex with women. To make it seem less degrading as it is, he’s the man in charge of a household where women come in hope of getting pregnant by the Commander. In the beginning of the novel there are only a couple of instances when the Commander is at the center of attention. Those instances were during the ceremonies and prayers. However, progressing through the novel it becomes noticeable that the Commander takes interest in Offred and he invites her to his room at late nights to play games, talk and in the end receive a mysterious kiss. By this time in the story, the Commander starts to feel more and more comfortable with Offred which leads to them talking and eventually sneaking out. As the Commander becomes more outspoken to Offred in the novel I would describe him as calm, revealing, old, powerful, risky and fearful to some extent. Prior to his relation with Offred he could be described as a man who is simply in power of women, with the only concern to uphold his duty.
Nick is the average joe in Gilead. He’s quiet, obedient, and he works…it’s just that simple. Though, unlike the Commander, Nick doesn’t hold any position of power. He is the Commander’s gardener and chauffer, which informs readers right away that he lacks power and it, is questionable as to whether or not he has much power over the handmaid’s. Noticeably, the Commander and Nick sit on opposite ends of the spectrum. It is quick and rather simple to recognize what separates Nick and the Commander just by analyzing their individual personalities. However, the distribution of power in Nick and Offred’s relationship compared to the distribution of power in her and the Commander’s relationship displays a significant difference.
Offred’s relationship with Nick is a relationship where neither lover has control over the other. With Nick, Offred has freedom and decides on her actions voluntarily. Notice when Offred is sent upstairs to have sex with Nick, Nick insists on giving his sperm to her a different way. Nick proposes “I could squirt it into a bottle and you could pour it in”. From this example it is easy to see how much Nick didn’t really want to have sex with Offred. What’s important here is that Nick gives Offred an alternative. He doesn’t force Offred to have sex with him and ideally, if she didn’t want to get pregnant, Offred and Nick could have just sat in his room pretending to have sex while Serena Joy waited. On the contrary, the Commander’s relationship with Offred is different. In Offred’s relationship with the Commander, she lacks the freedom she finds with Nick. Understanding that the Commander is extremely powerful, Offred is afraid to say “no” to him and she really doesn’t have a choice. The second instance when Offred and the Commander have sex, she doesn’t want to, but his power forces her to do so. Offred says to herself, “Let’s get this over with or you’ll be here all night”. Prior to this thought, Offred understands that the Commander is a kind man and she could probably refuse to proceed with having sex with the Commander. Feeling indifferent, she’s too worried about the dislike of being sent to another
