handmaids tale Essay

Tate Paul
Ms. Mandziuk
Nov. 9, 2014

Complete Dominance

Individuals with power will often abuse it when there is no one to stop them. In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, men of high class use their power to take advantage of weaker individuals to maintain control. The Commander is a monstrous human being who, misuses his power, objectifies women, and is extremely selfish. He is an individual that uses his social status to overstep the rules. He treats women like objects rather than humans. He is also self-serving, worrying only about his desire and not how his actions will affect others. The Commander takes advantage of his social status to fulfill his desires, never worrying about the repercussions linked to them. The Commander’s temptation of personal gratification exponentially grows, making him feel above the law and untouchable because of the power he holds. Throughout the novel, there are many times when the reader witnesses the Commander breaking the rules for his own pleasure. In the novel the Commander constantly violate the rules of Gilead. This is seen when he states, “I’d like to play a game of Scrabble” (138). This shows that he still owns a game that is forbidden in the society, something that is so little but yet so dangerous to own. In Offred’s first encounter with the Commander in his office, she describes the room as “an oasis of the forbidden”(137) Offred’s words help emphasize his ability to take advantage of his power to own such objects. However, the Commander does not stop there, he pushes the limits of his powers to another extreme, when he says, “ Tonight I’m taking you out”(231). The idea he is proposing to Offred is not only unsettling but dangerous. It represents a radical departure from the formality of their prescribed relationship. The Commander does not resist his primal urges, he justifies his disobedience to the law by saying, “But everyone’s human after all”(237). He attempts to give himself a reason to justify his actions and the misuse of his power. The Commander’s power over women in this society allows his objectifying nature to shine through.
The Commander helps portray the physical and psychological oppression of women under a totalitarian regime that reduces its female subjects to mere voiceless, childbearing vessels. In many incidents in the novel, the Commander’s various distasteful and oppressive actions are recognized. During the ceremony, Offred describes the Commander actions as callous and denigrating, “he is fucking the lower part of my body”(94).These words accentuate the lack of any emotion towards her. She is merely an object laying on the bed under his wife. When the Commander brings Offred to Jezebel’s, his real intentions for bringing her is shown. Offred comes to the conclusion that, “he is showing me off”(236) This is a good example of how the Commander treats women when he is in front of other men. Women are objects, a prize possession that is only good for showing off. This oppression towards Offred is also shown to other women. When Offred asks the Commander who the women are in Jezebel’s he says “ Well, we have quite a collection” (237), as if they are a collection of cars, or books that he is proud to own and show off. The Commander not only misuses his power, he uses it to oppress Offred, “Staring at the magazine, as he dangled it before me like fish bait, I wanted it.”(156). His actions help the Commander emphasize the amount of power he has over her. The Commander’s power is used only for his own self-gratification. The Commander is not a sympathetic individual, he is an individual that is solely focused on his wants and needs. He selfishly uses nature as an excuse for infidelity when he says, “ Nature demands variety, for men”(237) .He uses this excuse to justify cheating on his wife. He simply does not consider

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Handmaids Tale