The Commander Flashcards
What does the narrator guess about the commander?
The narrator guesses that he “want[s] [her] life to be bearable to [her]” (29.54), which is naïve—how could her life be anything but claustrophobic? Only someone who hasn’t been deprived of his freedoms would imagine he could create a “bearable” state for someone who has.
What is the commanders ultimate defining characteristic?
He’s lonely for intellectual feminine companionship. While sex ends up being part of the deal, it seems like what he’s really looking for is a sympathetic ear.
What is the narrator disappointed to find out about?
The Commander thinks “his wife [doesn’t] understand him. […] It was too banal to be true” (25.64-65). In other words, the Commander’s excuse for infidelity is a cliché. (Some things just don’t change, even in a totalitarian dystopia.)
Why is the Commander an ironic character?
He’s the most naive character in the book but has the most power. Raises the question that you have to be naive to succeed in Gilead.
How is the Commander selfish rather than charitable to Offred?
He satisfies his need for companionship, but he doesn’t seem to care that he put Offred at a terrible risk (a fact must be aware of considering the previous Handmaid’s suicide)
What is the Commander’s moral blindness highlighted by?
His and Offred’s visit to Jezebel’s - elite men engage in recreational extramarital sex - reveals the rank hypocrisy that runs through Gileadean society.
What is the Commander best represented by?
A documentary on the Holocaust - the mistress of a brutal death camp guard defended the man she loved, claiming that he was not a monster.
How does Offred comment on this documentary?
‘How easy is it to invent a humanity’. Even if the commander is likeable and can be kind or considerate, his responsibility for the creation of Gilead and his callousness to the hell he created for women means that he, like the Nazi guard, is a monster.
