Research on The Commander

The Commander

• Called Fred
• Husband of Serena Joy
• The man who "owns" Offred, she is his Handmaid
• Kind to Offred
• Middle aged
• Reasonably powerful in the government of Gilead
• Acts as if he follows the rules and guidelines of the Gilead but breaks a number
• Gives Offred prohibited items and privileges (he lets her read and takes her to Jezebels)
• He invites Offred to his office to play Scrabble, breaking rules by doing so
• Comes across very kind and gentle, especially in comparison to Serena Joy

Chapter 18 Opening Analysis

The opening of Chapter 18 is a short paragraph written in the present continuous, narrated by Offred. The paragraph seems to show how fragile she is feeling as she's speaking this. The repetition of the word 'glass' reinforces this point, as glass is fragile and easily broken which is how Offred seems to be in the text. In contrast to this lexis of fragile words, the context is very different. After this paragraph, Offred goes on to talk about time with Luke and while she was pregnant with their daughter, describing happier times which goes against the first paragraph.

           The use of short sentences in the first paragraph is also very effective. The sentence "I want to be with someone" is a short, to the point sentence. The fact that this sentence is so short shows how bluntly Offred is speaking and the fact that she knows what she wants and she wants it very much, almost craves for it.

           The use of the word "shatter" as a noun is also interesting. "Shatter" is a present continuous verb, but strangely is used as a noun in the context and the way that Offred uses it. She also uses the word differently as she says "I feel like the word shatter". The use of this similie is odd as "shatter" is improper in the context; you cannot be a verb, therefore to say she feels like it is surprising.