the Commander

point 1: complicit patriarchy

justifying oppression through ideology

point 1 quotation - anti-feminist rhetoric

“All that filth about universal daycare.” (Ch32, pg217)

point 1 quotation - inequality as the price for ‘order’

“Better never means better for everyone, he says. It always means worse, for some.” (Ch32, pg218)

point 1 quotation - oppressors rewrite history to justify actions

“We’ve given them more than we’ve taken away, said the Commander.” (Ch34, pg227)

point 1 AO3 - the Red Scare and Second-Wave feminism

Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale amid backlash against feminism in the 1980s, paralleling how the Commander dismisses women's rights as "filth" (Ch32, pg217)

point 1 AO4 - compare to 1984: ideology manipulation

O’Brien, like the Commander, manipulates ideology to justify oppression while maintaining an illusion of moral superiority

point 1 AO5 - feminist criticism: patriarchal hypocrisy

The Commander is a model of patriarchal hypocrisy—he enforces Gilead’s rules while indulging in secret pleasures (e.g., Jezebel’s)

point 2: Commander’s desire for intimacy

The Commander’s Desire for Intimacy: The Irony of Power and Loneliness

point 2 quotation - need for emotional validation

“There are things he wants to prove to me, gifts he wants to bestow, services he wants to render, tendernesses he wants to inspire.” (Ch32, pg217)

point 2 quotation - fundamental misunderstanding of human connection

“What he wants is intimacy, but I can’t give him that.” (Ch32, pg218)

point 2 quotation - self-motivated attention

“For him, I must remember, I am only a whim.” (Ch25, pg164)

point 2 AO3 - traditional gender norms

The Commander exhibits entitlement to affection, much like historical and modern men who feel socially excluded yet believe they deserve female attention

point 2 AO4 - compare to Gatsby » attempts to control love

Gatsby, like the Commander, tries to manufacture intimacy and control love, but ultimately fails

point 2 AO5 - postmodern criticism: power contradictions

The Commander embodies the contradictions of power—his desire for intimacy exposes the emotional void at the heart of authoritarianism

point 3: corrupted by power

The Commander as a Man Corrupted by Power: The Illusion of Control

point 3 quotation - Commander’s growing delusion

“Perhaps he’s reached that state of intoxication which power is said to inspire, the state in which you believe you are indispensable and can therefore do anything.” (Ch37, pg244)

point 3 quotation - reinvigoration of the illusion of control

“…and as he talks his spine straightens imperceptibly, his chest expands, his voice assumes more and more the sprightliness and jocularity of youth.” (Ch37, pg244)

point 3 quotation - power from objectification

“He wishes to diminish things, myself included.” (Ch36, pg237)

point 3 AO3 - Cold War “invincibility”

Just as superpowers in the Cold War believed themselves untouchable, the Commander assumes his authority is permanent

point 3 AO4 - compare to King Lear » madness from power

Lear’s descent into madness due to unchecked power mirrors the Commander’s delusions

point 3 AO5 - Marxist criticism » system’s exploitation

The Commander represents the ruling class, exploiting others while remaining ignorant of his own dependency on the system