Table of Contents
Throughout the novel, Atwood develops Commander Fred’s character from a seemingly two-dimensional antagonist into a complex character with human motivations and weaknesses, and ultimately represents how even men are deprived and unsatisfied in patriarchies.
As a character, the Commander represents the superior male status in the patriarchal Gilead society. As a distinguished official in Gilead, he is one of those responsible for the creation of Gilead. In Offred’s world, he plays the role of the man holding the most authority in the household. The Commander is first portrayed in the story by Offred as a collected and even emotionless figure. This is most clearly shown before the first Ceremony, where he seemingly views his household members awaiting him as an ‘inventory’, and proceeds to analyse their ‘worth’. The Commander is portrayed as viewing the other members in his household as mere objects, tools in preserving the Gileadean society, thus giving his character a two-dimensional antagonistic quality with no emotion or unique character.
However, as the story progresses, the Commander is shown to have a human side to him. This is illustrated when he requests for Offred to visit his room. The Commander greets Offred casually, even displaying “concern” and “sheepishness”. At the end of the chapter, the Commander asks for Offred to kiss him “as if she meant it”, and is even described as “so sad” when she is unable to. This is illegal for women, especially so in Gilead, and the fact that the Commander indulges heavily in such forbidden activities reveals that he has never been a completely emotionless character; he is in reality unsatisfied with Gileadean society, and internally longs for relationships with genuine love, of which he has been deprived. This adds a certain morality and humanity to his character.
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It is revealed that he harbours guilt towards Offred, due to the fact that he is the responsible party for her suffering. Offred summarises this in the sentence “If her life is bearable, maybe what they’re doing is right after all.” The inevitable guilt which plagues the Commander suggests that he still retains morality and humanity. However, ironically, it is the revelation of this human guilt within him that shows that the many illegal measures he take to build a relationship with Offred are not truly for the sake of improving Offred’s life, but simply to justify the Gileadean society and ultimately alleviate his own feelings of guilt.
The Commander’s power-seeking nature ultimately comes to light during the scene in which he brings Offred to Jezebel’s, an extremely dangerous and illegal act. Offred states that “He is showing me off, to them… But also he is showing off to me. He is demonstrating, to me, his mastery of the world. He’s breaking the rules, under their noses.” “It’s a juvenile display, the whole act, and pathetic.” The Commander acts in an overly indulgent fashion, to ‘prove’ that he is above the regulations of Gilead and can do as he please. While ultimately a pathetic and meaningless act, he is caught up in wanting to feel that he indeed possesses power above the very society he created, and wants to show this ‘power’ off to the other Commanders and Offred herself, all for the purpose of indulging himself. This displays human weakness or even childishness in his character, yet proves he is not above using others to selfishly fulfil his emotional desire, which makes the morality of his character yet debatable.
Commander as an Antagonist
By the end of the novel, the Commander is shown to be a three-dimensional antagonist with human depth, emotion and weakness. However, it is clear that he is to an extent a victim of the societal system, leaving the reader ultimately unable to fully dislike or like him, but only able to feel sad for or have mixed feelings about, similar to how Offred feels about him in the novel. This aptly displays how Atwood crafts every character, even the antagonist, to be morally grey with ultimately complex human qualities.
Throughout the novel, Atwood develops Serena Joy’s character from a hostile and unhappy woman into a character whom readers may understand and sympathise with more although she harbours malevolence.
In Gilead, Serena Joy holds the most power a woman can have. However, despite being extremely pampered, she is first portrayed as a jealous and unhappy woman who treats Offred harshly. In her first appearance, her eyes are described as a “flat hostile blue” that “shut Offred out”, and she makes it clear that she wishes to see Offred as little as possible. This puts her character in an extremely contemptuous light, and thus portrays her as an antagonistic character from the beginning of the novel.
However, the reason for Serena Joy’s bitterness is revealed throughout the book. Primarily, as an infertile Wife, she is labelled a “defeated woman”, and is essentially forced to watch as Offred takes her place in the household as her husband’s sexual and eventually intellectual partner. This is not only emotionally agonizing but more so humiliating to her, and she resultantly takes this out on Offred as anger and hate. While seemingly antagonistic, this further shows how despite being rich and powerful, Serena is also a victim of the Gilead regime, and this invokes a certain pity for her in readers.
Serena’s Character
Serena Joy is shown to still possess certain humanity and emotions, and this succesfully invokes pity in readers for her. Her immense yearning for children is depicted through the hobbies she carries out throughout the story. An apt example would be how the designs of the scarves she enjoys knitting “aren’t…for grown men but for children”, despite the fact that the scarves are meant for adult men. This depicts how she constantly thinks about and deeply wishes to have her own children. Along a similar vein, mentions of her garden also represent this innate wish of hers. Her loving care for her garden parallels her innate desire to raise a child, and also ironically serves as a form of escapism from her unhappy life in which she lacks children and a functional relationship with her husband.
It is later revealed that Serena was previously a famous gospel singer and anti-feminist. Gileadean society is exactly as she had advocated it to be, yet she is unable to find joy in such a life, which is extremely humiliating for her. Offred makes light of this, stating that “She doesn’t make speeches anymore. She has become speechless. She stays in her home, but it doesn’t seem to agree with her. How furious she must be, now that she’s been taken at her word.” The sheer irony in the statement illustrates how she is made painfully aware that she had brought this predicament upon herself. She is very frustrated at the oppressed state of which she has become, and is to an extent victimised by Gilead.
Ultimately, however, Serena Joy remains a malevolent presence, possessing no kindness or empathy for Offred. Her most climactic scene involves her sabotaging Offred into having intercourse with Nick in order to become pregnant. To this end, Serena offers to show Offred a photograph of her long-lost daughter if she does so, causing Offred to realise that Serena had always been aware of yet withheld her daughter’s whereabouts. Offred describes Serena as “smiling, coquettishly” and “as if offering her some juvenile treat, an ice cream, a trip to the zoo”, showing how Serena cruelly relishes in capitalising on Offred’s loss of her daughter so as to gain a child for herself, despite the fact that the two women ultimately hold the same desire of having a child. Serena’s ultimate lack of empathy for anyone other than herself gives readers a glimpse of her true personality–a cruel, selfish woman willing to sacrifice other women for her survival and desires, making her the perfect tool in Gilead’s society.
By the end of the novel, Serena Joy’s motivations are made clear to the reader: she indeed regrets that she has brought her predicament upon herself, but most innately wishes to have a child, and will justify the means to which she attains her goal, no matter how cruel. This allows readers to feel sympathy for her while acknowledging her role as an antagonistic force in the story.
