Key points for section focus/plot development/themes/intention Asks to go to his office- she cant say no or yes- set up for failure, similarly to the Doctors She hates him as he enforces the oppressive regime but still visits him and enjoys these visits as its her only escape- opportunity to look at words In Chapter 29 they are both relaxed in each others company and they converse. He makes her life bearable as he doesn’t want her to kill herself like the Handmaid before her did. Hypocrisy of the Commander as he supports the regime but disobeys it due to him building up a relationship with his Handmaid Some readers may think that the Commander is arrogant because he played a role in the construction of Gilead but also breaks laws. He attempts to pursue a relationship with Offred after abusing her The Commanders defining characteristic is that he’s lonely for intellectual feminine companionship

Quotes ‘I ought to feel hatred for this man ... What I feel is more complicated than that. I don't know what to call it. It isn't love.’ page 68 – demonstration of Stockholm Syndrome ‘he is not an unkind man ... under other circumstances, I even like him.‘ chapter 26 – showing how the regime manipulates and influences people, even though the Commander enforces it he is still a victim ‘Its as if he's offered me drugs …The counters are like candies, made of peppermint, cool like that. … I would like to put them in my mouth. … The letter C. Crisp, slightly acid on the tongue, delicious.’ page 149 – synaesthesia, confusion, sibilance

Quotes ‘We've given them more than we've taken away‘ – only applies to higher class, displays the obliviousness of the Commander to the oppressive society he reinforces. The distinction between “we” and “them” suggests a divide between societal classes

Ao3 in section Sexism/1980s/patriarchy - encouraged to stay confined to domestic sphere. Phyllis Schafly viewed the liberation of women as posing a threat to “traditional family values”. Reaganism – had a radical plan of conservative reform initiatives: he slashed taxes in order to reduce Government spending, established a “War on drugs” and invaded the British Colony of Grenada as part of his anti-communist agenda. Christian right wing - became increasingly vocal so religious attitudes changed along with social attitudes, they condemned things like research (reading) and pornography.

Critical viewpoint Psychoanalytical – critics look at the significance of the subconscious to explore the literary representation of the character. Sensory deprivation and synaesthesia – Offred experiences symptoms relating to these as she has what she can hear, taste, touch and see restricted by the state. This causes sensory confusion as when one sense is stimulated it can trigger another. “The letter C. Crisp, slightly acid on the tongue, delicious.” Stockholm Syndrome – theory established by Freud which argues that a victim will emotionally bond with their captor to allow them to protect and preserve a sense of their own self- worth and is a survival instinct used by victims of abuse.

Example paragraph Atwood presents the relationship between Offred and the Commander as highly dangerous and illegal. The reference of drugs communicates to the reader the risk associated with their relationship saying ‘Its as if he's offered me drugs …The counters are like candies, made of peppermint, cool like that. … I would like to put them in my mouth. … The letter C. Crisp, slightly acid on the tongue, delicious.’ The temptation of a temporary escape from the regime of Gilead is overwhelming for Offred resulting in the confusion of her senses. As psychoanalytic critics have suggested, Offred experiences symptoms relating to synaesthesia as she what she can hear, taste, touch and see are restricted by the state. The confusion is represented through the repeated use of similes' “like candies”, which blurs her senses into one indistinguishable sensation. Furthermore, Atwood's use of sibilance heightens the temptation Offred experiences as some readers may feel that the auditory image of hissing alludes to a snake.