Offred By Serena Joy: An Analysis

I did not agree with Offred on multiple occasions, such as when she decided to go with the Commander to Jezebel’s and when she started to see Nick on her own. Her choices were not the best because sneaking out of the house at night with the Commander put her at a very high risk that would have resulted in horrible consequences given by Serena Joy. Later in the story it is found out that Serena Joy discovered that Offred had snuck out, but she was not able to give punishments before a black van came to take the handmaid away. Another disagreeable choice that Offred made was sneaking around with Nick. This action was dangerous because women, especially handmaids, were not allowed to be with men at all and if they were found together Offred could …show more content…
The traditional factors at play were taken heavily from the Bible and how God treated the people in the text. This could be seen when the household would listen to the Commander read from the Bible before the Ceremony and how the Leah and Rachel Center was named after women in the Bible. The characters were affected by these factors because they limited how women could act and how strict some of the punishments were that were taken from Bible verses. The gender differences were portrayed realistically because men were seen in positions of power and business while women were either Wives, Handmaids, or Marthas, which is the usual stereotype for gender roles. As for the traditional factors, the majority was shown to follow tradition but there was the group of people that went against traditional beliefs, such as those at Jezebel’s. These factors were portrayed realistically because there will always be a group of people who try to break tradition. The heavy gender and tradition factors are what the book based its main conflict around and how people dealt with these