In chapter 23, we read about a significant moment in The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred’s ability to experience and do something forbidden to the women in Gilead. Which is reading and writing. That is exactly what we see her do throughout this chapter, which stuck out to me. On page 138 we got to see the Commander ask Offred to play Scrabble. However, in the reading, it is described as, “It’s something different. Now it’s forbidden, for us. Now it’s dangerous. Now it’s indecent. Now it’s something he can’t do with his Wife. Now it’s desirable. Now he’s compromised himself. It’s as if he’s offered me drugs.” The comparison to being offered drugs is one that you can’t make often. The way Offred is describing this, you would think they would avoid playing it at all costs. That does not seem to be the case here though for Offred and the Commander. After reading this I felt confused as to why he would risk himself and Offred for a boring game of Scrabble. Such a small and silly thing could ruin Offred’s life, even though she wasn’t the one to make the choice. “All right,” I say, as if indifferent. I can in fact hardly speak.” Offred’s reaction makes me think she was also in disbelief that he would ask her that, by stating her inability to speak. I thought this part was intriguing because we assume Offred cannot say no, because of the repercussions. But I was confused as to why she did not fight to turn his forbidden offer down because it is something that if it were to be discovered the outcome would be plenty dangerous and bad. I wondered if she was suspicious of him if she doubted her trust in coming to see him. But I also think about how she could be terrified to say something, and like usual, she just gives in to what is asked. As for the Commander, I also questioned his motive, and I was interested to know his intentions. I thought that maybe he could be using this as bait, to see if she’ll fall into this trap. Of doing something she’s not allowed to do and is forbidden. What would he do with her if that was the case? If this was all just a set-up? I felt scared for Offred, for what could come. With something like this, all sorts could go wrong. However, I believe there has to be a reason why he would want to play Scrabble. Another reason why this intrigued me was because I thought he could be doing this as a way of wanting to help Offred out. The handmaids are not allowed to do much, so I think this could be his way of giving her some sort of entertainment, an “out.” Maybe he happens to be one who still has a bit of sympathy and can feel for Offred. Maybe he wants her to feel like she has some sort of potential to do more, to do the things that are forbidden. Freedom. But why? What could be his reasoning? I was still confused because, despite all of this, I thought, what if someone caught them? What if someone were to catch them in the act, playing this? Things would not play out well for either of them, and it would only make matters worse.

In class on Wednesday we discussed Angela’s birth and the labor scene described in Chapter 21. We got to see what a handmaid’s birth is like, and what it consists of. On page 123, the reader is told for the first time what the process of giving birth is like. It involves repetitive chants, a handful of handmaids, and spiked grape juice. It says the handmaids have been prepared for this, “We are all good at this, we’ve had lessons” says Offred who helped Janine while she dealt with her contractions.
After Janine has given birth, the wives help the household’s wife down from the Birthing Stool and take her to lie in bed. Then, the baby is taken from the handmaid and given to the Commander’s Wife. Offred speaks about the process after giving birth and how the handmaid will now never have to be sent to the Colonie, or be labeled as an “Unwoman.” She says it’s the handmaid’s “reward.” This entire section of Chapter 21 resonated with me because I honestly can’t imagine the pain of birthing a child, and it’s not something that’s on my bucket list. Pregnancy isn’t always the safest thing, and there could be a lot of issues. The handmaids were very passionate during the chants and seemed to be working hard to try and help Janine out. “It begins to catch me, it’s hard work…Already I can feel slight pains, in my belly” Offred says, and “By now I’m wrung out, exhausted. My breasts are painful.” The handmaids described being tired, sweaty, and in pain afterward, so I can imagine it was not a pleasant experience. It made me think of all the women who have gone through pregnancy and the ones who have had complications and have either lost their lives or have lost their babies. I think complications during pregnancy are a really big issue and people often undermine it. While reading I became curious about what happens with the babies with complications. My curiosity got the best of me and I ended up accidentally spoiling it for myself. I wanted to find out more about what happened to the babies afterward. That led to me finding out about something called an “Unbaby.” I won’t be going into detail about it because I don’t want to spoil it for the readers. But I did end up spoiling it for myself because the author hasn’t mentioned what happens with the babies born, and I wanted to know. I feel like the section I chose to write about was intriguing and it shed light on the impact of pregnancy and made me think of women’s postpartum care. Despite this, there was also something comforting in this chapter, all the women that gather around Janine to support her. The amount of handmaids involved in this process and what they do, Offred says, “The two women help her off the bed, support her on either side while she paces…One of the girls kneels and rubs her back. We are all good at this we’ve had lessons.” and “We are jubilant, it’s a victory for all of us. We’ve done it.” I think these quotes show how supportive and happy the handmaids were to be there for Janine and help her through her pregnancy. There’s comfort in knowing you have help and that it’s coming from women, and people who know what they’re doing. Nevertheless, this chapter and section stuck out to me and left me asking questions.