#aplit16commanderswives

I think that the commander’s wives are some of the worst characters in the book!! They see the treatment of the Handmaids and the other women’s groups and don’t do anything to stand up for them. I think they live lives full of pity. Since I was in this group for our class discussion, I thought it was difficult to talk from a wive’s point of view. I didn’t really agree with anything that they said/ did, so it was hard to answer people’s questions. When people would push back after I gave an answer, I usually agreed with them. I think the commander’s wives are what keeps the society going. They allow for the oppression of women and show no emotion.

Commander's Wives While the commander's wives have the most power in society, compared to the rest of the women, they feel useless. They don't have a purpose in society. They can't have kids They can't have a emotional relationship with their husbands. They can't have a physical relationship with their husbands. For example, During the ceremony, they are useless. The don't need to be present. During the birth, she is useless, because she's not the one giving birth. They sit around all day, knitting, taking care of their gardens. But other than that, they aren't valuable to the society. however, they do have power in society. They also feel guilty, because they partly are. They used to support this kind of lifestyle and praise it, but they never realized how bad it would be. They hate it now, and they have no other choice than to accept the way things are.

As you can imagine, the housewives were not satisfied with their role in the Gilead society. We established that essentially their only role was to take care of the child after the handmaid had it, so in reality how are they any different from the handmaids? The handmaids sole purpose is to have the baby while the wives sole purpose is to raise it. I believe that the commander’s wives feel just as trapped as the handmaids by men and the society of Gilead because they are oppressed in similar ways. Also, they treat the handmaids poorly because they are jealous. Not jealous of their position in the society, but jealous of their connection with their husbands. There is no reason that the wives can’t have their own connection, but they do not want to share. These outsiders come into their home and make connections with their husbands which feels like an attack to them. The only thing they can do about it is take it out on the handmaids because that is who they have power over. Every female group in the book has some power over something and throughout the novel we see them use it in order to make themselves feel better. In reality, I think they are displacing their anger of oppression on the even more oppressed. 

I had no idea that the discussion that went on with the Commanders Wives would completely change my way of “reading” the book. As I read the book I thought that they had a negative role in the book because of the way they came off. However, after listening to what the Commanders Wives had said I have nothing but sympathy for them. They honestly have it the worst when compared to the other women. Not only because their husbands are with other women but also because they have no connection with anyone. Their only hope is the child they get from the Handmaids.

Ahh....the pity party. Serena Joy wanted this kind of world, blames herself for her advocating, and now she sobs and regrets her actions, asking why, oh why me? When we address the topic of Commanders Wives, we come to a dead end as to their role. What role do they serve? Well...umm... in short they really have no purpose at all? Ok yes, it’s harsh but they’re basically useless. The only reason I see the CommandersWives as having a place in the Republic of Gilead at all is to show that it turns out men do have a conscious in Gilead. The powerful men could have ditched their Wives and simply had Handmaid’s and Jezebels to be with but to not be religiously persecuted and through the work of their subconscious, they couldn’t just leave their Wives. Even if they have no love for each other anymore, no relationship or connection (as we discussed in class), the men still want to try to keep their wives from going insane, and they do that by giving them hope towards having another baby. That baby (although I did argue that Handmaids could also provide a relationship) is the last thing that can provide the CommandersWives with a connection. Serena Joy, you seriously screwed yourself.