The Handmaid’s Tale (UK pace, so no spoilers from the US/Israel/Aus please)

[Ivy40]

This is a new thread where we can refer to the original book, published in 1985 (including the epilogue). Everyone is welcome to speculate on how the writers will get us from the book (end of series 1) to the epilogue (we’re assuming this will be series 10). Plus any other interesting plot developments that you have noticed.

No spoilers from the US/Israel/Aus etc please, as we in the UK are 2-3 episodes behind. We don’t want to KNOW what happens next, we just enjoy speculating and enjoy the plot development.

The basics:
Margaret Atwood wrote the Handmaid’s Tale in the 1980s, it was first published in 1985.

She said that she didn’t use anything that hadn’t happened in real life.

Series 1 finished at the end of the book.

There is an epilogue though.

Hulu have said that there will be 10 series.

We are assuming that series 10 will be the epilogue.

That means that Hulu have a lot of creative licence in series 2-9, as long as what they create leads to what we know is the epilogue.

Margaret Atwood is a consultant writer on the tv series.

The Testaments are being released in September 2019, written by Margaret Atwood. Set 15 years ahead of the ending in the original book and will be the stories of 4 different narrators, not June’s story. MA said that she based the Handmaid’s Tale on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, so we’re expecting “A Wife”s Tale”, “A Martha’s Tale” etc.

I think he was checking work at breakfast whilst Serena looked longingly at the forbidden reading and decision making.

My take on Aunt Lydia is that (like Serena and probably a decent proportion of the Gileadeans - remember Eden’s Dad?) she has always been a religious conservative. This is something that is more common and accepted in the US than it is in the UK, so wouldn’t be unusual even before the Sons of Jacob.

She seemed a lot softer in the backstory, hair down, softer clothing and a warm and cosy apartment. Still a religious conservative as she and the headteacher bonded over a shared love of a particular bible verse.

I think the backstory was set at a time when the Sons of Jacob were infiltrating the civil service and public sector. When she makes the report at the end, the person she is reporting to agrees that she she was right to make the report, although the head teacher is appalled (despite the fact that he seems to also be a religious conservative).

I think we were seeing the end of a long process of radicalisation - she mentioned a husband who was a mistake. She’s gone into teaching which is a caring profession and to start with she seemed reasonably tolerant of Noelle - more concerned that she was in a position to be groped by men than angry at Noelle for putting her in that position.

I think she really put herself out of her comfort zone to go out on a date with the headteacher, with Noelle’s encouragement. When she came on too strong and the headteacher said no, she saw something in herself that made her feel guilty and angry with herself - sins of the flesh (and maybe this is why she is an Aunt - the handmaids have all behaved lustfully in some way and it’s this lustful behaviour that she hates).

I’m not sure she blamed Noelle. I’m also not sure that she didn’t understand that the headteacher didn’t reject her, just asked her to slow down. It was the religious conservatism (bordering on fundamentalism by this point) that drove her behaviour next. She decided that lust was a sin, she saw lust in herself and hated herself for it.

From a moral point of view she also decided that women who have children born of lust are unfit mothers and should have their children taken away and given to morally upstanding true believers. There is also a fertility crisis so children are a scarce resource - as with anything that is scarce, children are in high demand.

The scene at the end, when she is making the report, she looks harsh again - no make up and hair tied back. But her face is half determined but also half sad, I think she knows she’s at the point of no return.

Aunt Lydia is a true believer. She thinks the Handmaids are sinners who have been blessed with fertility and having babies is the way they can save their souls.

This might be a bit controversial but I don’t think Aunt Lydia is cruel for cruelties sake - what I mean by that is that it isn’t mindless violence. She believes the Handmaids are sinners and need her guiding hand to help them complete their sacred purpose, in order to save themselves, in the eyes of god. All the punishments she gives are in response to a Handmaid rebelling against that sacred purpose.

She looks horrified at herself for attacking Janine at the Putnams and is also very concerned about the mouth rings in Washington. She even tells June that she doesn’t like them.

@Ivy40
@Andylion
@OOAOML

I’ve just remembered that the Handmaids have GPS trackers implanted in their ears. So Gilead must have some way of tracking that too. Those who are trusted, the Commanders and security services, can use the technology we have today but it’s banned for everyone else.

@Ulverstonian

I agree. I think AL’s story is that she is a true believer. Unlike some of the commanders (who we’re seeing are in it for the power, misogyny and ability to play out their sexual perversions).

I’ve wondered where the Aunts fit into the power structure - AL doesn’t seem to be in awe of the commanders. I wonder if the Aunts run parallel to the commanders, reporting in to a Head of Aunts in Washington? Part of the Aunts job seems to be reporting Commander and Wives non compliance to the powers that be (often information gleaned from Handmaids).

We’ve only seen part of the power structure - Winslow is a high commander in Washington, higher than Fred who is a district commander, but we don’t know who is actually in charge of Gilead. Is there a president if Gilead that the hypothetical Head if Aunts reports into?

Urgh, I’ve just been rewatching S1 slowly too. In Jezebel’s, one of the women is dressed in a commander’s daughter’s outfit - the pink one that we see Hannah in.

I felt sick when I noticed it.

I just wanted to let you all know that I have Asperger’s so if it looks like I’m over analysing, that’s where it’s coming from.

I’ve just remembered that the Handmaids have GPS trackers implanted in their ears. So Gilead must have some way of tracking that too. Those who are trusted, the Commanders and security services, can use the technology we have today but it’s banned for everyone else.

@Skaife. Of course!

I wonder how they decide which technology they utilize. Laptops, check. GPS for handmaids, check.

We’ve only seen part of the power structure - Winslow is a high commander in Washington, higher than Fred who is a district commander, but we don’t know who is actually in charge of Gilead.

Does anyone know how Commander Putnam fits in? His house was much bigger and more luxurious than the Waterford's. Based on that, they Putnams appear to have more wealth than the Waterfords but I assume wealth does not translate directly into power.

Ahh, Skaife, you’re very welcome here. I love the detail. I think we all spot different things.

THT is like a big, complicated family jigsaw that we can work together to solve.

I think Ann Dowd is the most fabulous actress - she's achieved what I would have thought was impossible, and made me care about Aunt Lydia.

The backstory made a lot of sense to me. I think Lydai's always been religiously conservative, and we see her struggling to support rather than (or as well as) judge Noelle because she sees Noelle as a sinner. She comes across as uptight, and it's difficult for her to let people in. So it would have been an act of will to go out with the headteacher (I forget his name) and bring him home with her. I thought that howl as she smashed the mirror had so much in it - pent-up loneliness and frustration probably going back years, sadness at rejection, disgust and rage with herself, shame, and deep despair. I can quite see how she'd turn from that to a much more inflexible religious observance. If she lives by the rules, ridigly, and makes others live by them, then she's back in control of herself and her corner of the world. Making her perfect for the Aunt role when Gilead comes to power.

I agree with Ulverstonian that she's not mindlessly cruel, but she's become an utter fanatic who's been enabled by the regime to take her control freakery to dizzying heights - and the pleasure she takes in power (which I think she does) is the same kind of pleasure that she took in helping Joelle and her son, and in flirting with the headteacher, but diverted into a much deadlier direction. Her pleasure in life now derives from being in control, and it's become the only way she can relate to anyone, making her a truly scary person.

THT is like a big, complicated family jigsaw that we can work together to solve.

@Skaife, I agree with Ivy40 on this. I am realty enjoying this discussion and it adds to my enjoyment of watching the programme,

Me too, @Skaife.

Don't stop with the analysing!

Thanks for starting this thread OP, I wanted to discuss the epilogue but wasn't sure if people would regard it as a spoiler.

One thing that worries me for Luke Moira et al is that according to the epilogue, Canada did send refugees back to Gilead, so they are not safe yet. They would only be safe if they reached England. And refugees who escaped and then talked would receive their loved ones body parts in the post so they still need to be careful.

Also, it says that the 'Tale' itself was recorded on tape cassettes, which links up with the tapes that June was listening to in the cellar.

There is scope for a lot more story - the epilogue talks about civil wars and about two different branches of the resistance - the Femaleroad being one of them. It also says that Gilead organisation was 'byzantine'.

I'm not sure how far the writers can take June's story though. Margaret Atwood basically gave us a glimpse of Gilead, the series writers have tried to flesh out her story but as it is Atwood's vision, it will be good to read The Testaments and to see, possibly, how Gilead's demise came about.

@Andylion. @Ivy40

I don’t understand the power structure. At first I thought Boston was the centre of Gilead and Fred was pretty high up but we’ve seen that that isn’t the case now we’ve had the Washington episodes.

I don’t know where Putnam fits in - he had his arm chopped off for the affair with Janine. I wonder if that’s because she went public with it though, rather than just because he had the affair? Jezebel’s is a secret amongst the commanders, Martha’s and guardians but the wives and Aunts aren’t supposed to know about it.

That’s sick by the way - a Jezebel dressed as a commanders daughter. I wonder how many commanders are involved with Gilead so they can abuse women.

@morningtoncrescent62

Ann Dowd is fab. There are some great actors in this.

Joe Fiennes is lovely in interviews. He plays Fred so well, I’m amazed that someone who seems to be such a nice guy in real life can make a character so dirty and creepy.

It’s the virgin whore thing isn’t it, weak men can never get past it.

Wife - religious, virginal, morally good and dressed like the Virgin Mary.

Handmaids - slut and made to wear red so that everyone knows she’s a slut.

Well we know alcohol can't be contraband now as Aunt Lydia and the other Aunts wouldn't have had the sherry whilst they were sorting through the handmaids files.

I wonder if Aunt Lydia has someone truly awful lined up for June now or even if she will be leaving Joseph after what happened at the supermarket.

Also another thought on the mouth rings. (It's been bugging me) They weren't in the book, but were thought up by a male show runner. Which I think was why they were so implausible, there was no thought to how they would be able to live as people eating, being sick screaming when poked with a cattle prod etc.

I think the mouth rings were a mistake - one of the things that was important about the book was that Margaret Atwood only used things that had happened in real life - that was the message. All of these things have happened before so they could happen again.

Didn’t like the mouth rings either.

I don’t think they compare to the scolds bridle - looks different and was used as a temporary punishment. The mouth rings were supposed to represent a vow of silence (they’re voluntary remember ).

They were just made up for shock value and didn’t really work IMO.

I reckon the rings were to shock - and set up a second shock when AL sends June to Washington.

If AL wants to control June she'll need to scare her. June gives zero fucks now, so, why not send her where things are worse for handmaids?

Ooh, that’s interesting @vivarium

It’s one thing putting the mouth rings on a group of anonymous handmaids but putting them on a character we know, who we’ve heard speak, is a different matter.

Where did they say the rings were voluntary i must have missed that

It would be interesting if June went to Washington but then Aunt Lydia wouldnt be in charge of her. Also i cant see her going back to the Waterfords.

Hey completely never going to happen but what if Nick came back victorious and was allowed to choose his own wife and argued the case to be allowed to marry June as she was evidently fertile.
Its a total make no sense almost happy ending pipe dream.

@Nousernameforme

Yes, and then Holly (June’s Mum) helps them bring down Gilead (as she escaped the colonies and heads up the resistance) and everyone lives happily ever after. That would be a feel good ending!

I read about the mouth rings in an interview with Bruce Miller. I’ll see if I can find the article and post it.