The Hulu original series, The Handmaid’s Tale, tells the story of a dystopian version of the United States, renamed Gilead. The television series, created by Bruce Miller, is based on the novel originally written by Margaret Atwood. When a political group named “the Sons of Jacob” overthrows the US Government, they create an extremely religious world of turmoil, especially for women, using similar ideas from the Old Testament. The Handmaid’s Tale is told from the perspective of June, a wife and mother from New England, who is captured while trying to escape to Canada. Some former citizens of the US conform to the totalitarianism of Gilead, while others combine forces to fight for the freedom our forefathers gained. June echoes the theme of the resistance to comply with absolutism and gender roles throughout the series and is determined to stage a strategic rebellion.
In the beginning scenes of The Handmaid’s Tale show, June, her daughter, and husband, Luke are in their car, frantic to outrun the Guardians, Gilead’s version of police officers. June is captured, her daughter is ripped from her arms, and she is beaten unconscious and transported to her new home. Throughout the entire series, this image replays in her mind to remind viewers of her motivation to get back to her daughter.
The next time we see June, she is referred to as Offred. She is in her room contemplating escape and battling the idea of conformity. Throughout the series, the audience is privy to her inner monologue, making the viewers feel more connected to June’s character. She is daydreaming of her previous life, trying to remember who she is, her family, and her life before Gilead. The creators ensure the audience can understand the daily turmoil June is experiencing. The thought of rebelling seems nearly impossible due to the heavy surveillance and extreme violence used against those who attempt freedom. The Handmaid’s Tale often uses flashbacks to piece together the women’s journey in Gilead.
As the newly captured women are brought to Gilead, they are taken to a room and told what their new duties would entail and the rules they must follow. June sees her friend previous, who warns her to comply with the Aunts due to their extreme violence toward those who deny their new role. Further reminds us of the former United States citizens’ willingness to comply with the leaders of Gilead. During this meeting, one woman gives a dirty look to Aunt Lydia, the head Aunt, and has her eye removed. This further incident fuels June’s resistance but does give her qualms about her freedom. Offred was different from other Gilead members as she rejected the rules and began to calculate her plan of rebellion meticulously. The Handmaids must do many daily tasks together, including grocery shopping, where they often remained silent and accommodated to their role.
The small gesture of using a forbidden word brought smiles to their faces as they felt normal again, even if it was just for a second. Offred’s first advance at finding alliances was the gesture as she began sparking conversation and forming friendships with the other Handmaids.
Although it was difficult for her to tell the people’s true intentions in Gilead, she formed a strong bond with many women and the Guardian who lived on Nick’s property. June’s resistance gave the other women a feeling of strength, power, and comfort. They believe she would lead them to freedom.
The Handmaids encountered heinous torture and were forced to ridicule or even kill their peers. In one scene, Ofwarren, a friend of June, is brought to the middle of a circle of Handmaids. They are instructed to pick up rocks and stone her to death, but June revolts. Again, she rejects conform to this society and shields Ofwarren with her body, resulting in her abuse and torture of June. Another fire is lit under Offred as she learns her friend Moira tried to escape and was sent to the colonies, which is a place where women are sent when they can no longer conceive or try to escape. The colonies are a land of chemical waste where the women are forced to dig until they die from the toxic fumes.
Once June hears of Moira’s fate, she is immediately enraged, filled with the fire that burns within. Her determination and resistance reflect the need to remain independent and avoid accepting customs subject to women by society. Waterford was June’s first commander; a powerful man who seemed to form feelings for June, naturally making him want to protect her. She later learned that Hannah is in Gilead and has been given to a family there. Offred uses flirtatious advances to ask Waterford to check on Hannah and make sure she is alive, safe, and cared for. Waterford takes June to the forbidden club, the Jezebels, similar to a brothel. Offred expresses to her doctor that her Commander may be sterile at the end of the first season, causing the Waterfords to orchestrate a ceremony between Nick and Offred. They formed a romantic relationship during her stay in Gilead. While pregnant, June makes her first escape with the help of Nick. She hides for two months and is returned to the Waterfords, where she experiences far worse torture and violence, fueling her determination for freedom.
With the help of her friend’s Commander, she is transported to her escape vehicle. It is here where she selflessly gives the Handmaids her baby and orders them to leave and gain the freedom they deserve. In an emotional goodbye, they beg June to go with them, but she cannot fathom the idea of leaving Hannah in Gilead. At the request of Mrs. Waterford, June is reassigned to Commander Lawrence. He refuses to complete any ceremonies and turns a blind eye to the group of Handmaids and Marthas orchestrating their escape in his home. He respected June and wanted the best for all of them, Lawrence carried guilt for having a hand in forming this new totalitarianism, and that was his way of receiving a sort of penance.
June formed a close relationship with the Commander’s wife, Eleanor, who was ill and resented her husband for creating such a despicable society. Eleanor purposely overdosed after they were forced to complete a ceremony, driving Lawrence to help June with her plan to free the children of Gilead. The viewers finally get a sense of justice during this scene. June was able to free 86 children from Gilead with the help of the Marthas, Handmaids, and powerful revolutionaries. While the plane full of children departed, June was shot trying to run, but a group of Handmaids brought her to a safe house and attempted to save her life.
The closing scene opens with disgust and worry as evidenced by June’s husband’s face who does not understand the trauma that his wife has experienced over the last couple of years. Although the women have escaped Gilead, they are still embedded with the atrocities they had to face while being held against their will. The writers used this scene to bring the viewers back to normalcy. Their actions seemed so justifiable after watching what the people of Gilead had to endure endlessly. The directors gave the viewers many different perspectives of each character’s life, making it easy to differ how they feel about each character throughout The Handmaid’s Tale. June’s volatile behavior resulted from the pent-up anger toward these people she once viewed as she had captured. She experienced killing so often in Gilead that she had become numb to it. They were always told, “Gilead is in you.” They forced a Stockholm syndrome, in a sense, as some of the captures begin to have an emotional connection to the captors.
June’s reluctance to abide by their laws and her ability to save the lives of so many women and children, including herself, displays a key hand in bringing down Gilead. She helps enlighten the surrounding countries to the obscenities that took place at the time. The creators’ use of dull saturated pictures and flashbacks, failed escapes, intermingled with success, gave a realistic idea of life in Gilead, and continued to gain the viewers’ attention.
Work Cited
Miller, Bruce. “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Hulu, MGM Television, Web.