LogFAQs > #959309111

BalanceLost hit the nail on the head.

Gilead sought to seek power whatever means necessary. In any war, the quickest way to seek power is to seize the means of production. It was evident during the takeover that fertile women would become the most valued commodity, so they took control of it before everyone realized that. Had that not happened, we likely would have seen what you stated, TC. But Gilead explicitly kept that from happening by seizing control so they could take over America.

They justified all of this by calling it a holy war. Thus, as BalanceLost said, only the women labeled as sinful were reduced to being handmade. But their definition of "sinful" was vague and left to wide interpretation. Basically it was yet another excuse to seek power.

I like to think of it as slavery in the US Civil War. The war wasn't all about slavery, there were multiple issues on the line. But slavery was one of the most visible and surely an easy target to rally supporters for or against.

Same with Gilead. The Handmaids were just one issue relating to Gilead. Women, in general, were treated as property (as seen by the existence of Martha's and what the wives go through). Even men weren't immune from their sadistic rules, as you will see later on. It's all part of their twisted sense of morality.

As to your final point on why a commander just doesn't leave his wife for a fertile handmaid, why would he? With the current arrangement, he gets both. Why settle for one when you get three (a wife for emotional needs, a handmaid for sexual needs, and a martha for household needs). From Gilead's perspective, this is a major win.

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