The Handmaid's Tale Blog#4

It seems like Offred is taking control of the Commander by asking him questions about the truth behind Gilead. Offred gains respect from Rita because Serena gives her a cigarette and tells her to go find a match. Rita offers Offred an icecube while she’s cutting the vegetables. She almost never nibbles anything while she’s working in the kitchen, and it’s even weirder that she offers Offred something. Offred decides not to smoke the cigarette because she wants to keep the match so she can burn the house and escape. She feels more comfortable with the Commander even when he drinks alcohol. The Commander reveals that men had the inability to feel. Offred asks if they feel now and the Commander says that yes they do. Maybe the Commander really wants to have a real intimate relationship with Offred, and probably wants to experience love. I was wondering what the asterisks were for in page 212. Maybe it’s to quickly jump to a certain time or scene. Offred describes Gilead as a fairy tale because probably she’s getting more comfortable with the society. I thought it was weird how Janine was acting like she was still in the past working in a restaurant. It’s probably a foreshadowing to how close Offred is to escaping. It’s amazing how Ofglen knows that Offred is seeing the Commander. She might be one of the Eyes or she has spy equipment underground or something like that. How else would she know? Maybe Nick told someone. The Prayvaganza ceremony is where Offred can speak with Ofglen a little better to be in the know. It’s sad how future generations of the girls with arranged marriages won’t know what the past behind Gilead was like. Offred sounds more confident in herself to be able to escape by telling the Commander in the ceremony that falling in love was overlooked in the past.
I wonder why Ofglen wants to know everything Offred can tell her. She might be a spy or she might just be trying to help Offred to rebel and escape.