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Oppression. Defiance. Fear. Faith. Hope. Emptiness. Words can not describe the depth and emotion of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. A short novel, written in 1985, The Handmaid’s Tale gives us a glimpse into a life no one could imagine living in. Having been created into a TV show by Hulu in 2016, The Handmaid’s Tale now shows us the power written between its pages.
If you’ve been following along with the show religiously, you know all about the strife, pain, grief, and hope our strong protagonist June carries. If you haven’t watched or seen The Handmaid’s Tale I recommend you stop reading here. The next paragraphs will include spoilers and some atrocious concepts.
What Is The Handmaid’s Tale?
The Handmaid’s Tale is a window into a different reality. In this world, the birth rate has dropped drastically, so much to the point that certain countries haven’t seen a live child in over 6 years. This leads to the downfall of America by its own people. The Sons of Jacob, a religious fanatic group, has risen up and attacked DC, Congress, and the Supreme Court.
Women are suddenly fired from their jobs, and all bank accounts opened by a woman are having their funds transferred to their next male of kin. America is gone, and this new country is now called Gilead. Gilead is similar in puritan ideals, as there is a mass religious belief that men are meant to work and women are meant to stay home and be idle. In Gilead, every woman plays a part.
Women that are married to higher up men are wives. The women who are older but can cook are Marthas. And the women who are blessed to be fertile are the Handmaids. No woman can read anymore, it is not allowed. No woman can write, no woman can drive, and no woman can go shopping alone.
A Chair. A Table. A Lamp
In Season 1, June is introduced to us. June, in her wool red dress, seems so strong and invincible. Her world is something unknown to us, and June is our guide in this. Instantly, I am attached to June as she is my only hope that Gilead can be brought down. Season 1 is dark, yet we are hopeful that June will escape Gilead with her daughter Hannah and reunite with her husband Luke.
We saw her best friend Moira escape, and we know Luke is safe in Canada trying to get June out. Serena Joy, the wife of June’s Commander Fred Waterford, has forced June into having a child with Nick. Nick is also an eye working for the government ready to betray anyone at any time. We watched Moria escape to Canada and get reunited with Luke. We watched June become a member of the Mayday resistance and we experienced her pain at finding out she was pregnant.
At the end of Season 1, we see June lead the other handmaids in an open act of defiance against Aunt Lydia. The act is all the handmaids choosing not to kill Janine, their fellow handmaid. For this, June is going to be punished and punished hard. June gets in a van with the eyes, and despite knowing she will be beaten down, she looks invincible.
I am… Free
Season 2 of The Handmaid’s Tale starts with a startling scene depicting all the handmaids being thrown into trucks by the Guardians. All were punished for not killing their fellow Handmaid Janine in the season finale prior. All the handmaids get their hands burnt except for June who is now pregnant with Nick’s child. June gets thrown back into the Waterford household where Serena Joy continues her threats towards June by showing her a glimpse of her child but not allowing her to speak to her.
Then, Nick does something shocking and helps June escape to an abandoned building where she stays for a bit alone mourning those who died in that building. June makes it all the way to an airplane that’s going to fly her out of Gilead directly, but the plane gets shot down and June returns to the dark house of the Waterfords. At this point June seems more and more powerful, she is very pregnant, very fearful, and yet very determined to see her daughter Hannah and leave Gilead. Meanwhile, in Canada, Moira and Luke have found each other and are trying to fall back into a normal routine.
Season 2 slows down a bit here then picks back up towards the end as June gets closer to having her child. June gives birth to a healthy girl in an abandoned home. After this, she gets dragged back to the Waterford household where the last series of events for this season occurs. Serena Joy addresses Fred regarding reading and gets her finger cut off, while Emily attacks Aunt Lydia and pushes her down a flight of stairs. After seeing Emily’s actions, her commander helps her escape Gilead in which June takes this opportunity to get her baby out of the country. June makes the decision to stay in Gilead until she can get her daughter Hannah out safely, and that brings us to Season 3.
Because I Am Ruthless
Season 3 starts exactly where Season 2 ended with June in the street after handing her baby over to escape Gilead. June tries to get Hannah out and gets caught and brought once again back to the Waterford house. Serena Joy, after accepting that the baby will live a good life outside of Gilead, decides to burn down her house completely, forcing June to go to a new posting.
June ends at Commander Lawrence’s House, the same commander that helped Emily escape. Here she makes friends with Marthas, who has a connection to Mayday — a rebellion group — and it seems June has formed an unlikely friendship with Serena after all this time. Gilead revived the news that baby Nicole is in Canada with Luke, June’s husband.
This sets off for the rest of the season, with Serena Joy traveling to Canada to see the child and her trying to bring the child back to Gilead. Serena’s choice leads June and the whole Waterford house to Washington D.C., where June gets to see how the Handmaids live in the capital.
We see the Handmaids that live in the capital are wearing something like a half mask, and June finds out that it’s due to the handmaids having their mouths stapled shut. The statue of Abraham Lincoln is broken in half. June’s walking partner, Ofmatthew, is pregnant. Not only is she pregnant, but she’s also been told to watch over June by Aunt Lydia. When Ofmatthre tells Aunt Lydia that June’s been communicating with a Martha who works for Hannah’s family, Aunt Lydia has the Martha executed.
No One Belongs Here
A series of events started with Ofmatthew eventually attacking Janine in a grocery store and getting shot. Aunt Lydia blamed this on June and forced June to stay in the hospital with Ofmatthew until her child arrived. June slowly loses her sanity and begins to formulate a massive plan of action. Her new plan is to move children outside of Gilead with the help of the Marthas.
While June is formulating plans to move over 50 children out of Gilead, Serena Joy is still trying to get baby Nicole back into her life. She contacted Justin Trudeo, an American living in Canada, for help and drives with Commander Waterford to Canada. While Serena and Fred are traveling, June takes a trip to Jezebels to meet with Billy, the pilot that will take the kids out of Gilead. Here she runs into Commander Winslow from D.C. and in a wild turn of events, June kills him with her bare hands using a pen and a bust off the counter.
This is such a big event for June, and I was not even surprised to see our heroine finally snap. It’s also after this scene that we realize Serena Joy set up Fred to get arrested and taken by Canadian police. It was also a monumental moment and the whole scene I was screaming with joy that this was finally happening. Commander Waterford is no longer, and he will never be able to return to Gilead. Elanor, Commander Lawrence’s wife, overdosed on her medications.
June finds her but instead of trying to save her life, June walks away, allowing her to pass without trying to save her. I believe June did this to ensure her plan to save the children went without a hitch and that Elanor didn’t get involved. June gets the children out of Gilead and into safety in Canada. While buying the children time to safely board the plane, June gets shot by a guardian. The end of season 3 continues with multiple handmaids carrying June to safety, where hopefully she gets medical treatment and survives.
What Could Be Next For The Handmaid’s Tale?
Season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale by far had the most content from the whole show. Everything in Season 4 will have to be different. Will June be found out for moving the children out, or will the Marthas take the blame? Where will June’s next posting be? June can’t go back to the Waterford house since they’re locked up in Canada. June also can’t go back to Commander Lawrence’s house since Elanor is now dead. This means that June will be at a whole new posting with a new family if she even survives her injuries.
Season 4 of The Handmaid’s Tale was expected to arrive this year, but production has been held up due to the Coronavirus. June Moss, the actress who plays June on the show, made a statement recently that production will resume once it’s safe for everyone to return to work. So far, there is no release date or information on when the next season will be released. It is highly anticipated, as Margaret Atwood, the author released the sequel to her book last year. We can’t wait to see what June gets up to next, and how exactly Gilead will fall.