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The Handmaid’s Tale (2017-, Colin Watkinson) is a complicated journey that interweaves the lives of many characters. Our main character, June Osborne (Elizabeth Moss), or Offred as she is called by those in Gilead after her Commander’s first name Fred (Of-Fred, implying she is owned by her Commander), is assigned to Commander Waterford’s house at the beginning of our series. From there, she goes on an incredible journey that changes who she is. She meets, befriends, and loses many people along the way. Her one goal: free her daughter Hannah from the horrors of Gilead. She spends the entirety of The Handmaid’s Tale looking for and trying to free Hannah. Will she ever succeed?
June’s Beginnings In The Handmaid’s Tale
Season one of The Handmaid’s Tale sets up the horrible, twisted world that our characters live in. Gilead is a place where fertile women are raped and forced to give up their babies upon birth to the family they live with. The only purpose handmaids serve is to provide babies to their Commander’s family. Handmaids are then reassigned to new families, and the cycle continues. In season one of The Handmaid’s Tale, June is represented as a timid, soft-spoken character. She does not resist any of the horrible things done to her (the worst being raped by the Commander). It isn’t until the third episode that we see defiance. This is seen after Aunt Lydia interrogates her about her friend Ofglen. Instead of reciting the scripture she was told that would implicate her friend Ofglen for being a “gender traitor,” June instead recites another scripture “and blessed are those who suffer for the cause of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (( The Handmaid’s Tale. “Late.” Hulu. April 26, 2017 )). This then causes her to be tased and beaten by Aunt Lydia.
This small act of defiance, which might not seem important to us, is what sparks June’s rise to power. This is a defining moment in The Handmaid’s Tale and is the first time we see June stand up against the rules and regulations of Gilead. She could have easily recited the scripture that Aunt Lydia asked her to, but instead, she defended her friend, Ofglen, against the claims they were making against her. She chooses to be honest and stay true to herself and her friend. She gets punished for this, but this is our first glimpse into June’s character and what she stands for. As season one of The Handmaid’s Tale progresses, June eventually becomes aware of a resistance movement called “Mayday” and wants to join. The audience slowly sees the defiance and resistance in June that continues to build throughout the later seasons. June knows that becoming a part of this movement will be dangerous but does it anyway.
The next act of defiance in The Handmaid’s Tale comes when all of the handmaids are asked to come together to stone someone who endangered a child. To June’s horror, it’s her friend Janine, who tried to jump off a bridge with her baby so they could both be free of the horrible world of Gilead. The handmaids all hesitate until a guard beats one. After that, in an act of solidarity, all the handmaids drop the stones, chanting “I’m sorry, Aunt Lydia” (a phrase that was drilled into them). The guards step forward to beat the others, but Aunt Lydia tells them that the handmaids are her responsibility and she will deal with them accordingly. Although this was also a defining moment for June, it also shows that once one person stands up to something, others will gain the courage to follow suit. . The Handmaid’s Tale is not just about June’s journey, but about the humanity and vulnerability of all the people, she meets along the way.
By the end of season one of The Handmaid’s Tale, June has stood up against the injustices and horrors of Gilead numerous times. She has stood up to Aunt Lydia and even her own Commander, an act that could be punishable by death. June defies and knows what is right and wrong and is not afraid to make her voice heard, whether through an act of defiance such as standing up for a friend or refusing to hurt a friend. It only ever takes one person standing up against wrongdoings to give everyone else the courage to do so too. June’s journey to a matriarch has begun.
June’s Steady Rise To Power
Season two of The Handmaid’s Tale begins with June and the other handmaids experiencing a traumatic moment where they are led to believe they will be executed. The audience quickly learns that June is pregnant. Aunt Lydia immediately takes June inside to give her food, which she refuses. June is sick of Aunt Lydia’s pretending to care about her. She knows that Aunt Lydia only cares about the baby that’s inside her, so she refuses to eat the soup. However, after Aunt Lydia shows her a handmaid who refuses to obey them that is chained to the ground, June eats, afraid that is what will happen to her. At the same time, the other handmaids are brought in, soaking from the rain. Aunt Lydia burns their hands on the stove in front of June as punishment for their defiance of not stoning Janine.
Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, we are shown flashbacks of what life was like for June pre-Gilead. We learn about her complicated relationship with her mother, her relationship with Luke, her husband, and their daughter Hannah who is somewhere in Gilead. Just like the rest of us, June’s relationships are complicated and interconnected. We get to see a completely different June through these flashbacks, someone who we do not know and someone who does not exist anymore. Another act of defiance comes when June tries to escape from Gilead to Canada. She gets as far as getting on a plane, about to take off, when they are shot down by Guardians. Unfortunately, June is taken back “home” to the Waterfords, where Aunt Lydia shows her some people who were hung on The Wall and tells June it was her fault they died.
This is just a mind game to try to get June to stop defying orders and obey. Aunt Lydia tries to make June feel guilty enough that she will do as they say so nobody else has to die. It doesn’t work. June becomes pregnant, presumably by Nick, the Commander’s driver. Even after everything she endures while pregnant, the baby still survives. This encourages June to make sure that she gets her baby out of Gilead, so they don’t grow up in such a horrible world. June promises her unborn child that she will get them out of Gilead. It seems that becoming pregnant is exactly what June needed to start her journey in becoming a matriarch. Fueled by the desire to keep her baby safe, she becomes more defiant than ever.
After June gives birth to her daughter, she is taken away from her by Serena. Serena and June’s relationship has always been complicated throughout The Handmaid’s Tale. There were moments where it seems like the two could even be friends, but also moments where we know this would never be possible, like when she holds June down as her husband rapes her. Somehow, June convinces Serena to send her daughter to the safety of Canada. In the season two finale of The Handmaid’s Tale, June gets an opportunity to escape to Canada with her friend Ofglen. However, instead of joining, she gives Ofglen her baby, telling her to keep her daughter, Nichole, safe. She can’t leave Gilead without Hannah.
There were times where I sat screaming at June to escape. There were many opportunities where she could have, but she refused to because of Hannah. This again goes to show the kind of person June is. As a mother, she could not escape to freedom while her daughter was still stuck in Gilead. Many mothers would likely do the same, but the difference is that June continues time after time to see Hannah. Even after all the brief encounters, even after Hannah was mad at her and scared of her, she still wants to take her daughter to safety. Even after all the times she fails, she keeps persevering and trying to get to her daughter. The Handmaid’s Tale is not just June’s journey to freedom, but also a journey of all the people she meets along the way, and most importantly, her goal of freeing her daughter.
The Handmaids Come Together
Season three of The Handmaid’s Tale begins right where season two left off. June manages to get a ride from a kind Commander and asks him to take her to her daughter. However, June is caught before she is able to get Hannah and is taken away to her new Commander’s house, Commander Lawrence. There, she continues working with the resistance and saving as many people as she can. Commander Lawrence helps her in this process. The suspense is building as Commander Waterford, and the rest of Gilead learn that Nichole has safely made it to Canada and is seen with Luke, June’s husband. The audience knows June was unsuccessful in rescuing Hannah, but we are given a sliver of hope when we see that Nichole, June’s second daughter, has made it to safety. The Waterfords then proceed to do everything possible to get Nichole back.
They broadcast a message to the Canadian government and even allow June to speak to a diplomat alone. June continues her resistance by asking them to keep her daughter safe in Canada. She doesn’t want Nichole coming back to such a dangerous place. The situation is complicated as Gilead is a powerful country that Canada does not want as an enemy, but June insists that Nichole stay in Canada. She could make her own life a lot easier and avoid punishment if she just asked for Nichole to be returned, but she doesn’t. Negotiations continue as June continues trying to see and rescue Hannah. However, Hannah and her family disappear, and nobody knows where they go, much to June’s horror. The increasing, horrific beatings and deaths continue to fuel June’s desire to save as many children in Gilead as possible.
She is not the same person she was in season one of The Handmaid’s Tale. She is determined to save as many people as possible, no matter the risk for her own life. June plots a mission to get out as many children as possible. She tries enlisting the help of other handmaids and Marthas in this process, all of who refuses at first. Nobody is willing to risk their lives on this mission except for June. June also asks Commander Lawrence to help her get the kids out. He agrees. Shortly after, Janine agrees as well and June comes home to bountiful baskets of muffins, which is the Marthas’ way of saying yes, that they will help too.
With the help of Commander Lawrence and many Marthas along the way, June starts her mission of smuggling out as many children as possible. Child after child arrives at the Lawrence household in secret until the basement is full of children and their Marthas. Together, they all begin the 5-mile trek to the airport on foot, June leading them through the dark forest. Once at the airport, there are Guardians on duty that they need to avoid, and June, a true leader, sacrifices herself and tells the Marthas to take the children, and she will distract the guards. The other handmaids join June, and together they throw stones at the Guardians’ car. The Guardians start shooting at the handmaids, hitting some of them in the process, but June keeps throwing stones. Eventually, there is a chase. A Guardian chases June into the forest, and as she runs away, she is shot.
The Guardian tells her to stay down, but she pulls a gun on him as he approaches. After forcing him to tell the other Guardians that everything is clear, she shoots and kills him. Our favorite handmaid from The Handmaid’s Tale has become a murderer. June is now willing to do anything it takes to keep the people she cares about safe. She resisted and defied her way until the very end, when she was shot. Instead of being selfish and wanting to escape with the children and Marthas when she had the chance, she instead chose to sacrifice herself by distracting the guardians so others could get to safety. June continues to put others before herself throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, whether it is saving her friends from beatings, sacrificing her own freedom for the freedom of countless others, or smaller acts of defiance such as not contributing to the deaths of innocents. By the end of season three, June Osborne (( The Handmaid’s Tale. “Home.” Hulu, May 26, 2021. )) has become an idol for not only handmaids but women all over Gilead.
The Handmaid’s Tale: Who Is June Now?
Season four of The Handmaid’s Tale opens with the handmaids retrieving the bullet out of June and saving her life. June and the other handmaids are allowed to stay on a farm with a Commander and his young wife, Esther, who is a Mayday contact. Things quickly escalate, and June finds herself at a Jezebel’s (a brothel for Commanders). At this brothel, June shares with a woman a poison that Esther has been using on her husband. Again, June is helping the women at the brothel, even though none of the horrible things at the brothel are happening to her. June could have chosen to ignore the things happening there or not acknowledge what was happening, but she doesn’t. Instead, she poisons the drinks that are given to the people at the brothel, and in turn, these drinks are given to the Commanders who go to the brothel. Some die while others are hospitalized. Either way, June continues wreaking the havoc we have grown to love to see.
Unfortunately, June is soon captured and taken to prison, where she is tortured into giving up the location of the other handmaids, her friends. June refuses, not caring what they do to her. She does not break. However, once they bring in her daughter, Hannah, June has no choice but to give them up in fear that they will hurt Hannah. However, it isn’t until they threaten her daughter, her child, that she confesses to anything. She is willing to take all the pain and suffering that comes to herself, but she refused to let them hurt her when it came time for her daughter. Once the other handmaids are captured and transported, June and her friends overtake Aunt Lydia and the driver to escape. Unfortunately, June and Janine are the only ones who survive.
After their escape, they hitch a ride to Chicago in a train cart full of milk. June has always had a soft spot for Janine and has saved her from many beatings and punishments in the past. This time is no different. She makes sure Janine is safe first before her. Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, Janine has become a sort of sister to June. They arrive in Chicago to the sound of gunfire by the rebels who are fighting there. The rebels take them in until they separate from them in order to find the Nighthawks, another resistance group. However, shortly after they start their search, they are caught in the middle of an airdrop of bombs. After regaining consciousness, June can’t find Janine but is shocked to find Moira, her friend who got out of Gilead earlier. Moira somehow convinces June to return with her to Canada. At first, June refuses because she still has yet to find Hannah and guide her to safety. However, Moira convinces her that she must first save herself to save Hannah.
Reluctantly, June agrees and gets on the boat. Finally, after four long seasons, June sets foot outside of Gilead, into the safety of Canada, and to be with her husband, Luke, her friends Moira, Rita, and Emily, and her baby Nichole. The latest episode of The Handmaid’s Tale shows June readjusting to “normal” life in Canada.
How Has June Changed Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale?
The Handmaid’s Tale is a unique story that shares experiences most of us are unfamiliar with. The mass infertility that has plagued the world has brought about many negatives. Fertile women are now forced into households to be r*ped by men in order to give birth to babies that they will not get to keep or raise. June’s experience is just one of many that we will never know about. June remains the main character throughout The Handmaid’s Tale. Her relationships with other characters is complicated, especially with the Waterfords and Nick. From season one to season four, June becomes a matriarch, someone that other handmaids and women look up to. She is resilient in her defiance and does not care what happens to her at the cost of saving others. June is selfless, resilient, and has all the characteristics that make a good matriarch, which is the reason so many others look up to her and the reason she has survived as long as she has.
She is not willing to take the abuse and assault any longer. She has taken a stand, and there is no stopping her now. Hannah may not know it, but June will be coming for her soon. Those in Gilead might think they have seen the last of her, but this is simply not true. The handmaid’s tale is far from over.
