The Handmaid's Tale- Symbol/Theme

I am going to discuss the expression of power in this novel. Now by expressing of power I primarily refer to Aunt Lydia being a bit of a complete ***** and certain other authoritative figures either abusing their power in some way or their controlling of it. I'm not sure whether conclusions can be drawn due to position and the fate of others of the same ranking and gender, or whether or not it's just due to character, but in the end it basically makes some solid statements about people and the absolutely corrupting substance known as power.

Aunt Lydia is absolutely drunk on power. There is no other word for it. (other than, of course, the omitted word from above that sounds like the bolded word before it) Considering her position, however, it is completely expected. She is one of the few women with unrestrained, unchecked power, and she enjoys using it. When Moira walked, or rather, strutted out of the Center with that air of authority, she was cleared without a moment's hesitation. She commands even the soldiers with nothing more than a stiff back and a dirty look. This gives an idea of how darn powerful the Aunts actually are. She now takes the position of training the women to become Handmaids and respectable ladies of Gilead. She can be quite cruel, though, and she likes to flaunt her power. She tortures Janine relentlessly, then takes advantage of her resulting want of acceptance and significance by offering her the position of lapdog. She takes her sweet time reading the Salvaging speech as well. She enjoys being in power, the sheer force she can exert on the rest of society. An oversight during the Janine meeting causes the young woman in question to understand that she was going to be sharing this power, and though Aunt Lydia did allot some authority to Janine, she was reluctant in doing so. She was quite surprised when Janine actually requested to sit before Her Pompousness. Whatever the reason, out of all the subservient women, she was of the few that gained power. As as result, she ended up corrupted by it when placed in a community of powerless women like her. It all went right to her head.

A stark contrast to this is Serena Joy. Yes, she was also not the nicest of people, but she had a reason for it. Besides, she really did not abuse her power. She could have made Offred absolutely miserable, but simply let her be. In fact, she even offered to help her in the middle of the novel. Th conspiring certainly did not demonstrate any use of power. She could have forced Offred to have sex with someone else if she really desired that baby, or if she just wanted to know that Offred was being brutally raped every few nights. Aside from that, she could have berated Offred every single day, or had the Marthas overcook her food. She could have kept her awake at night, or could have had her standing in a room somewhere holding something heavy pretending to need help moving something heavy. She could have done many things, but instead left her well alone. She does not take advantage of anyone in the household, but rather just exists with them all. In stark contrast to Lydia, who had no reason whatsoever to be so freakin' annoying, Serena Joy seems like one of the nicest women around. Both have power. Only one of them abuses it. Perhaps Serena is far kinder than Lydia, or is too exhausted to be a jerk. Perhaps her situation is less of a send-in-the-next-batch job than Lydia's, so she is nicer to the people she'll be living with until she's dead. Maybe she just needs some friends. Either way, she certainly hasn't been corrupted by power. Rather, she seems tired of it. Perhaps Lydia got drunk on power quickly, and never broke the addiction of indulging in it, while Serena gradually eased into it and found that it wasn't all that much better. Maybe it was just because Lydia can exercise power over many others.

The Commander is somewhat in between the two. I say in between because he does pull for some side "favors" from Offred, but doesn't really abuse his power all that much. Although we don't know whether he asked for these few favors from the other women and Handmaids, it can be inferred that Offred is the only one involved in this. I'll ignore Nick for this part, because he's simply willing to help his boss out. There isn't much pulled from him, other than the drive to Jezebel's. Now, of all the things that he could do, he ends up pulling Offred into his office to play Scrabble. As a treat to both of them. Regardless of his position as Commander, he's going to be in serious trouble if he gets caught. And all he does is ask for Scrabble and a kiss. He even gives a few things to Offred. However, this also abuses his position in the sense that he relies on his name as Commander to get all the black market stuff, and to coax Offred into joining him for the occasional game. He could be demanding much worse. In all, it's a measured indulgence; not passively floating through life by the book, also not being a complete son of a *****. (same word as above) He is a man; he has several other liberties and sources of power, yet he doesn't really flaunt them all that much. He knows what is just enough to get optimum enjoyment out of life. That being said, he did overindulge that one night in Jezebel's. If Offred is not the only Handmaid brought here for that reason, then he really does abuse his power significantly and is a little more of a jerkwad than I have given him credit for.

To analyze all three at once, several reasons can be offered. Perhaps gender can play a part in power corruption in this society. Lydia is one of the few women that can lord over the little authority granted to this gender, therefore she abuses it profusely. Serena Joy, while she does have power, does not have a whole whopping lot, and therefore will not impose her might on others because she really doesn't have all that much power to impose. The Commander has a good deal of power, but he is a man, and men are allotted significantly more power. Therefore, he is not as easily corrupted by it; it is almost second nature to him. Then again, another aspect is how freely you can impose that power on others. Serena Joy has very few people to impose power over, and the Commander can only impose power on his own household and those underlings that fear the position. Lydia has a whole lot of women under her command, and she gets fresh meat every once in a while. She has a lot of people to boss around and make miserable. Also, she has a significant level of command in the society because she read the Salvaging speech. Also, the position they are in can severely affect whether or not it's really worth it. The Commander can exert power to a certain degree; he can get in an awful lot of trouble if he's caught doing what he's doing. However, he has enough power to get away with it. Serena Joy is stuck with her underlings for the rest of her life, save the revolving position of Handmaid that will need to be broken in all over again at every changing. Lydia can basically do whatever she feels like doing, other than murder. She is in absolute control. Of course, this may all be due to personality and nothing more, meaning that all this is just coincidence. However, I believe that a combination of these factors have made these people the people they were in the novel, and their environment determined whether or not they would fall prey to the corrupting influence of power in their hands. In a world of restriction, power can do nothing other than corrupt.