Gilead Math-stermind

Ever since the commander sneaked Offred out to the hotel room, we’ve encountered a variety of what I would like to call “Gilead Math”. Similar to the trend TikTok has been going around— we got the girl math, boy math, etc. Gilead Math is a system and systems can not be created by itself. Behind the scenes, there will always be an influencer. I call them the Math-stermind. Welcome to Gilead Math as I slowly uncover the Math-stermind behind it all!

Gilead revolves around a system with circumstances and status. Take away your status and you’re left with nothing. And what happens to people who are useless? “They can go rot in the Colonies.” Gilead Math! From precious chapters, you already know the unwomen’s go to Colonies but you don’t exactly know what happens to them when they are in the Colonies. In chapter 33, you get a sense of what the Colonies were like during Moira’s conversation with Janine. Flashback to when they were at the Red Center— Janine still in her white cotton nightgown, talks to herself like a madman out in the open where the aunt might see her. This is her way to rebel. Compared to Moira’s form of rebellion, Janine’s was more emotional than active. Because Janine stuck out like a sore thumb, Moira had to slap her back to her senses. This was when she revealed a hint of the system of Gilead and the Colonies. “They won’t even bother to ship you to the Colonies. You go too far away and they just take you up to the Chemistry Lab and shoot you. Then they burn you up with the garbage, like an Unwoman.” (pg 216) From here, you get a sense of what the Colonies are like. “You won’t die in the Colonies, but you might as well be dead if you get yourself in there,” is what Moira meant. Going into the Colonies means you are “garbage”. Something that is disposable. “Like an Unwomen.” Moira compares the Chemistry Lab to the Colonies— “They burn you up with the garbage.”

Commander Fred likes playing his part in the play behind the scenes. He’ll do things and you would wonder why he did what he did. He treats everyone like animals— “The Commander likes it when I distinguish myself, show precocity, like an attentive pet, prick-eared and eager to perform.” (pg 183-184) Their roles are designed solely to fulfill his hunger for entertainment. Like a director of a play or a scriptwriter— the pen he withholds has the power of creation. Like the mastermind behind the scene. Status plays a big role in Gilead Math. In chapter 37, we see Commander Fred utilizing his status to its full potential! Commander Fred likes to break the rules as a way to numb his boredom. He decided to bring Offred to the hotel room where he states it’s like “walking into the past.” (pg 235) This was a place with strict surveillance to prevent people from going in and out as they pleased. Knowing that someone like Offred is strictly forbidden there, the commander chooses to do so for the sake of his own excitement. When Commander Fred introduced her to “The Club” Offred replied with “I thought this sort of thing was strictly forbidden,” he responded with “But everyone’s human, after all. It means you can’t cheat Nature. Nature demands variety, for men. It stands to reason, it’s part of the procreational strategy. It’s Nature’s plan. Women know that instinctively. Why did they buy so many different clothes in the old days? To trick the men into thinking they were several different women. A new one each day.” (pg 237) Long story short, different clothes mean a different woman each day. Boom! Gilead Math.

“Commander Fred isn’t a terrible person,” is what he wants us to see him as. Throughout the book he conveys himself as a “decent guy”. He didn’t do anything specifically bad but nothing good either. He cheated on his wife, brought Offred and potentially many other housemaids like Offred out to The Club to “show her off,” but at the same time, he showed them the other side of Gilead— the reality. Offred even thought of the commander as “positively daddyish” (pg 184) while playing Scrabble. Surprisingly, Offred wasn’t using words to describe something sexually (maybe a little). When she said “positively daddyish,” she referred to Luke and how compared to Luke, he’s not “saying bitch in his head.” Then again, he was probably just bored and wanted to get another housemaid in trouble, or even worse, dead.