Historical Notes

1. Historical Notes

2. General notes • The historical notes are set in a conference at the University of Denay, Nunavit, in Northern Canada. • The date is June 25th 2195. • The speaker and host have names that are Native American in origin. • These details tell us instantly that things will not be as they were in the novel; times have changed from how they were before and during Gileadean times. Once, white people studied the Third World; now Indian and Native American professors present their findings upon Western Philosophy or Caucasian Anthropology.

3. About Gilead • Gilead was under pressure to bring more babies into the world, which forced Gilead’s leader to make tough decisions. The reason for this need for more babies is due to a number of reasons. Firstly, birth control and abortions were on the rise in pre-Gileadean times, secondly there was an increase in STI’s such as AIDS and syphilis and lastly there were deformities and miscarriages due to nuclear plant disasters and toxic waste. • Gilead’s Handmaids were created by criminalising second marriages and non-marital relationships, seizing their children and using the women as vessels for reproduction. Using the Bible as justification, they outlawed polygamy (multiple sexual partners) but forced the Wives, Handmaids and Commanders into simultaneous polygamy (sex with multiple people at once).

4. About gilead (cont.) • There was a lot of racial tension before Gilead was set up. This, along with religious differences, led to Gilead’s attitude on Jewish and Black peoples. The Jewish were given an ultimatum: go back to Israel via boat or convert to Christianity. Many of those who chose to leave for Israel ended up being dumped in the sea (to cut costs). The Black people weren’t given a choice. They were sent to the colonies, where they would eventually die due to radiation. • The conference speaker argues that Gilead should not be judged so harshly because all judgements we make on other cultures are culturally conditioned. Basically, we judge other societies as odd or even twisted because they are so different to our societies and cultures.

5. About offred • Offred’s story was uncovered in an old female railroad safe house, in what was once the city of Bangor, Maine, recorded on tapes in fragments. Academics from Cambridge University put the tapes in the order they thought it went in and wrote it down in a manuscript. The tapes started off with some pre-Gileadean songs to hide the real purpose of the tapes: Offred’s story. • The fact that Offred’s tapes were found in an “Underground Femaleroad” safe house make it clear that Nick was a member of Mayday and he tried to get Offred out of Gilead. Whether he succeeded is unknown. • The conference speaker and his colleagues failed to discover Offred’s identity, as all records of her old life had been destroyed. They also could not identify Luke, Nick, Moira or Janine. They narrowed down the people that they felt could have been the Commander to Frederick R. Waterford and B. Frederick Judd. Overall, they thought that the Commander was Waterford, as he was found to be in possession of a lot of illegal reading material and was accused of harbouring a rebel.