Chapter Thirty-Nine: Offred Confronts Desire and Duty
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Offred waits in the hotel lobby while the Commander obtains a room key. They ascend in the glass elevator, and she feels on display. Inside the room, everything looks identical to its former life—the same floral drapes, bedspread, and impersonal furniture. She excuses herself to the bathroom, where the familiar soap and disinfectant smells offer strange comfort. While there, she recalls a conversation with Moira, who said she saw Offred’s mother in a propaganda film about the Colonies. Offred had assumed her mother was dead; Moira suggested it might be better if she were. Offred then remembers the last time she saw her mother, a trivial visit, and later trying to find her after the crackdown. Luke helped her break into the mother’s apartment, which was ransacked and empty. Luke told her not to call the police. Offred thinks about her mother’s resilience and mourns her in advance. Returning to the present, she examines herself in the mirror—a wreck in borrowed, tawdry clothing. The Commander is waiting; they lie on the bed. He mentions the upcoming Ceremony and wants to “jump the gun.” She asks why he brought her there, and he admits it’s a sort of experiment. He begins to undress, but she lies inert. He turns off the lights. Inwardly, she commands herself to fake it, to get it over with.
Key Events
- The Commander obtains a hotel room key and takes Offred to the room.
- Offred goes into the bathroom and recalls a conversation with Moira about her mother.
- Flashback: Offred and Luke break into her mother’s ransacked apartment; Luke tells her not to call the police.
- Offred looks at herself in the mirror, noting her disheveled appearance.
- The Commander initiates sex; Offred lies passively, then internally urges herself to perform.
Character Development
- Offred: Her internal monologue reveals deep grief for her mother and a tactical decision to comply despite aversion. She recognizes the need to fake desire as a survival mechanism.
- Commander: He appears vulnerable without his uniform, smaller and older. His attempt to create intimacy through a hotel rendezvous is clumsy and ultimately futile; he is “dismayed and disappointed.”
- Moira (via memory): Moira’s blunt realism contrasts with Offred’s lingering hope; she tells Offred to wish death for her mother rather than life in the Colonies.
- Offred’s Mother (via memory): Implicitly characterized as resilient, energetic, and optimistic—traits Offred believes might save her, though she knows it is wishful thinking.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Performance of Desire: Offred must simulate arousal and willingness; the chapter dramatizes the gap between inner truth and outer compliance.
- Memory and Loss: The hotel room mirrors a “once upon a time” world; Offred’s flashback to her mother’s disappearance underscores the erasure of family bonds in Gilead.
- The Body as Commodity: The Commander’s touch is likened to reading a cattle-brand (“ownership”); Offred’s body is a tool to be serviced before the Ceremony.
- Democracy of Bodily Functions: Offred finds comfort in the toilet because “everybody shits”—a darkly comic assertion of shared humanity under oppression.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter deepens the personal cost of Offred’s role as a Handmaid. It connects her present coercion to the unresolved loss of her mother, showing how Gilead systematically destroys families. The hotel scene strips the Commander of his official power, revealing a pathetic, lonely man, yet Offred’s lack of agency remains absolute. Her internal command to “fake it” crystallizes the theme of survival through dissimulation, a skill she must perfect to endure.
Study Questions and Answers
1. What does Offred’s memory of her mother’s apartment suggest about the regime’s methods?
The ransacked apartment and Luke’s warning not to call the police imply that the regime actively targets dissidents and their families. The chaos signals a violent seizure, and Luke’s reaction shows he knows the police are part of the system.
2. Why does Offred feel “comforted” by the hotel bathroom?
The bathroom offers a brief retreat from surveillance and performance. The familiar smells and the confirmation that bodily functions remain universal remind her of a shared humanity, a small anchor in an alienating world.
3. How does the Commander’s behavior differ from his usual persona?
Without his uniform, he appears smaller, older, and uncertain. His attempt at “romance” is awkward and fails because Offred cannot respond as he hoped. This vulnerability contrasts with his official authority, revealing the loneliness behind his power.