Does Offred Have a Baby in the Book
27 major changes 'The Handmaid's Tale' show made from the original dystopian book
Updated
2019-06-05T18:21:00Z
We never learn Offred's real name in the book, but the show identifies her as June at the end of episode one.
Atwood recently wrote a column for the New York Times where she addressed how fans have guessed that Offred's name is really June. "That was not my original thought but it fits, so readers are welcome to it if they wish," Atwood said.
INSIDER spoke with showrunner Bruce Miller about the choice to include Offred's name as June on the first episode.
"A long time ago, I had read some theories about what her name was," Miller said. "I just thought the character's name was June [...] so I just used it not knowing whether Margaret intended it or not."
Miller went on to explain why he thought Offred needed another name.
"It's an important thing that she has a name because part of the show is that she's not going to let that go," Miller said. "She is strong and stubborn — even though she has to be content looking and silent and meek — and keeping ahold of her identity was such an important part [and she] needed the name to do it."
In the book, all of the people in Gilead are white. People of color have been "resettled" to other areas of the country.
In the book, a newscaster refers to the "resettlement of the Children of Ham" in the Dakotas. This phrase recalls r acist ideologies from the 19th century, which claimed that black people were descendants from the biblical figure Ham, who was cursed and forced into servitude.
Hulu's version of "The Handmaid's Tale" has a more diverse cast of characters, including June's best friend Moira and her husband Luke.
This was another choice Miller made when he sat down to adapt the book. During an interview for INSIDER's new podcast, "Showrunners," Miller explained his thinking.
"It was because it did feel a little bit dated," Miller told INSIDER. "The other thing is honestly, in this day in age, what's the difference between making a TV show about racism and making a racist TV show? I really didn't know. It's a distinction without a difference. They look the same on television. It's white people's problems."
In the book, the Wall where criminals are hung is actually on Harvard University's campus.
On the show, the Handmaids often walk past a massive gray wall where the bodies of criminals are displayed. In one scene, they're forced to scrub blood off its surface.
In the book, the Wall is a much more identifiable structure.
"The Wall is hundreds of years old too; or over a hundred, at least," Offred narrates in the book. "Like the sidewalks, it's red brick, and must once have been plain but handsome."
Readers who are familiar with Harvard University's campus will recognize this description, which most likely refers to the wall of Harvard Yard. Contextual clues make it fairly clear that Offred's section of Gilead used to be Cambridge, Massachusetts. Atwood has confirmed this multiple times.
In a recent essay for the New York Times, Atwood revealed that some of her geographical details proved to be controversial after the book was published.
"Would some people," she wrote, "be affronted by the use of the Harvard wall as a display area for the bodies of the executed? (They were.)"
We never learn Fred's last name in the book. He's also much younger and more powerful on the show.
In the books, he's almost exclusively referred to as "the Commander," but because the narrator's given name is Offred, readers can deduce his name is Fred. He's described as an older man with gray hair who looks "like a Midwestern bank president."
Readers never learn his last name or much about his title. It's implied that he played a role in constructing the laws of Gilead, but never confirmed.
On the show, however, the powerful character is commonly referred to as Commander Waterford, and it's made clear that he was one of the architects of the new government. The actor, Joseph Fiennes, is in his 40s.
Serena Joy's character is also much older in the book.
In Atwood's novel, Serena Joy's age is never explicitly stated, but she has arthritis and uses a cane. Offred internally wonders if she dyes her hair blond to cover up the grey.
But the show's version of Serena is played by Australian actress Yvonne Strahovski, who was 34 during season one. Once again, Miller explained the reasoning to INSIDER.
" I felt that it was a more active dynamic if Serena Joy felt like this person was usurping her role not only as the reproductive object of the house but gradually taking away the wifely duties, the intimate duties, the romantic, sexual duties," Miller said. " That was kind of my thinking from the start, but then something I didn't expect to happen is that Yvonne [Strahovski] and Elizabeth [Moss] are close. You get that little vibe once in a while that in another situation they could be friends. It is the creepiest thing."
To hear more from Miller about "The Handmaid's Tale," subscribe to "Showrunners" on iTunes.
The Commander doesn't ask Offred to kiss him after their first illicit night together.
In the book, the Commander asks Offred for a kiss the very first night they play Scrabble together. She complies, but he's disappointed.
"Not like that," he says. "As if you meant it."
A similar scene does occur on the show, but it's only after Offred has been visiting the Commander for some time.
The show modernizes the setting with references to Uber and Craigslist.
According to Miller, the show-version of "The Handmaid's Tale" is meant to take place in 2017. Contemporary references were included as a way of indicating that the world of Gilead wasn't some faraway possibility.
"Across the board, I think we wanted to just make sure that it felt like now because it's scarier," Miller told INSIDER. "I look at the show really as kind of a thriller, [and one of the] things that detract from the scariness is they're all walking around in funny costumes. So everything else has to be very grounded and real because you're got a few things that are really whack-a-doodle [...] We wanted to update it or make it current in any way we could. "
On the show, the Handmaids have "red tag" trackers attached to their ear.
In the book, each Handmaid is given a tattoo on her ankle. Changing the identification tool to a tracker seems to fall into the category of "modernizations" made on the show.
Today's technology makes it much easier to use GPS tracking on people with small devices, so each Handmaid is watched closely via these red tags and corresponding identification numbers. This is why June says "a Handmaid wouldn't get far" when she alludes to escaping.
In the book, Offred and her husband never joined any of the pre-Gilead protests.
In the book, Offred reminisces about the dissolution of the United States and the country's sudden transformation into Gilead. She remembers that after women were barred from earning money and owning property, protests and marches were violently squashed. She never joined because she was afraid for her own life and for the lives of her husband and daughter. Luke was especially against it, telling his wife that resistance would be "futile."
This stands in stark contrast to the dramatic scene on episode three, when a flashback shows Offred/June protesting with Moira. The two women run and hide in a cafe when law enforcement officials begin to open fire on the crowd.
The first Salvaging happens much later in the book, and Offred isn't the first to strike.
On the series premiere, the Handmaids attend a ceremonial execution. Aunt Lydia presents a Guardian who's been convicted of rape and says he's to be executed by the mob of Handmaids, who beat him to death. Offred enthusiastically strikes first.
Readers, however, are incrementally introduced to the horrors of Gilead, and the ceremony doesn't happen until one of the final chapters.
In the book, the "Salvaging" is actually a large-scale execution of female criminals. Two Handmaids and one Wife are hung, but Aunt Lydia declines to reveal why.
The Handmaids' execution of the Guardian occurs afterward, in a ritual known as a "Particicution." Offred does feel fury and bloodlust when she hears he's a rapist, but Ofglen is actually the first to run forward and strike the criminal.
Ofglen later reveals that the man was actually part of the resistance movement, and she knocked him out before the others got to him so he wouldn't suffer as much.
Offred rarely sees Aunt Lydia in the book. She only appears in her flashbacks to the Red Center and at the Salvaging.
Aunt Lydia is a much more prominent character on the show. Although she does appear in Offred's flashbacks to the Red Center, as she does in the book, Offred sees her on many more occasions — usually in scenes that focus on Janine.
Janine doesn't lose her eye in the book, but she is slut-shamed and gets pregnant.
In the book, we are told that Handmaids are subjected to corporal punishment (including losing an eye) if they resist their "training" in the Red Center, but we never see a central character who's actually missing an eye.
By choosing to take Janine's right eye on episode one, the show clearly laid out the stakes and provided a heightened sense of terror. We know from the beginning what's done to those who won't comply, and each time Janine appears onscreen, we're reminded of what could happen to Offred or any other Handmaid.
In the book, Janine's baby turns out to be a "shredder" and dies. Most of Janine's story line after she gave birth was created for the show.
Janine's trauma as a surrogate mother for Commander Warren Putnam is a major plotline on the show.
After giving birth to a healthy baby girl, whom the Putnams name Angela, Janine suffers a psychological breakdown. She then kidnaps Angela and threatens to jump off a bridge with the baby in her arms.
After Offred tries to talk her down, Janine spares the baby but tries to commit suicide anyway. On season two, she's reunited with her daughter once again, which appears to heal Angela from a mysterious illness.
In the book, however, Janine's role is much smaller. She similarly gives birth to a seemingly healthy baby, whom Warren's wife names Angela. Offred later sees Janine with a new wife at the "Prayvaganza." Ofglen tells her that Angela turned out to be a "shredder" and died.
When Offred next sees Janine at the Particicution, her mental health has clearly suffered. Janine doesn't appear to recognize Offred or understand what's happening around her. That's the last time Offred sees her, and readers never learn anything else about her.
Ofglen has a much larger role on the show.
In the book, Ofglen is Offred's shopping partner and does indeed have a role in the resistance, but we don't know many details about her. She doesn't get a backstory — and after she's taken away, replaced by a new Handmaid, Offred never hears from her again. The new Ofglen claims that she hung herself when she saw the van coming to arrest her.
On the show, we learn that Ofglen's real name is Emily, and that she has a wife and son who escaped to Canada.
Through Ofglen's perspective on the show, we see the horrifying criminal justice system that has been created for women. In a gut-wrenching scene on episode three, a woman Ofglen was caught having sex with is hanged.
Ofglen is also circumcised as punishment, but allowed to live because she's fertile and her role as a Handmaid is important to the men of Gilead.
The book never goes into much detail about the Colonies, but we see them first-hand on the show.
The book describes the Colonies as polluted, radioactive areas where "Unwomen" — feminists, criminals, Handmaids that fail to conceive — are sent to work and die. Moira mentions that she saw Offred's mother in a video about the Colonies, but we never see a major character sent there or learn what the work is actually like.
On season two of the show, Ofglen is sent to the Colonies as punishment for stealing a car and running over a Guardian. The second episode, titled "Unwomen," focuses heavily on her experience there.
Nick is far more mysterious in the book.
Nick seems to subtly flirt with Offred at the beginning of the book and she takes note of the sexual tension between them. Even before Serena Joy arranges their first sexual encounter, Nick and Offred share a tender kiss.
Atwood's novel does include a sexual relationship between Nick and Offred that begins at the request of Serena Joy (just like on the show). But key details are different.
For one, Serena is not in the room when Nick and Offred first have sex. But more notably, Nick is far more quiet and vague about his true feelings. Readers only have access to Offred's innermost thoughts, and her relationship with Nick gives her peace and hope — but Nick's motivations are never made clear in the book. He's never given a backstory, and readers never find out whether he's an Eye or a member of the resistance.
Nick is fleshed out much more on the show. Flashback scenes offer some insight into his life pre-Gilead and he's given many more scenes with Offred, with significantly more dialogue. Later, it's made very clear that Nick is a good guy who's fallen in love with Offred, especially on season two.
We don't get the details of Luke and June's affair in the book.
In Gilead, divorce and adultery are crimes — which is the reason why Luke and June's marriage was declared illegal and they decided to flee.
Book readers find out that Luke cheated on his first wife with June, and that Moira disapproved of their relationship. But the details of how they met and began their affair are kept vague.
Conversely, the show features flashbacks of their budding romance, complete with secretive hotel room visits and June's request that Luke leave his wife.
The show features flashbacks to the origin of Gilead, revealing a new storyline for Serena and the Commander.
In Atwood's novel, Offred realizes that she recognizes Serena Joy from her lead role on a Sunday-morning religious program. After Serena retired from singing in the choir, she became a public figure, advocating for women to stay home and maintain "traditional" family values.
The show goes much further to develop Serena's role in the creation of Gilead. The sixth episode of season one is packed with flashbacks that show Serena and Fred (the Commander) before the overthrow of the US government, none of which are in the book.
Hulu's version opted to reveal how Serena was really the brains behind a lot of Gilead's core belief system, including making fertility a "national resource." The flashbacks also provide a glimpse into the loving and supportive relationship Serena and Fred once shared — before he took his place at the top of the new patriarchal order.
The trade delegation from Mexico was a new plot for the show. The book only shows tourists visiting Gilead.
One of the many unsettling scenes from the book occurs when Offred is out shopping. She sees a guide showing a group of visiting tourists around the town. One of them approaches Offred and asks a question in a foreign language. The guide translates: "Are you happy?"
Miller and his team took this concept many steps further by having Commander Waterford actually host a trade delegation from Mexico. Mrs. Castillo asks Offred the question instead, this time when she's under careful watch in a room full of powerful men.
The invention of the Mexican delegation also introduced new horrors to Atwood's story, such as the idea that the Handmaids will be traded to other countries, and the brutal scene when the Handmaids' children are paraded in front of them to celebrate fertility at a state dinner.
The show implies early on that Luke is dead.
Readers don't learn about Offred's escape attempt until much later in the book, but the very first scene on the series premiere shows her trying to cross the border into Canada with her family. June runs ahead with her daughter and hears gunshots behind her, which clearly implies that Luke was killed.
Offred's belief that Luke is dead is a distinct departure on early episodes. Her sense of hope and longing is almost entirely fueled by her daughter on the show, whereas she thinks about both Hannah and Luke constantly in the original story.
The book leaves Luke's fate completely ambiguous, but on the show, he's living as a refugee in Canada.
On the sixth episode of season one, Mr. Flores reveals to Offred that Luke is alive. The seventh episode tells the story of Luke's escape and we see that he started a new life in Canada.
Because the Mexican delegation doesn't exist in the book, Offred never hears word of Luke's survival. She spends a lot of time thinking about whether he's alive or dead, imagining many fates for him so she won't be surprised if she ever finds out what happened.
We have no idea what happened to Moira in the book.
In both the book and on the show, the Commander brings Offred to an illicit club called Jezebel's, where she sees her old friend Moira.
In the book, Moira is resigned to her new life. She's nothing like the rebellious, spirited woman that Offred used to know. After Offred leaves Jezebel's, she never sees or hears about Moira again.
On the show, however, Offred sees Moira once more and gives her a pep talk. This inspires Moira to escape. On the following episode, Moira manages to cross the border into Canada.
The secret package of letters exists solely on the show. In the book, the Commander only takes Offred to Jezebel's once.
On the show, the resistance known as "Mayday" enlists Offred to collect a secret package. She convinces the Commander to take her to Jezebel's again in order to get it, but she fails. Moira ends up helping her and Offred is able to pick it up while she's shopping for food.
Later, Offred opens it to find a collection of letters from women in Gilead who are trying to find loved ones, pleading for help.
This storyline exists solely on the show. Mayday never asks much of Offred in the book — only for juicy information about the Commander, which she declines to try and find.
"I can't, I say to Ofglen. I'm too afraid. Anyway I'd be no good at that, I'd get caught," her narration reads. "The fact is that I no longer want to leave, escape, cross the border to freedom. I want to be here, with Nick, where I can get at him."
The book never makes it clear whether Offred actually gets pregnant.
On the series finale, just as in Atwood's novel, Serena Joy discovers that Offred went to Jezebel's with the Commander. But unlike the novel, she forces Offred to take a pregnancy test, which turns out to be positive.
Near the end of the book, Offred tells Nick that she believes she's pregnant, butsecretly believes it's a lie.
"I put his hand on my belly. It's happened, I say. I feel it has. A couple of weeks and I'll be certain," her narration reads. "This I know is wishful thinking."
Readers never find out which one is the truth.
In one particularly cruel scene, Serena takes Offred to see that her daughter is alive. That doesn't happen in the book.
On the season finale, after learning that Offred is pregnant, Serena Joy drives her to see Hannah. Offred sobs and bangs on the window, trying desperately to get to her daughter, but Serena won't let her out of the car.
"She is a beautiful girl, Offred. And she's happy. And she's well taken care of and you don't have to worry about anything," Serena tells her. "Listen to me. As long as my baby is safe, so is yours."
This scene was entirely invented for the show. Offred never sees her daughter in the book, or even knows for sure whether Hannah is still alive.
The second Particicution, when the Handmaids are asked to kill Janine, doesn't happen in the book.
On the final episode of season one, the Handmaids are summoned to another Salvaging — or Particicution, as it's called in the book. They are instructed to execute Janine by stoning her to death, but they refuse. Offred is the first to step forward and drop the rock at Aunt Lydia's feet.
Because Janine never threatens to commit suicide or kill her daughter in the book, this scene was invented for the show.
The book ends with the season one finale. Everything from seasons two and three were created by the showrunners.
In Atwood's novel, Offred's story ends when she's taken away from the Commander's house. She isn't exactly sure why. Although Nick cryptically tells her to go with the group of men dressed in black, to "trust me," she has no idea whether they're Eyes or members of Mayday.
The men tell Serena and the Commander that Offred is being arrested for "violation of state secrets." As she follows them to the black van, Offred feels peacefully indifferent.
"Whether this is my end or a new beginning I have no way of knowing," Offred's internal monologue reads. "I have given myself over into the hands of strangers, because it can't be helped. And so I step up, into the darkness within; or else the light."
In the epilogue, titled "Historical Notes on 'The Handmaid's Tale,'" a fictional professor from the year 2195 says there's no way of knowing what happened to Offred.
Hulu's first season ends in largely the same manner. Offred's voiceover even repeats a slight variation of her final lines from the book — although on the show, Nick doesn't play a role in her arrest and there's no room for confusion, since the catalyst was clearly her refusal to kill Janine.
Anything after the season one finale is off-book territory.
- Read more:
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- 'The Handmaid's Tale' was seen filming in Washington, DC, and people thought it was another protest
- New 'Handmaid's Tale' season 3 trailer shows how June is going to destroy Gilead from the inside
- 'The Handmaid's Tale' costume designer is humbled by her design being used in protests
Does Offred Have a Baby in the Book
Source: https://www.insider.com/handmaids-tale-changes-book-tv-show-hulu-2017-4