Why did we choose Harvard University?
On the 2nd Annual Gilead Commanders' Session, we voted in favor of transforming Harvard's building into a detention center. Since then, the Eyes, our secret police hang the bodies of executed dissidents from the Wall that runs around the college; the mass executions, Salvagings, also take place in Harvard Yard, on the steps of the Widener Library. Harvard University was one of America's most famous institutions of higher learning. The choice of this location emphasises the way our state has overturned the outdated education system. The free pursuit of knowledge and truth are unnecessary to our new society. In Harvard, we aim to re-educate our citizens how to obey orders, and focus on carrying out their duties.
Sex for reproduction only, not pleasure
At the age of the United State, some people celebrate the joys of sexual liberation. Promiscuity was common and appeared to be trivial. But nowadays, the birthrate is so low that we need to do everything possible to prevent miscarriages and birth defects. Promiscuity is an unacceptable concept for us.
In Gilead, "the Ceremony" is a non-marital sexual act sanctioned solely for the purpose of reproduction, based on a Biblical passage described on the top of this page. This Gileadian enactment has the Handmaid lying supine upon the Wife during the sex act itself. The handmaid is to lie between the Wife's legs as if they are one person. In this way, the Wife has to invite the Handmaid to share her power by inviting her to lie in her own personal space, which is considered both humiliating and offensive by many wives. Offred describes the ceremony:
- "My red skirt is hitched up to my waist, though no higher. Below it the Commander is fucking. What he is fucking is the lower part of my body. I do not say making love, because this is not what he's doing. Copulating too would be inaccurate, because it would imply two people and only one is involved. Nor does rape cover it: nothing is going on here that I haven't signed up for" (Atwood, 94).
