The whole idea of the handmaidens is taken from the stories Jacob (Israel) and Abraham (his dad), whose wives gave their handmaidens to their husbands to bear them children after they themselves were too old. So a good excuse to do it in modern times by the creators of Gilead.
But it seems to me that the society of Gilead is necessarily self-defeating, quite apart from any revolt by the handmaids or other servants.
In the books, and the television series, we are shown the lives of the Commanders, the creators of this society, equivalent to the party members of 1984 etc, and of their immediate families; wives, handmaids, and other servants.
Also of the handmaid training facilities and the famous Aunties who train them. Most especially we see Aunt xxxx, whose name I’ve forgotten, who is Offred’s teacher/mentor.
We also see occasional shopkeepers soldiers etc, but only in relation to Offred’s daily life.
As we know, most of the women of the world, or at least of North America have been rendered barren by some disease, which is not defined, which is why the Commanders are given the handmaids to bear their children. These girls or women are collected from the general population as soon as they show signs of being able to bear children. It’s not specified whether that means they are allowed to carry their pregnancy to term, (the only possible sign that they are fertile), but we can assume the children so produced are then forcibly adopted by a Commander, or possibly someone of less high state who is considered worthy. We see in the second series of the TV series that the daughter of the woman who is now Offred has been so given to a Commander.
So, my point is that, we have absolutely no knowledge of the life of anyone below Commander and their family in this story, so we have no knowledge of how the infrastructure of the country is maintained.
Who is farming the fields, building the houses, mending the cars, keeping the electricity, gas etc supplied to the commanders, and how are they persuaded to do it. I can’t imagine they are given good wages, so it has to be that the army are forcing them.
Who is keeping the army in check.
I understand that such things work in totalitarian regimes. The better off keep the worse off in check, in order to maintain their privileges.
But In 20 years they will be too old, and if all the children are by then little commanders, there is nowhere to go.
This of course, will be the same in all other societies throughout the world in the disease if worldwide. All societies must collapse and new forms of society must be found. However, Gilead is not it, with Offred’s revolution or without it.
On the other hand, Atwood wasn't really interested in that, but was simply writing a novel to describe the possible outcome of an unchecked patriarchy, and as such has achieved her goal.
Some have expressed the view that this is not realistic, and that some sort of opposite is more likely in reality, where men are subjugated to the control of women. My personal view is that neither is really likely. We are moving, slowly, towards a balance. How or why this may or may not come about is not for this forum.
