Explication of Supplication in The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Of Polti’s thirty-six dramatic situations, the one that fits The Handmaid’s Tale best is supplication. Supplication involves a persecutor, a supplicant, and a power in authority, whose decision is doubtful. The strongest of these aspects in Margaret Atwood’s book is the ‘power in authority, whose decision is doubtful’.

The power in The Handmaid’s Tale is the oppressive government that has altered the lives of every citizen. Throughout the book Offred, the narrator, shows the downfalls of this newly implemented system, and proves that there are facets of human nature that cannot be factored into a social reform. For instance, in this world that has been created marriages are all arranged, and reproduction is an assignment and a ceremony, the duty of a handmaid is to copulate with high ranking officials in order to bear children for barren couples. Offred describes ‘the ceremony’ as
“[her] red skirt is hitched up to [her] waist, though no higher. Below it the Commander is fucking. What he is fucking is the lower part of [her] body. [She does] 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 [she hasn’t] signed up for… Serena Joy grips [her] hands as if it is she… who’s being fucked, as if she finds it either pleasurable or painful, and the Commander fucks, with a regular two-four marching stroke, on and on like a tap dripping” (ATWOOD 116).
Needless to say, this society that has been created is far too mechanical, it’s missing something. As a conversation between Offred and the Commander also explains,
“Now, tell me. You're an intelligent person, I like to hear what you think. What did we overlook?
Love, I said.
Love? said the Commander. What kind of love?
Falling in love, I said.
The Commander looked at me with his candid boy's eyes. Oh yes, he said. I've read the magazines, that's what they were pushing, wasn't it? But look at the stats, my dear. Was it really worth it, falling in love? Arranged marriages have always worked out just as well, if not better” (ATWOOD 206).
The commander makes very rational, valid arguments. But Offred makes a stronger argument. The perfect rational society could not possibly exist; there is too much emotion in the human psych that does not follow a linear path. This is also associated with Polti’s dramatic situation as it shows that the authoritative power may not be correct all the time.

This is proven by the actions of all the characters in the book. Offred cannot deny her sexuality throughout the book, and this comes to a head near the end when she has an affair with the chauffeur. This affair was not actually Offred’s idea, the Commander’s wife – who is the head of the household and supposed to help uphold the standards of the new world – was the one who suggested that Offred and the chauffeur have sex in the hopes that he could impregnate her. The most surprising occurrence is when the Commander – who is a figurative representation of the oppressing governmental force – asks Offred to his private study. This is, of course, entirely against the rules even if it is only to play scrabble, which is also against the rules for Offred as women are not permitted to read. All of these situations only further affirm that Polti’s dramatic situation of supplication applies to The Handmaid’s Tale. In all of these situations the government is the persecutor, but the Commander also serves as a representation in some cases. In many cases the females in the book are the supplicates in the story.

Because of the underlying political theme, as well as the emotional pull the characters experience, it is undeniable that The Handmaid’s Tale fits well with Polti’s situation of supplication.