In theory, the rings are removed so she can drink and eat. In reality, even Gilead wouldn't do this - they need the women at peak health. Can't risk someone choking on phlegm or suffocating because you want to keep her quiet.
Confused, June turns her head to notice a series of three large rings is keeping the young woman's mouth shut. Horrified, June instantly turns her head. It's a truly unsettling moment which may make your stomach churn. "We call them rings," "The Handmaid's Tale" showrunner Bruce Miller told INSIDER of the reveal.
"It was my idea to put it in the show. It was an extrapolation of the enforced silence, which is the idea that handmaids are told to be quiet, and they're forced to be quiet."
If you thought being a Handmaid in June's area was bad, you were apparently wrong, because the D.C. Handmaids have it worse. It's revealed early in the episode that each girl has three rings in her mouth that completely prevent her from talking.
June's immunity from physical punishment is especially poignant in view of the suffering experienced by the other handmaids who rebelled — like Ofglen No. 2, who June learns had her tongue cut out for defending Janine, or Alma, whose burns are revealed to June in full.
Wives sit at the head of the bed with the Handmaid between their legs, holding their hands as a means of spiritual connection between the Commander, their 'vessel', and herself.
Taking the finger as a warning, then it means June still wants to bring down Serena Joy and is not about to let her walk free despite Fred's death.
“Under His Eye” refers to the Christian God, as God is supposedly always watching the Handmaids and their every move, since the Republic of Gilead, the extremist religious society they live in, is “blessed.” The phrase also refers to the powers that be, the very human elements of Gilead's society.
The tattooing of the eye on the bodies of the handmaids emphasizes that they exist wholly under the ownership and watch of the rulers of Gilead.
Many Wives become bitter and resentful; many of them are also jealous of the Handmaids due to their ability to conceive and the fact they must share their husbands with them. Wives can sometimes be quite cruel to Handmaids assigned to them and some have even been known to attack them.
The Handmaid got so scared she'd be sent to the Colonies, she hung herself. Offred knows the Commander feels guilty about the Handmaid's life and decides to ask him for something more. She wants information about what is going on in the outside world. Later, Offred catches sight again of Nick.
Answer and Explanation: The suggested association of Offred's ankle tattoo is that of a serial or ID number. The implication of such a number is that Offred and all the handmaids are property.
According to the novel, Handmaids who are no longer fertile, or fail to become pregnant after three different Commanders, are sent to the Colonies - essentially a nuclear waste dumping ground. They are forced to clean this waste until they die. Pretty grim outlook there, but that's dystopia for you! Hope that helps!
When June became a handmaid, her ear was affixed with a tracker — with that, June became another person's property. To remove the tracker, she has to physically cut into her ear.
June becomes visibly emotional upon holding her baby daughter for the first time in months. Later, June rocks Nichole in the nursey and tells her she's amazing and they're so lucky that Moira and Luke have been raising her.
June almost made it. She and her newborn daughter Nicole almost made it out of Gilead. Actually, the infant did make it out of the dystopian regime, just without her mommy.
Blessed Be The Fruit: This is essentially 'hello' in Gilead speak, and it's usually met with the response “May The Lord Open” (see below). Alongside being a greeting, it's also meant to encourage fertility – aka, that a Handmaid will be 'blessed' with the 'fruit' of a child.
As in many totalitarian societies, females in Gilead are forbidden from reading and writing—the punishment for a first offense is having one's hand cut off—which enables the authorities to more easily maintain control over them.
For all its disturbing moments, the indelible image of The Handmaid's Tale Season 1 is undoubtedly Ofglen (Alexis Bledel) carefully lifting up her hospital gown, only to realize that by Gilead's order, her clitoris had been cut off to negate her desire for sex (specifically with a person of the same gender).
Unbaby, or shredder, is the term used in the Republic of Gilead to describe infants that are suffering from birth defects or physical deformities. These die shortly after birth due to their defects.
Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum
Privately, Fred Waterford was partial to illicit games of Scrabble with the women he and his wife held hostage and raped.
They're meant to act essentially like blinders would on a horse, it's supposed to shield the handmaids from view and prevent them from seeing what's around them as well. But the bonnets themselves have apparently been a bit of an annoyance to the production.
After witnessing Eden killed in a public execution, Serena was horrified and worried for her daughter's future in Gilead. Her finger being chopped off served as a reminder that despite her status, she too was a woman living in a patriarchal society and was put back in her place.
Crabtree said that the brownish green of the aunts' clothes is meant to convey a militaristic degree of authority, calling back to the military uniforms of World War I, while the dull, pale green of the Marthas is meant to evoke a sense that these women are "wither[ing] into their environment."
It is revealed that this Offred, like her successor, was coerced into an emotional affair with the Commander and that Serena was infuriated when she found out. Shortly after, the Handmaid hanged herself from the chandelier in her room, with her body being discovered by Cora, one of the two Marthas inside the house.