"Nolite te bastardes carborundorum" is the motto Offred found hidden in her bedroom. What does this saying mean in the context of the novel? Did Offred succeed in resisting the bastards?
...Unmen and there are only barren women but no sterile men. Furthermore, women are banned from everything that could help them have access to knowledge and independence. Once they have lost their financial independence and other ways to be independent, the only way to survive is to rely on men. So, all the above information tell us that men are omnipotent in Gilead and it will not be hard to realise that it is men who take the control of the whole country. Women on the other hand have to be subservient and keep quiet. As a totalitarian society, the Gileadean government uses the Old Testement as a device for propaganda to indoctrinate people・s mind. according to the Old Testement, women are only responsible for reproduction and domestic chores whereas men are the decision makers who hold the real power. This idea is clearly revealed when Offred was struggling whether she should go to see the Commander alone or not, since if Serena Joy discovered that, she would be sent to the colonies. But she knew very well the Commander held the real power and it would certainly be more disastrous if she disobeyed him. We know Offred does not like Gileadean society and she ：constantly rebels； by doing things which are forbidden like reading and singing, but she dares not and is not able to have a full sized revolution. In a way she is self-protected and too smart to let herself into any troubles or dangers since she knows very well the price for that is death. Without any choice, she has to obey the government and the Commander. But with the Commander, there is something more than threats that make Offred obeys him. The Commander says he wishes to make Offred・s life more bearable by playing Scrabbles with her, giving her magazines to read, hand lotion to use, and they are exactly what Offred longs for. So, how could Offred resist him? The first sexual encounter between Off...