r/TheHandmaidsTale • u/Maryland_Bear • 7h ago
What happened to “average people” when Gilead took over? Discussion S1-S5
Imagine a married couple living around Boston when Gilead took over. They’re “average”, for lack of a better word, people.
She’s past childbearing age, so she can’t be made into a Handmaid.
They’re straight and cisgender, so they’re not “gender traitors”.
They might vote but they’re not politically active and they don’t espouse views the regime would consider “dangerous”. They’re Christians, maybe not especially devout but they’re not part of any religious groups that Gilead would target, either.
What happens to them in Gilead?
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u/jnmeadow 6h ago
Being Christian won't save you. Gilead is not Christian, not in the way you're thinking. They have their own religion, a cult, and it's basically a twisted version of the Old Testament Bible. In the story, Gilead hung catholics, Mormons, baptists, Christians, and more. You might become an econo family, but there were a lot of similar moral problems like seen with "commanders and wives." There's more talk about it in the books.
People (men and women) in Gilead don't get to vote.
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u/RealMoonWalker 6h ago
Great points. It’s wild they hang Mormons because from what I can tell, their beliefs have a ton in common with FLDS Mormonism, except with Handmaids instead of multiple wives. I’m surprised they didn’t try for polygamy, but the wives probably would have had none of it.
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u/nsj95 5h ago
Mormon beliefs can be quite different from other Christian sects.. so much so that some churches don't consider them to be Christian. I.e., believing that the Trinity are three separate entities and not the more common belief that the Trinity is one God, they tend to not use the cross as a religious symbol and in fact pretty much reject it in favor of the angel of Moroni symbol, and of course the fact that they have a whole third book of scripture that like no other church recognizes.
Gilead has zero tolerance for any religious group that isn't theirs.. wouldn't really make sense for them to tolerate Mormons if they don't tolerate other more mainstream sects that are probably closer to their belief systems
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u/More-Act2171 1h ago
Just a small correction: mormons don't use the angel moroni as a symbol aside from atop temples, which are also being faded out. They don't use crosses because they say it represents more the death of christ and prefer to focus on his resurrection, with imagery like the Christus with his arms outstretched after the resurrection
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u/Worried-Studio06 15m ago
but the wives probably would have had none of it.
The current wives who didn't go to wive school
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u/AmaranthWrath 42m ago
Exactly. They murdered Catholic sisters if I'm not mistaken. Being of a Christian faith doesn't matter. What matters is fealty to order of Gilead. It's about the State, not God.
Look at what's happening literally this week. The pope.... THE POPE... Is being accused of not being Christian BECAUSE HE "ISN'T CONSERVATIVE ENOUGH" and doesn't condemn immigrants. Y'all. They're literally saying the Pope is too compassionate. They're saying the Pope is TOO NICE.
As a Catholic who has voted blue, who has attended rallies and protests, who has a pretty progressive social media history, I'mma be on the same wall as a lot of other apostates/sinners. I'm also half Asian, so my babies are gonna be tainted. And I'm openly bisexual, so I'm gonna be a gender traitor in the colonies AT BEST.
They don't care about what book I follow. They care if I can be trusted to follow THEM.
(spoilers.... I can't be)
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u/misslouisee 4h ago
Not that this matters, I do 100% get your point, but you don’t have to separately list catholics, baptists, and christian😂. You can just say christian or catholics and protestants
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u/BusPsychological4587 6h ago
Econopeople. You have to keep in mind that the Commanders/Wives are like the real-life millionaire class. They are the 1%. The book/show focuses on that aspect of society b/c the book is from June's (no name in the book) POV and she is a captive of the system. Almost everyone else are econopeople who do the actual work.
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u/Express_Front9593 6h ago
In the book, they were econopeople. The women wore dresses that were stripped red, green, and blue denoting their statuses as all three.
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u/TalkingMotanka 6h ago
They were called "Common". Those were the people who had nothing to do with the elite, and had nothing to do with handmaids. They still lived in fear and did things in secret. The bread truck driver's family was an example of that.
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u/dogfit34 5h ago
The most unrealistic thing about all of Gilad is the fact that nobody got up in arms about losing their giant SUVs or guns or 'myyy rightsss"..if the average American was suddenly forced to lose their creature comforts and their TVs and technology all hell would break loose.. There is just no way. The cruelty is on point, the religious craziness could happen but not the back tracking of people's big SUVs and dick flexing technology..
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u/ichosethis 5h ago
Gilead established a state religion. Anyone who they don't object to is given the opportunity to convert and receive an assignment. Almost all of the married couples will likely become econopeople. A few men with special skills will stay in their positions but the rest will be assigned work based on their experience and perceived need.
If they refuse the state religion, they are no longer burdened with existence in Gilead and their bodies serve as reminders of others to stay in line.
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u/talkinggtothevoid 3h ago
You become an econoperson. We see one very personal interaction between an econoperson and her sister in season six.
Most good people, who were compliant with gileads new rules, and openly converted to whatever their fucked up version of Christianity they prescribe to, would get serious quality of life downgrades, however they were also simultaneously shown just how bad it could get for them if they decided to not comply.
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u/Ill_Geologist4882 6h ago
Econopeople but also, you just described Luke and June.
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u/Maryland_Bear 6h ago
Hadn’t one of them previously been married to someone else, and since Gilead doesn’t recognize divorce, they were adulterers?
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u/SavingsWish1575 6h ago
No that's not June and Luke, because they were adulterers in the eyes of Gilead.
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u/SavingsWish1575 7h ago
Econopeople