>Another plot hole, or "religious reasoning" is how they expect the Handmaids to stone a woman to death. The extreme stress from this would put the pregnant women at risk, so makes no sense. There's no reason why they couldn't just have the guards execute the woman. Stoning to death was just a "shocking" dramatic device used as a way for the main Handmaid to rebel. I thought it was sloppy writing.
You'd be surprised at how little brainwashing you need to make a person obedient. They've had them - the Handmaidens - beat a man to death in the first episode, and have been shown not afraid to use physical punishment or even maiming (Cutting off a hand for reading) to enforce they rules/laws.
The point in having the Handmaidens do it and not the guards served multiple purposes. It makes them complicit in the atrocity. It helps cement the narrative that they are all 'banded' together in their 'glorious' purpose, it also makes it a warning, that this is what will happen to you if you get any ideas to harm yourself or hold your child hostage.
I would make the assumption that at the time, to their knowledge, none of these women where pregnant, and perhaps would be exempt otherwise, like Offred quickly was once Aunt Lydia was informed she was pregnant, and they rushed to care for her.
It might seem like a shocking plot device, but given there was psychological reasoning behind why Gilead would make the Handmaids do it themselves to someone they called a friend, it makes sense their choice to be seemingly disobedient, out of care for Janine, but in a meek and passive way, good storytelling.
There's been careful methods to the Handmaids 'conditioning', which is why the regime was so quick to enact swift retribution in order to maintain the notion that they have all the power.
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movieLoader (116)
7 years ago
Regardless of your interpretation, I still dislike the fiction on this point. Stoning is a particularly brutal method of murder, and I don't buy that all those guards and everyone else involved on the administrative side would design or condone such routine butchery into the culture.
Remember that the timeline of these events is meant to be not too far from when the world was relatively normal. We're expected to believe that things could descend to this level in such a short time.
For me, the Aunt Lydia character is too extreme. A psychopath somehow given position of power in the ironic quest for human life. We would presume her behaviour and methods are in line with the system in place... of which I find implausible. I'm still enjoying it for the most part, even with some reservations.
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sslssg (34249)
7 years ago
I'm interested in your thoughts on Shirley Jackson's The Lottery? You can find the short film on Youtube if you aren't familiar with the story.
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