Handmaid's Tale Chapters 18-29: June's Acceptence and its Inure of Her Individual Situation

     As time goes on June's relationships becomes more intimate with the Commander. What is especially interesting is that the relationship is not inherently manipulative, but rather seems candid and casual on the part of both the Commander and June. The days of the two are spent on playing scrabble and similar word games. While June does not immediately come to a realization as to the nature of the relationship, being confused at first, she later grows accustomed to his company. June starts to cross her legs, melt into the sofa, and even ask like the Commander to an extent. In fact June begins to feel shy about the Ceremony that she, the Commander and his wife have. Even though June is trained to treat the Ceremony as an operation or a critical function that is by its nature mechanical, she believes that a certain feeling of awkwardness not present before has developed, a feeling that is apparently mutual on the part of the Commander as he reaches to unceremoniously touch her face. Near the end of the final chapter of the set, the Commander says that he is doing this as he believes he owes June something as he feels he is part of her systematic oppression.
      Of course there is some element of a romantic connection involved as he wants to make lip contact with June in a genuine way and still performs the Ceremony with her. It can also be just as likely that he wants to actually have a human connection with someone else or break taboos, a definite possibility given that he reveals that he used to be a schoolboy from whose books is imprinted the reoccurring Latin phrase which June so often remembers. Indeed it seems that it is likely to be a culmination of all 4 possibilities to varying degrees. To adapt June accepts whichever role she plays for the opportunity to have some control over her life and enjoy luxuries for her contemporary society that she would ordinarily never be afforded.
     Whilst June is becoming more accustomed with the Commander, she also remembers the time when the actual change of her society from that which the Western World of the late twentieth century might feel at home with to that of entrapment and religious radicalism. Her description of those days of stark change show how she lost her job for being a woman and how she also began to care less for her family while pitying her life. In reminiscing, June shows how the loss of power for women crippled them and herself.  It is no mystery then that June does not trust the other gender as they are seen to be ultimately manipulative, something that she does not necessarily fault them for as she accepts even her own stereotypical traditional view of herself. Perhaps some change in the somewhat undefined relationship of June and the Commander will advance the plot, or another revolution will be incited, or maybe she will attempt to run away or even all three will occur. At such a midway point, it is hard to ascertain the ending direction.