“Things will be much easier for you now. You won't want what you cannot have.”— Aunt Lydia commenting on Emily's penal mutilation.[1]
Ofglen's Case is an event in The Handmaid's Tale. The authorities of the Gilead regime go after the handmaid Ofglen as she is suspected of illegal activities.
In the novel[]
Ofglen is a member of the resistance group "Mayday". She urges that her fellow Handmaid Offred spy on her Commander in order to gather information for the resistance.[2] [3]
According to her successor, her activities were leaked to the regime. She hangs herself in her room when she sees a van of the Eyes coming to arrest her.[4]
In the TV series[]
Prelude[]
Emily and a Martha are caught in a same-sex relationship, which is seen as "gender treachery" by Gileadean law (under reference to Romans 1:26-28).[1]
Trial[]
With their mouths muzzled forcibly, they are both taken to a show trial and immediately convicted. While the Martha is sentenced to the Common Mercy of the State via death (with Emily being forced to watch her be hanged), Emily is sentenced to "Redemption" where she undergoes an involuntary clitoridectomy.[1]
Aftermath[]
Emily is reassigned to the Scott household and treated (comparatively) amicably. However, the aftermath of her punishment continued to torment her and she eventually snapped, stealing and joyriding a staff car, eventually driving over a guard in the process.[5] Ultimately, as a result of her actions, she was reassigned to hard labor in the Colonies and reclassified as an unwoman this continued until the attack at the Red Center where she is reassigned as a Handmaid due to shortage after the bombing.[6]
Trivia[]
The car that so enticed Emily and which she parked on a Guardian was a black 2007 Mercedes-Benz S-Klasse (W221).
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Episode 3, "Late"
- ↑ Section 34
- ↑ Section 41
- ↑ Section 44
- ↑ Episode 1.5, "Faithful"
- ↑ Episode 2.2, "Unwomen (Episode)"