“From each according to her ability; to each according to his needs.”

The phrase “From each according to her ability; to each according to his needs.” appears in the beginning of Chapter Twenty in 'The Handmaid's Tale'. The quote is a sexist restatement of a quotation of 1875 from the writings of Karl Marx, father of Communism. This has been used by Gilead suggesting that once again unless the actions of both men and women can contribute to society then, they should not do it. Relating to the hierarchy of women in the society of Gilead such as; the Handmaids and aunts, this suggests women that were once able to have children the aunts and women that now can the handmaids. Women in the novel such as the Martha’s and the Handmaid’s have roles of their own; Martha’s help run the household by cooking and cleaning and the Handmaid’s respond to the Commander’s ‘needs’.

Development of Offred's relationship with the commander

As the novel countinues, in chapter 29, we can see a progression in Offred and the commander's relationship. This is due to the fact that they are relaxed in each other's company, they leisurely play games of Scrabble, and Offred is even allowed to secretly read in his company (this is something she considers better than sex). 

They are so relaxed, that Offred even had the confident to goes as far as to ask for conversation rather than the forbidden book. The Commander even shares personal information with her, and she feels free enough to ask him things she shouldn't. She even pens a phrase, feeling the lost power of words as she writes, "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum."
The Commander has learned to care for Offred. He wants her to live a bearable existence with some form normalcy. He wants her life to be manageable to her positively. He most certainly doesn't want her to die as her predecessor had, and she knows that because of this she holds a little power over the man who has the power to make a difference in her life.

The Story So Far

The handmaids tale so far has left the  readers no choice but to feel sorry for the commanders wife and offred. This is due to the fact that, they are both equally suffering some sorts of pain that they can't handle due to the society they live in and they way they are beeing controlled by the 'commander'. The commanders wife, who can't have children is only left heartbroken because during her period of time, women are supposed to be a ble to bear children for their husband but in her society, they have handmaids performing her role/duty, which is a shame because she then have to share her husband with someone else and her husband is giving love to another woman. The fact that she had to watch her husband have sex with another woman, shows some kind of punishment the society has created for anyone not being able to have children. However, offred does not really enjoy whats she is doing because she does not feel anything for the commander and she is only doing hima a favour by having a child for him. This could also because she was once inlove with a guy named luke, who she had a child with but unfortunately things didn't go too well with her and she sometimes remember all the time/memories she had with him, which is why she does not feel anything with the commander.

Serena Joy

Serena joy was a former televangelist who was also the commander’s wife. However she had been a believer for traditional values and the establishment of the gileadean state. Serena joy has bitterness which she struggles to handle at times and as a consequence of her not being able to bear a child for her husband who is the commander; she has another person having sexual intercourse with her husband in able to bear him a child. This then makes Serena joy despises the handmaid.