Offreds relationship with the

Commander is best
represented by a situation
she remembers from a
documentary on the
Holocaust. In the film, the
mistress of a brutal death
camp guard defended the
man she loved, claiming that
he was not a monster. How
easy it is to invent a
humanity, Offred thinks. In
other words, anyone can
seem human, and even
likable, given the right set of
circumstances. But even if
the Commander is likable and
can be kind or considerate,

Based on the story as told by Offred herself,

we did think the Commander was a decent
man, as decent as the men could be in those
times. But when you read the epilogue
where the seminar is held discussing her
discovered recordings and it has been
determined that the Commander is a man
who was largely responsible for what
happened back then, our thoughts of him
changed. We did think he was a monster.