1.Write a short note on ofglen, in handmaid’s tale.

Ofglen is a character in The Handmaid’s Tale novel. She is a Handmaid assigned to Commander
Glen and is friends with Offred. She is revealed to be a member of an underground resistance
named Mayday. She is courageous and rebellious. Ofglen is part of a group of subversives.
Ofglen is Offred’s shopping partner.
Her real name In the book it is never mentioned. Offred describes her as “a little plumper than I
am. Her eyes are brown, she walks demurely, head down, red-gloved hands clasped in front, with
short little steps like a trained pig’s on its hind legs.”
Her personality is sad but confident.
Offred leaves the house to go shopping, she waits at the corner for Ofglen. The Handmaids
always travel in pairs when outside. Ofglen arrives, and they exchange greetings, careful not to
say anything that isn’t strictly orthodox. Ofglen says that she has heard the war is going well, and
that the army recently defeated a group of Baptist rebels. “Praise be,” Offred responds.
Offred and Ofglen marvel at the women’s exposed legs, high heels, and polished toenails. The
tourists ask if they are happy, and since Ofglen does not answer, Offred replies that they are very
happy.
Ofglen and Offred, now more comfortable with one another, continue to make their shopping
trips. The two women realize they can trust one another. Offred is tremendously excited. She
learns that Ofglen is part of a group of subversives.
Ofglen whispers that the subversives know she sees the Commander in private. She urges Offred
to find out everything she can. Ofglen pressures Offred to break into the Commander’s office.
She wants Offred to find out what he really does, what responsibilities he has. But Offred now
tunes out Ofglen and spends her time thinking about Nick.
At a Particicution, two Guardians drag a third Guardian to the front. He looks drunk or drugged.
Aunt Lydia announces that he and another Guardian have been convicted of rape, and that one of
the two Handmaids involved was pregnant and lost the baby in the attack. Aunt Lydia blows a
whistle, and the Handmaids close in on the man, kicking and beating him to a bloody pulp.
Ofglen dashes in first and kicks his head several times. Afterward, disgusted with her friend,
Offred asks Ofglen why she did it. Ofglen whispers that the supposed rapist was part of the
underground rebellion, and she wanted to put him out of his misery quickly.
Soon after the Salvaging, Offred goes out for a shopping trip, comforted by the ordinariness of
the routine. To her dismay, the Handmaid who meets her is not Ofglen. When Offred asks her
where Ofglen went, the woman replies, “I am Ofglen.” As they part, the new Ofglen suddenly
whispers that the old Ofglen hanged herself when she saw the van coming to arrest her. “’It was
better,’” she says, and then walks quickly away.
We only see Ofglen in her context as a Handmaid, in her interactions with the narrator. Her life
before the Republic is a blank. She wasn’t at the Center with the narrator like many of the other
Handmaids.