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Commanders are an elite class of men in Gilead who occupy national leadership roles or political positions.
Commanders Quotes in The Testaments
The The Testaments quotes below are all either spoken by Commanders or refer to Commanders. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6 Quotes
I’ve become swollen with power, true, but also nebulous with it—formless, shape-shifting. I am everywhere and nowhere: even in the minds of the Commanders I cast an unsettling shadow. How can I regain myself? How to shrink back to my normal size, the size of an ordinary woman?
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Lydia reflects on her own journey and rise to power, feeling that she has evolved into something more fearsome and far-reaching than herself, becoming an infamous legend and a predatory figure. On the one hand, Lydia’s statement again reflects the fact that as a woman, she has grown to such power that even the Commanders, the most powerful men in Gilead, fear her, which thus demonstrates the great degree of power that the right knowledge utilized in the right ways can grant. However, Lydia also suggests that she is losing her personal self, Lydia the human being, amidst the great Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollit
Chapter 46 Quotes
The Angel’s real crime was not [smuggling] the lemons, however: he’d been accused of taking bribes from Mayday and aiding several Handmaids in their successful flight across our various borders. But the Commanders did not want this fact publicized: it would give people ideas. The official line is that there were no corrupt Angels and certainly no fleeing Handmaids; for why would one renounce God’s kingdom to plunge into the flaming pit?
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Aunt Lydia and Commander Judd watch the public execution of an Angel who collaborated with Mayday to smuggle Handmaids out of Gilead, though Gilead officially only charged him with black market dealing. The fact that Gilead feels the need to level false charges against the Angel and conceal the fact that so many people are fleeing Gilead demonstrates a different angle on the concept of knowledge and power. The fact that people want to leave Gilead at all obviously contradicts its claims to be a virtuous utopian paradise, revealing it instead as a hellish authoritarian pit. The simple knowledge of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. El
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Commanders Term Timeline in The Testaments
The timeline below shows where the term Commanders appears in The Testaments. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2: Transcript of Witness Testimony 369A
...belong to the special class of girls from wealthy families, “pre-chosen” to some day marry Commanders or Sons of Jacob. Although Agnes does not think she is pretty, she feels especially...
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Chapter 3
...is six or seven years old. She lives with her mother, Tabitha, and her father, Commander Kyle, though she rarely interacts with her father. She has a dollhouse that roughly mirrors...
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Chapter 5
...school, though the other girls look down on her since her father is not a Commander, but only a highly regarded dentist. Aunt Vidala discourages close relationships, however, arguing that such...
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Chapter 25: Transcript of Witness Testimony 369A
...clipboard. The Aunts announce that they will find three candidates for husbands from among the Commander families and will expect a “donation” from Paula. Paula smiles at Agnes and tells her...
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Chapter 27
...high-ranking wife. Shunammite and Becka are there as well, both having received marriage offers from Commander families. Shunammite is eager sex and all the material benefits of marriage, but Becka is...
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Chapter 30: Transcript of Witness Testimony 369B
...wasn’t true. Elijah and Ada continue to explain that although Nicole’s biological father isn’t a Commander, her legal father is, according to Gilead, so they have a legal claim to her...
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Chapter 51
...Opening it, she discovers that it contains evidence and case notes about the death of Commander Saunders, Paula’s former husband. The Commander was not murdered by his Handmaid, but by Paula,...
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