We’ve entered Ofwarren’s house. Offred remarks on how the Wives are in the dining room, prepared to feast on great food (including hard-to-come-by oranges) and wine if results are good from Ofwarren’s (Janine’s) birth. The Handmaids will get sandwiches and milk (another child’s meal) later on. She sees the Commander’s Wife (Warren’s wife) lying on the floor getting her stomach massaged. Weird since she’s not the one pregnant. Her hair looks like mildew. Offred seems to characterize all these aging Wives with images of rot and decay. Men aren’t allowed at these events. (Men were never in the room when women had babies in the olden days, like the 1950s. Often they were in another room or the hospital waiting room handing out cigars, being manly and waiting. This isn’t in the novel, but it’s good to know the context.) Commander Warren will probably get a promotion if the birth is successful. So much importance is put on having babies in this society. Carrying forward this idea of men being in charge, Offred says it’s fitting that the bedroom is called the...