Hope, Despair and Environmental Crisis
Offred clings to hope about Luke's fate, imagining he successfully escaped and is working to rescue her. This shows how hope becomes essential for psychological survival, even when reality might be much darker. Her fantasies keep her going through impossible circumstances.
The fertility crisis in Gilead has terrifying statistics - only a one in four chance of healthy babies due to environmental contamination. The water and air are polluted with toxic chemicals and radiation that accumulate in fatty tissue, making successful pregnancies increasingly rare.
Aunt Lydia's propaganda blames women themselves for the population decline, calling them "lazy" and "sluts." This victim-blaming is classic totalitarian behaviour - rather than addressing real environmental causes, the regime scapegoats the very people it claims to protect.
The environmental disaster underlying Gilead's creation shows how ecological crisis can be exploited by authoritarian movements. Instead of addressing pollution and toxic contamination, the regime chose to enslave women and control reproduction through force.
Think about this: The fertility crisis wasn't caused by women's behaviour but by environmental destruction - yet women bear all the consequences and blame.