The Birth Process

Offred and the other Handmaid's have to attend the birth of a fellow Handmaid and participate in this ceremony in which they gather in the room and chant different sayings and sway back in forth with the women in the room. I find it interesting the way all the women have to witness one of their own giving birth in a hot sweaty room. I figure it was to give the other Handmaid's a sense of what they were supposed to go through and what they were meant to do. The book references the idea that these women are merely vessels who are supposed to conceive babies. These women often think that a day like this is special because it breaks the monotony of their lives but i find that it only reinforces their oppression to keep them making babies. I can't help but think that this parallels today's society in which women are told by society that they need to become housewives and have babies and take care of the kids. Overall i found that birthing process weird because especially when you see the Wives come in an one sits on the birthing stool to with her legs draped over Janine. The whole process seems very inhuman and emotionless.