Top 10 Differences Between The Handmaid's Tale Book and TV Show

As one of the most demeaning parts of living in Gilead, handmaids’ names are directly linked to those of their masters. Offred is so named because her master is Fred. In the novel, Margaret Atwood left Offred’s real name ambiguous, though there were some theories that suggested her name might be June based on a close reading of the text. In the show however, they decide to tell viewers her name in the very first episode. This makes sense considering the show uses flashbacks much more than the book does, and we get to see June existing in her former life.

Although Margaret Atwood never explicitly states what Serena Joy’s age is in the book, readers would naturally gather that she’s an older woman who is past the age of being fertile. She’s described as being rather unattractive and it’s even mentioned at one point that she has arthritis. The writers of the show however wanted to create a more compelling dynamic between Offred and Serena by making the two closer in age. Showrunner Bruce Miller said, “Serena feels something she should rightfully be doing right now is being done by someone else”.

In the first episode of the show, we see a flashback to when Offred and other handmaids are first taking on their new roles. One of Offred’s peers, Janine, misbehaves and as a punishment has her eye removed following the line from the Bible that, “if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.” In the book, Janine’s character is more tame and it’s actually Moira who breaks the rules. And her punishment is a slightly less horrible one: they use steel rods to beat her feet, maiming her in the process.

In the first episode of the show, the handmaids attend a “Salvaging” ceremony, where a man is to be executed for the crime of raping a handmaid who was pregnant and causing her baby to die in the process. Offred is the first to attack him before the others join in. In the book, the scene takes place later in the story and has an extra layer of detail to it. It’s in fact Ofglen who begins the violence, but reveals to Offred later on that in fact the man was a rebel, implying that they were trumped up charges and that she just wanted to spare him from a long and painful death.

In the book, Ofglen plays a relatively minor role, but the show decided to flesh out the character to be a much more interesting a major figure in the story. In Margaret Atwood’s version, Ofglen simply disappears one day to be replaced by a new handmaid, but in the show, because we are able to see outside of Ofglen’s perspective, we know that in fact Offred was in fact persecuted for being in a relationship with a Martha. She is forced to watch her lover be executed and is subjected to genital mutilation surgery to cure her of her “unnatural desires”.

June had her baby in a time when babies being born was become scarce. In the book, June recalls her eleven month old daughter Hannah being taken from her at a supermarket. She reacts quickly, screaming for help, and the woman who took her is quickly apprehended and waits for arrest. On the show, the story is even more dramatic, with the attempted kidnapping taking place just after June gives birth to Hannah while they’re still in the hospital. The woman who abducts her attacks and maybe even kills a nurse and is similarly stopped before she can actually get away.

In the book, June’s mother was an activist for women’s rights but June herself reacted relatively passively to the rights that women were gradually losing. It is never said that she went to any protests, instead stating, “Luke said it would be futile and I had to think about my family, him and her.” On the show, June and Moira go to a protest together in a flashback scene after it’s announced that women will no longer be allowed to work or have money of their own. The demonstration turns violent and viewers are given more insight into the leadup to the current regime.

In the book, we don’t learn anything about Nick’s past, but the show gives him a backstory and tells us how he came to work in the Commander’s household. His last name is Blaine and he hails from Michigan. He was recruited by the Sons of Jacob when he was unemployed and hired to keep watch on the Commander after the former Offred committed suicide. In both mediums, Serena Joy eventually urges Offred to have sex with Nick because she fears the Commander is infertile and wants Offred to get pregnant by any means possible.

By the end of the show’s first season, Janine has been brought to a breaking point. In the penultimate episode she kidnaps her daughter from the Putnams and takes her to a bridge where the threatens to jump off, which would kill both of them in the process. Janine hands off the baby at the last second and ultimately survives her attempted suicide, but is sentenced to death anyway for threatening a child. The handmaids refuse to stone her though, setting the events of the second season in motion. Meanwhile, in the book... none of this happens at all.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

In the TV Show, Gilead Is More Diverse

Offred Is More Rebellious

Moira & Luke Meet Again

Janine Has a Healthy Baby

Margaret Atwood’s novel was published in 1985, so it goes without saying that the story was written in a very different world when it comes to technology. To bring the story into the present though and make viewers feel a certain immediacy to the action, the flashbacks take place squarely in the world we’re currently living in. All of the characters have smartphones and use ride-sharing apps, all of which was, of course, impossible in the mid ‘80s. Atwood imagined a near future in the ‘80s with things like “Compubanks” but the showrunners clearly wanted to make viewers realize just how close a Gilead-like future could be.