By Her Hand: The Good Works of June Osborne in 'The Handmaid's Tale'
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. -Emily Barret BrowningThere's a certain type of love that thrives in darkness, where we can dream its shape, rather than face its flaws and imperfections. If it were to be illuminated, it would shrivel and die, because it's not about the person we claim to care about. It's about how we want to feel. We become addicted to butterflies in our stomachs, warm smiles, and a gentle touch, so we tell ourselves a story.We don't have to work for this kind of love. We already want it. That's why it's so common in fiction. Writers will build an ideal of a human being, someone orderly and beautiful, feeding us only as many flaws as we can accept. They create a myth because they know that if they dive into the confusing mess of human nature, we'll just roll our eyes and walk away. That's not true love.True love is the warm glow that a mother feels when she holds her newborn, or the passion of two seasoned lovers that can still move to the same rhythm, regardless of what they've been through. It doesn't fade, and it doesn't falter. It thrives in the light because we train ourselves. We work for it. We put in the effort to truly care, no matter what. That is the kind of love that 'The Handmaid's Tale' wants us to feel for June Osborne. They don't concern themselves with visions or dreams. They're concerned with reality.
