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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | We let them forget their real purpose. We won't let that happen again. | „ |
| ~ Putnam's disturbing view of women in society. |
Warren Putnam, also known as Commander Putnam, is a major antagonist in the Hulu series The Handmaid's Tale, based on the 1985 novel of the same name.
He is one of the Commanders in the totalitarian religious country of Gilead. Him and his wife are given Janine Lindo as their "Handmaid", forcing her to be a breeding slave so they can get her pregnant and bear them a child. Putnam often comes into conflict with the other Commanders due to him breaking the rules of Gilead, committing rape outside of the Ceremony and causing problems for the government.
He was portrayed by Stephen Kunken.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- He is a Commander in Gilead, making him partially responsible for a Regime that commits mass rape, murder, and mutilation of the men and women who are in the middle and lower classes of society.
- He repeatedly cheats on his wife Naomi throughout the series, and generally never shows any care for her.
- Him and Naomi are given Janine as a Handmaid and repeatedly rape her once a month during the Ceremony, resulting in her giving birth to a baby that they name Angela. Furthermore, Putnam rapes her outside of the Ceremony, lying to her and saying he will run away with her and their daughter Angela despite have no intention of doing so.
- His manipulation of Janine leads her to have a mental breakdown and nearly kill both herself and Angela by jumping off of a bridge. Putnam, Naomi, Fred Waterford, Serena Waterford, Aunt Lydia, and June all try to talk her down, and while June is able to convince her not to kill her baby, Janine still jumps to her death. Putnam is not upset by this at all, instead being scared and angry that his rape of Janine outside of the Ceremony has been exposed.
- While he is seen overseeing the arrest of Commander Cushing, this is due to evidence of Cushing violating the rules of Gilead, meaning that he would have been arrested by The Eyes regardless and Putnam was simply the one to announce it. Putnam also possibly did it to get back at Cushing due to him previously insulting Putnam over him missing an arm.
- After Angela falls ill, Putnam and Naomi bring her to a hospital but find that her condition has not improved. When Serena says that they should let Janine see her, Putnam nonchalantly responds "what harm could it do?" displaying a lack of care over the situation. To further drive the point home that he doesn't care about his daughter, that same night Angela is practically on her deathbed, and both Putnam and Naomi are seen passed out asleep while Janine nurses their dying baby back to health.
- When a ceasefire is ordered in the disputed territory of Chicago so that NGOs can provide aid to the refugees in the area, Putnam orders Nick Blaine bombing of the area to kill as many people as possible before the NGOs can do anything to help.
- Fred and Serena are arrested in Canada, but despite previously seeming to be friends Putnam and the other Commander completely abandon the two of them and don't even attempt to negotiate for their release.
- Fred is eventually killed by June and a wake is held for him in Gilead. During the wake, Putnam approaches Esther Keyes, a 14-year-old Handmaid that will soon be assigned to him and his wife, and proceeds to rape her, getting her pregnant.
- Putnam is arrested for raping Esther outside of the Ceremony, but when confronted by it he shows no remorse, claiming that she was his property and trying to save his skin by saying he has a baby on the way, resulting in him being shot and killed by Nick.
External Links[]
- Warren Putnam on the Villains Wiki
- Warren Putnam on the The Handmaid's Tale Wiki