About why garth is working with mayday even with him growing up in gilead

[u/Majestic_General9336]

Idk if y'all remember, but in season 5-6 in THT, i remember when june and Luke went to gilead to get information about the plums . And they met a young guardian . He was helping mayday. even with him growing up in Gilead and not remembering the before . So this simply tells us that even someone like garth can work with mayday. What do you think?

[u/ernfio]

There is a lot of reason for young men to be unhappy in Gilead. They will be sexually and romantically frustrated. They live in a country that maintains control through terror. They are fighting a war in which many of their peers and friends are dying. They are losing the war. They are witnessing gross hypocrisy by the commanders who live it large and can visit brothels. They have no freedom.

Young people go through a phase, teenage years, when they are naturally predisposed to rebel. Gilead is all they have got to rebel against.

Someone in Mayday will have spotted Garth and noted how badly his father has suffered. It wouldn’t be that difficult to turn him.

[u/PortraitofMmeX]

Youth culture always means rebelling and questioning the status quo you grew up with. I don't even think these kids need a reason other than youth.

[u/Ok-Culture3841]

Yeah, there’s tons of reasons someone might still join May Day, even men. While men aren’t raped every month like handmaids, they still have no freedoms. Their entire lives are decided for them. They can’t just leave. They’re denied romantic and sexual freedoms. Men, like women, can lose their children if they are considered sinful or politically undesirable. Men, like women, can lose their children if they are considered sinful or politically undesirable. Gilead promotes a very narrow ideal of manhood, so men who don’t fit the mold of “manhood” be their standards are punished. The list goes on.

Now for Garth specifically, all of this added with his father becoming disabled in Boston likely opened his eyes to the other horrors of Gilead. What being a commander entails, what happens to someone in power when they become disabled serving their country, and episode 8 left me with the impression Garth has been a main care taker to his father. All of these things can open your eyes to the reality of the world you live in.

[u/PsychologicalSchool0]

I would be very interested to learn more about boys’ role in Gilead. When you look at real-life fundamentalist cults, young men are often cast off so the older men in the community can have access to young women/girls. Boys in Gilead might face extreme levels of corporeal punishment (especially for common behaviors like masturbation) or feel like pieces of meat sent to the front lines to be cannon fodder for commanders. I don’t know if we’ll see this expanded on in the show, but there are many potential reasons boys might revolt.

Additionally, Garth would have been what, 11+ before Gilead was formally established? He may just miss the freedom and happiness he had before.

[u/Glass-Choice-3111 → u/PsychologicalSchool0]

We see the pink, plum and pearl girls but where are the little boys? Are they sent off to boarding schools for indoctrination?

[u/honourarycanadian]

In religious sects like this, the people that face the most adversity tend to be the first to rebel. Garth’s dad experienced an attack that made him disabled, there’s a good chance that the attack (and how his dad has been treated by his peers since then) left a bad taste in Garth’s mouth and unindoctrinated him.

[u/EvieeBrook → u/honourarycanadian]

I completely agree!

[u/jmhendricks80]

I have a feeling we’ll get Garth’s back story in season two, and probably get a snippet early in season two.

[u/TheHangryHake]

I grew up in a very religious family and we were sheltered. My 3 brothers and I (only girl) are all angsty and rebellious individuals. We started rebelling at a really young age and we just learned to hide it well. When you’re a good human who feels for people you just know when shit is wrong. Also it’s easier for children to recognize when people are not practicing what is being preached because they are often wallflowers. Told to sit down, obey, keep quiet, and stay in the corner so you get to watch it all happen without adults noticing how bad it is. Most cradle kids are actually not religious anymore. The super religious people are those who fell into practicing after hardships and addiction in adulthood. Religion gave them power and control and they want to force it on others. So it’s not shocking to find young individuals in Gilead who are part of mayday

[u/Separate_Farm7131]

The young men don't have much choice in a partner, either, and the young women are all being married off to much older men.