Blessings of Health Building

The Blessings of Health Building is the medical and dental facility in Gilead where elite families receive care, and it is the site of Dr. Grove's sexual assault of the young Agnes Jemima, an event that deepens her trauma and her aversion to marriage.

Identity and Setting

The Blessings of Health Building is a medical and dental facility in Gilead, serving the highest-ranking Commanders and their families. It is located in a dedicated building, identified by a picture of a smiling heart and a smiling tooth on the outside. The building houses doctors and dentists, and its elevator buttons are marked with teeth, indicating its specialized function. The building is a place of professional authority, where the best practitioners, such as Dr. Grove, the dentist, operate.

The Assault of Agnes Jemima

Agnes Jemima, then a young girl, is sent to the Blessings of Health Building for her yearly dental checkup with Dr. Grove. After her stepmother, Paula, decides it is a waste of time to send a Martha, Agnes goes alone, feeling grown up. During the examination, Dr. Grove, after declaring her teeth "perfect," puts his hand on her small breast, then forces her hand onto his genitals. The assault is a profound violation, leaving Agnes feeling sick, defiled, and unable to speak of it. The building, a place of supposed healing, becomes the site of a traumatic event that reinforces her fear of men and her hatred of her stepmother, who she believes sent her there deliberately.

Narrative Significance

The Blessings of Health Building serves as a key location for the manifestation of Gilead's hypocrisy and the abuse of power by respected men. Dr. Grove's position as the best dentist makes him untouchable, and the assault is a direct consequence of the patriarchal system that grants men authority over women's bodies. The event is a turning point for Agnes, cementing her determination to avoid marriage and ultimately leading her to seek refuge in Ardua Hall. The building is also the site of Dr. Grove's eventual downfall, as Aunt Elizabeth later stages a false rape accusation there, leading to his execution at a Particicution. This later event transforms the building from a place of Agnes's personal trauma into a stage for the Aunts' covert justice.