Why does Offred agree to have sex with Nick?

Offred, the protagonist of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," agrees to have sex with Nick, the driver assigned to her household, for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, Offred is living in a dystopian society in which handmaids like herself are forced to bear children for the high-ranking officials and their wives. The Commander, the head of Offred's household, has been trying to form a deeper connection with her beyond their strictly sexual arrangement, and she sees Nick as a way to assert her own agency and desires in this oppressive system. By having sex with Nick, Offred is able to experience physical pleasure that is not dictated by the Commander's desires or the strict rules of the society she lives in.

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