Women In The Handmaid's Tale

In Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale women are given very little control or freedom, this makes friends stand out even more, as they risk being punished and sent off to death islands. The main character Offred has lost everything she once knew, he family, her job, her freedom, and she is made to live as a handmaid, whose sole purpose is to help the human population reproduce. The regime known as Gilead says they promote the solidarity of women, but in fact because of the way the society is set up and the idea that a woman is only useful if she produces a baby causes a lot of jealousy and distrust, especially among the handmaids. This is precisely what makes Offred and Moria’s friendship so special, as bonds like their do not exist in GIlead, no one dares to get close to another

Already we were losing the taste for freedom, already we were finding these walls secure. In the upper reaches of the atmosphere you'd come apart, you'd vaporize, there would be no pressure holding you together” (Atwood 133). To Offred at this point in the novel Moira is the only hope that Offred experiences but as the story unfolds and Offred becomes involved in the resistance movement she begins to see Moria in a new light. Shedding the idealized heroic various of Moira and finally seeing her for her true nature. The very last time Offred sees Moira is in the jezabels, as Moria having caused to much trouble as a handmaid is place there to work by the government. At this point the regime has kicked down Moira so much she no longer has her rebellious young spirit anymore and is instead resigned to her role in life. Offred comments on Moira saying, “She is frightening me now, because what I hear in her voice is indifference, a lack of volition. Have they really done it to her then, taken away something—what?—that used to be so central to her? And how can I expect her to go on, with my idea of her courage, live it through, act it out, when I myself do not?” (Atwood