Women In The Handmaid's Tale

In the novel The Handmaids Tale by Margret Atwood, Offred has lived a very awful and controlled life by her Commander and Serena Joy. At the end of the book, the van comes and claims that Mayday is here to save her. The theme of the book is power, in 1985 the Gilead government was a dictatorship and had rules for everyone, if you broke the rules death awaits you. According to Amin Malak, “However, not all the female characters in Atwood’s novel are sympathetic, nor all the male ones demonic.” It is evident that Amin Malaks literacy criticism is correct in her assertion because some of the female characters are selfish and the males are generous and caring. Moira, Offred’s friend, is very self centered and only cares about helping herself escape

On Offred’s way home from the birth she tells the reader how Moria escaped all by herself not letting anyone else know so they could escape too. Moira had made one of the toilets overflow and while Aunt Elizabeth was fixing it Moira had taken a long metal lever from the toilet and threatened the Aunt that she would stab her in the ribs. She forced the Aunt into the furnace room, took her clothes and escape. No one has seen Moira since. Moira holds the lever to the Aunts chest and says, “Don’t move, said Moira, or I’ll stick it all the way in, I know where, I’ll puncture your lung” (128). By Moira taking apart of the toilet and threatening the Aunt, she has left the other Handmaids in a lockdown. Moira had made the situation for the Handmaids worse. The toilets now had chains on them so you cant open the lids, and you have limited amount of toilet paper. By having one Handmaid escape, the town of Gilead will be more strict and make sure no one can get out. Another reason that the reader feels no sympathy for Moira is because she took away Offred’s hope about her mother.. The Commander had taken Offred to a secret club. After a while Offred had notice