What role does Moira play in the novel?

After her escape, Moira becomes a kind of mythic figure for the others at the Red Center, a symbol of defiance and resistance. Because of Moira, Offred says, “the Aunts were less fearsome and more absurd. Their power had a flaw in it” (ch. 22).

However, it is debatable whether Moira continues in this heroic role throughout the novel. When Offred sees her again at Jezebel’s, Moira is still in one sense her old irrepressible self. But in another sense she has changed. She has made her accommodation with the regime, and has no plans to escape from her role as a sex servant. The position allows her to have as much sex with other women as she wants, and she also has access to drugs and alcohol. Offred finds herself wanting Moira once again to act heroically, but it seems that even Moira has her limits. The regime offered her something she found tolerable—even though it is sordid—and she took the opportunity. So eventually the regime found a way of silencing even Moira.

Moira is Offred’s closest friend. In the time before, they were college students together. Then at the Red Center, the spirited, rebellious, independent Moira refused to accept her situation. Twice she tried twice to escape. The first time she faked illness and was taken to a hospital, but her ploy was discovered. She was punished by having her feet severely beaten, and then she was returned to the Center. But this did not break her spirit, and her next attempt to escape was successful. She tied up Aunt Elizabeth, took her uniform and used her pass to make her way through checkpoints. After her escape, Moira became an inspiration to Offred and the other women at the Red Center. Moira escaped detection for about nine months, and planned to slip over the border to Canada. But eventually she was caught. The authorities told her she could either be sent to the colonies or work as a kind of sex servant at Jezebel’s. She chose the latter option, which is the last place Offred sees her.