the irony that Moira, in the same situation as Offred could use the fan to aid her
escape.
When we first learn of Moira’s disappearance in chapter 22 we are not fully informed
as to the details of her flight; the thought of Moira’s freedom made the other
Handmaid’s feel ‘dizzy’. Atwood purposely withholds this information to let the
reader share in this feeling of suspense; the mystery surrounding Moira at this point
enhances her charisma. Offred recalls the Handmaids feeling a sense of victory over
the aunts; Moira had shown that they could be defeated and so easily too, through
Moira’s actions the Aunts’ power was diminished. Having belittled the enemy she is
seen to have great power, Offred refers to her as ‘a loose woman’ a cliché connoting
sexual freedom but cleverly a second implication of the characters unbridled power
now that she is free.
When Moira escapes, the future seems to hold promise for the Handmaids. The
thought of what Moira could do now that she is free gives them a sense of presence, a
pressure reaching its climatic point.
“Moira was like an elevator with open sides. She made us dizzy”
This simile poses threat and the sense of freedom that Moira’s escape gives the other
women.
Much of Moira’s character is revealed to us through direct speech;
‘“This is a loony bin,” Moira said.
“I’m so glad to see you,” I said
“Where can we talk?” said Moira.’
The used of direct address here brings the reader closer to the story and builds tension
and suspense through the feeling that they are present at the time of conversation.
The colloquialism ‘loony-bin’ reveals that Moira is a non-conformist; Atwood
creatively uses her as a reminiscence of the time before. Moira’s interrogative
response ‘“Where can we talk?”’ conveys that Moira does not linger over
sentimentalities as Offred would; it shows that she is active rather than passive. The
clipped syntax reflects the rushed exchange of spoken discourse giving a nervous
quality to both characters and reminding the reader of the volatile situation that the
Handmaids are in.
Moira is incredibly blasé throughout the novel; her nonchalance shows even in her
response to working at Jezebel’s which will lead to an impending death in the
Colonies.
‘”You’d have three or four good years before your snatch wears out and they send
you to the bone-yard.”’
The vulgarity of the expletive ‘snatch’ corresponding with the verb ‘wears’ describes
the female body in a manufactured way, dispensable for male pleasure and just as
easily disposed of. It is this taboo language that Atwood uses to familiarize us with
Moira. Her reference to the Colonies as ‘the bone-yard’ is further evidence of
Moira’s ability to perceive things in a brutally realistic way. The fact that she is
graphically aware of the inevitable doom she faces and does not react over-
sentimentally show Moira’s unwavering courage.
When Offred reflect on her student life in ‘the time before’ we see that Moira’s
attitude to sex was then just as relaxed and liberal as it is under the Gileadean rule
‘”I’m giving an under-whore party…Tart’s stuff, lace crotches, snap garters. Bras
that push your tits up”’
Here the three-part list indicates the casual attitude that Moira has towards sex, she is
comfortable with her sexuality and her taboo language reflects this. The portmanteau
‘under-whore’ adds humour to Moira’s character and so contrasts with the present
where humour is essentially forbidden.
Moira is irreverent and shows contempt to every aspect of injustice;
‘”Camaraderie shit…How much do you want to bet she’s got Janine down on her
knees…I bet she got her working away on that dried up, hairy old withered…”’
This quote is evidence of Moira’s iconoclastic beliefs; there is a linguistic shock
between the positive noun ‘Camaraderie’ and the negative expletive noun ‘shit’. This
shows the complete disrespect that Moira has for those who blindly follow the
theocratic regime. Offred sees her irreverence as a source of power.
‘There is something in the whispering of obscenities about those in power…it deflates
them, reduces them to the common denominator where they can be dealt with.’
Here Atwood uses visual language comparing those in power to something that can be
deflated. This gives connotations of a balloon filled with air and its course is
therefore precarious and fickle as to where it could blow. This is allegorical to the
regime; Atwood makes the point that wherever there is oppression there is
unavoidable rebellion.
Moira sees through all aspects of the regime with explicit cynicism, in Jezebel’s she
analyses the actions of all the men in power with insulting accuracy.
‘”It’s like screwing on the altar, your gang are supposed to be such chaste
vessels…they like to see you all painted up. Just another crummy power trip”’
The pre-modifier ‘crummy’ reduces the Commanders who perceive themselves as
omnipotent to mere perverts. The use of the expletive ‘screwing’ is further evidence
of Moira’s iconoclastic views. The use of the collective noun ‘all painted up’ reduces
the Commander’s desires to petit and perverse, there is a linguistic shock to aid
Moira’s criticism in the antithesis of ‘screwing’ and ‘chaste vessels’.
Through Moira Atwood reminds us that Jezebel’s is a prescribed reality for those in
power. The architects of this new society who claim their actions were to protect
women from the world by eradicating pornography and prostitution are now seen as
absolute hypocrites. Jezebel’s exposes the hypocrisy of the men who prate about
sexual morality and then spend their evenings sleeping with prostitutes in a club,
purpose built.
The most poignant aspect of the novel is realised through the change in Moira. In
their last encounter Offred learns that the spirit of both Moira and her mother, both
figures of transgression and resistance in the Handmaid’s life, have been broken.
Throughout the novel, Atwood has set up a heroine in the eyes of both the Handmaid
and the reader who believe that if there is to be a fortunate end to this grim tale then it
will be accomplished through Moira. In their last meeting at Jezebel’s we
disappointingly realise that this is not so;
‘She is frightening me now because what I hear in her voice is indifference and a lack
of volition’
It is the abstract nouns ‘indifference’ and ‘volition’ that indicate the chance in Moira,
the woman who, in times of need, Offred looked to as a source of hope has now
become just like her, instead of embodying defiance Moira now embodies Gilead’s
ability to crush even the strongest of spirits.
‘I don’t want to be like her as far as something I lack. Give in, go along, save her
skin…I want swash-buckling heroism from her, single handed combat. Something I
lack.’
This three-part syndetic list describes Offred who has romanticised and projected on
to Moira the qualities she wished she possessed and is here, along with the reader,
sorely mistaken.
‘I don’t know how she ended…because I never saw her again’
What has happened to Moira is an anticlimax; we do not expect to be left unknowing,
the novel now seems closer to real life than fiction and this brings the starkness of
Offred’s reality to the reader’s attention. Moira’s spiritual demise and erasure is an
elaboration of the full force of oppression Margaret Atwood presents us with, once a
courageous, outspoken woman has become a despondent pessimist with no hope of
escaping Gilead. It is this change in Moira that makes us realise the true awfulness of
the situation so many women in the novel are in.