“Go on and grow some”… testicles, or how most of us know it as the uncensored version… balls. One character throughout the novel in particular is whom I intend to direct this statement at. For those of you who have read it, I’m sure you already know. For those of you who haven’t, you’ll soon find out.
For the juxtaposition of characters, I decided that I would compare and contrast Offred, the main character, and Moira, Offred’s best friend and college roomate from their life before the Gilead Government took over. However, despite that they were best friends from before, Moira is brought into the house and becomes another handmaid, along with Offred. As readers we are presented with two very different characters, yet they had so many important experiences together, the most important being their lives as handmaids.
Offred, the narrarator of the novel is a generally passive woman. She is kind hearted, yet does not give into the new life she is forced to lead. Offred, who does not reveal her name in the “time before”, believes that there will be a way out eventually, and she will no longer have to live for nothing other than bearing the Commander’s child. As mentioned earlier, Offred is passive – which is clearly demonstrated thoughout the novel as she tends to shy away from situations that could have severe consequences. She has little courage, and will go along with what is expected of the handmaid’s in order to survive. She will do anything to stay away from the wall, as she cannot imagine hanging there dead in front of all to be just another “example.” The lack of courage has transformed Offred into a woman like everyone else, conformed to their new societal norms, stipped from her freedom, her knowledge, her voice.
Moira on the other hand, now she has some serious balls. This girl is gutsy, she’s bold, and she’s on the edge, all in despite of her situation and circumstances. Yes, she too was a handmaid, living in the same corridors as Offred, under the same rules and watch of the aunts, but she was unique. The difference between Moira and Offred was she was anything but niave, and Moira knew that there was no “maybe” of getting out of that place alive. Being the rebellious woman she was, Moira made her first attempt to escape by faking sick, with the hopes that she would be taken to the hospital, where there she would escape from the Guardians. Although her first attempt failed and she had her feet brutally mutulated as a consequence, Moira did anything but give up. The second time, she got it right. A clever (as Kailee would say) ploy to louer one of the Aunts into the bathroom led to Moira dismantling the toilet and threatening to kill her. She managed to get the aunt to the basement, and tie her up behind a furnance, stealing her clothing and acting as if she were Aunt Elizabeth. This allowed Moira to walk right past the guards, and into the path of her escape. Some may call it crazy, I call it courageous.
Whether or not you take the ending of the novel into consideration, where Offred becomes a little riskier with Nick, and Moira gets caught nine months later, that’s up to you. However, for the most part, this is how I saw it, and it will remain the view that I have of the two characters. Their dynamic personalities and differences are what brought them together in the first place, and those qualities are what makes readers fall in love with both characters in their own ways. If you were in Offred’s position, would you too conform to their way of life, making sure not to break any rules in order to survive? Or knowing your chances of child bearing and survival in the long run, would you make an attempt to escape while you could?
— Whether you agree or not, I think Moira’s one crazy woman, and Offred, point blank just needs to grow some. 
