Here is to Moira

The hero of the story, the person who takes charge and resists, this is Moira. Moira is the symbol of feminism and the embodiment of everything that Gilead is working against. An important aspect of life emphasized by the laws in Gilead is the male, female relationship. This relationship is at the core of Gilead and its goal of procreation. Moira is the opposite of this ideal woman. To start off, Moira is a lesbian, a contrasting relationship to the encouraged male female relationship. In a way she represents the entire female resistance that Gilead tries so hard to suppress. She is the only individual who tries to escape by herself, whereas the other handmaid's are apart of the MayDay organization. By escaping the center Moira refuses to allow Gilead to define her identity, although she eventually becomes re-categorized as we see later. Moira is proof that there is an alternative to the dreadful fate of any handmaid; she is a symbol of hope. Being this symbol of hope only makes what happens later only seem worse. The symbol of strength that Offred always knew Moira for, is broken down though. When Offred later sees Moira, she sees that the system had broken her spirit. Moira had succumbed to the control of the totalitarian system. The ability to break Moira's strength became the example of the power of the Gilead system of government. I also think Moira represents the sad reality that for almost all, there is nothing they can do; only time can change their circumstances. Not even a strong will like that of Moira’s is enough to get through this.