Chapter 38 provides us with the last and final meeting of Moira and Offred. After reading this chapter, I couldn't help but feel betrayed or maybe better wording would be disappointed. I would say the blame is equal between the character of Moira herself, and Atwood allowing this scene to be the final time Moira and Offred ever see each other.
Moira herself disappointed me in the fact that she settled in becoming a "Jezebel" instead of being shipped to a colony after her escape. Though she does describe the colonies, or at least some of them, as basically a work/death colony, her choice doesn't seem to fit the role Atwood put her in throughout the entire book leading up to this scene. Like Offred herself, I thought of Moira as the feminist lesbian, more than ready to stand up for her rights, for her freedom. This is illustrated in many dialogues(flashback dialogues mostly)and of course Moira's escape from the center as well. However, Moira settling to become a whore of sorts for the commanders, and even using her own sexuality in this profession struck me as odd. She seemed so against the institution of these men using these women for their bodies, yet she is now contributing even more to their sexual prowess. Like Offred, the heroism that Moira exuded was seemingly lost when she revealed herself in this scene.
Now I ponder why Atwood included this scene. Was it to point out that even the most feminist women who stand for a cause can be broken? I think that may be one explanation. But on top of that, I think Atwood is setting Offred up to be more independent. She can no longer hold Moira up as a hero, and compare herself as a coward... because she now realizes that this institution can ruin anyone if they are exposed long enough. I also think Atwood included this scene to make Offred come to terms with her mother's mortality. She is forced to recognize the fact that her mother is not well off, she did not escape. She has been faced with the worst predicament that Offred could think of. That itself forces Offred to perhaps stop living in a fantasy land of hope, and come to grips with reality.
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Chantal,
ReplyDeleteThere is a school of feminist thought that became prominent in the early 1990s that questioned the ideas of sexual oppression and empowerment. Some would argue that a stripper or a prostitute is consciously utilizing her body to profit from male weakness. I mean, if the male psyche is fueled by sexual imagery, then who really holds the cards in the relationship? It's a tricky subject (and I'm putting it into a nutshell pretty sloppily), but at the very least, this framework has blurred the lines of power dynamics significantly.
It's interesting though that the novel was written right on the brink of third wave feminism. I wonder if Atwood was indeed creating a fallen hero out of Moira or if she was, like you say, setting Offred up with an urgency for agency. I think she is doing both. And I can't help but wonder if, in doing so, she was purposefully raising questions that alluded toward the spawn of third wave feminism.