With this week’s reading, I feel like it’s gotten even darker and more grim for Offred and her group of fellow handmaids. I’m also happy we finally got to hear about what happened to the elusive Moria and it’s really depressing what ended up happening to her. Aside from Luke and her daughter, Moria seemed to be another person who inspired Offred to keep moving forward and fight for her own freedom. But, we learn that Moria has been forced to work at Jezebel’s, an illegal club full of prostitues in Gilead, and given three to four years left to live. Moria is also surprisingly complacent with her status as a sex worker, bragging to Offred about the benefits of working there rather than in the colonies. It makes Offred feel truly defeated in her position, as everybody around her held Moria up as this symbol of freedom.
“She is frightening me now, because what I hear in her voice is indifference, a lack of volition. Have they really done it to her then, taken away something – what? – that used to be so central to her? And how can I expect her to go on, with my idea of her courage, live it through, act it out, when I myself do not?” (Atwood)
For the universe of the story, it honestly a more realistic conclusion for Moria’s character. While her actions were heroic, in the model of Gilead’s society, Moria would have no other options. She did try to escape to where woman are free, but after being captured, it’s almost predictable what happened. It doesn’t reduce the tragedy of it, as it’s very sad Moria has become complacent in the society she tried to fight against, but it also almost amplified the darkness of the novel.
Womens Lit. Blog 