Comparing and contrasting two characters from The Handmaids Tale

Sexual slavery and feminism ar two of the main themes in Atwoods dystopian book The Handmaids bosh (1986), in which she portrays a corporation called Gilead in which women are deprived of their civilized liberties. In Atwoods dystopian participation most women have make infertile and the few ones who can still bear children are move into handmaids, i. e. sexual servants who are brainwashed for the mere draw a bead on of breeding ruddy children for the elite. This novel is an account of Offreds musings and her fragmented perception of reality.It is Offred who introduces two antithetical characters disobedient Moira and obedient Janine. Although these characters employ different strategies to either escape or accommodate respectively, they end up being subdued by Gileads regime, metaphorically losing control over their own body. I will muster in both characters personalities, their subjugation to Gilead and the loss of connection with their own bodies. Moira is a malconten t lesbian who is admired by the Handmaids, but as the story unfolds, she subdues to Gilead.Moiras boisterous behavior is displayed by her actions and speech, which is highly colloquial, as when she states, Im borrowing five bucks off you, okay? (Atwood, THT, p. 32) and when she refers to the Red Center1 as a Loony Bin (THT, p. 61). She everlastingly defies the Gilead system and fifty-fifty tries to escape in two ways succeeding on her second attempt and as a allow of this Moira never becomes a proper handmaid. Even when Moira has disappeared from the scene, she makes a dramatic move on the Handmaids, who admire her Moira was our fantasy () she was with us in secret, a titter (THT p. 17). But her power over Offred seems to cease when Moira appears in scene at Jezebels, a place in which improper Handmaids such as Moira are forced into prostitution I am shocked by them (the women in Jezebels) I recognize them as truant. The official creed denies them, denies their very existence, charge so they are here (THT p. 213).There, Moira lets herself be used by men once and again in order to accommodate to this new reality, even minimizing the graveness of the situation its not so bad, theres separate of women around. Butch paradise, you might call it (THT p. 28). Thus, her once rebellious identity fades as she loses control of her body. In this way, it can be deduced that even the most rebellious personality subdues to Gilead. Unlike Moira, Janine is seen as a straight-laced, submissive character who is constantly trying to accommodate to Gilead, but in the end, she gets subdued as well. Her submissive behaviour is clearly displayed when, at the Red Center, she blames herself for having been gang-raped in the pre-Gilead society, as a strategy for accommodation It was my fault, she says. It was my own fault.I led them on. I merited the pain (THT p. 62). Soon, the aunts consider Janine an example (THT p. 62) for the rest of the Handmaids. But whereas Moira is a dmired for her courage, Janine is envisioned by the handmaids in a derogatory sense, calling her a whiny bitch (THT p. 98), and even sucky (THT p. 98). Their hatred for Janine grows when she becomes a spy for the Aunts We (the handmaids) avoided her when we could () She was a risk to us. Similar to Moira, Janine ends up working for Gilead, although Janine does it legally.She is able to bear a child for her Commanders wife, but soon after the receive the baby dies (The baby) was a shredded after all () My God, () to go by all that, for nothing. Worse than nothing (THT p. 192). As a result, Janine becomes insane as she cannot tolerate the loss shes (Janine) let go, totally now, shes in free fall, shes in withdrawal (THT p. 252). But her insanity is alike due to the loss of connection with her body she gets legally raped, which comes as a revival of her pre-Gileads traumatic experience.For her, losing the relationship with her body implies losing her foreland as well. In conclusi on, Janine had done everything to accommodate to this society she pleased the Aunts, she became a spy, and she even bore a child but she never accomplished her purpose of becoming accepted and, as compared to Moira, she is subjugated to Gilead, metaphorically losing both mind and body. As I have already stated, Moira and Janine present both differences and similarities. The boldest differences betwixt them are their personalities and their strategies to either escape or accommodate to Gilead.But even these antithetical characters have a similar destiny their subjugation to the society and the metaphorical loss of connection with their own bodies. The implication that arises from this comparison is that were a society like this be established, women would not only be morally affected, but they would also lose their own identity. Another line of investigate worth pursuing further is to study the effect that a society like this could have on todays world.