The Handmaid's Tale

What does Offred`s flash back about Moira reveal about her feelings at this point in the novel?

What does Offred`s flash back about Moira reveal about her feelings at this point in the novel in Chapter 28?

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Offred’s flashback provides an explanation of how Gilead was created and how she feels about Moira at this point in the novel. She thinks about what life was like before Gilead, a time when women worked and had independent lives.

No one used money, morality was non-existent. Pornography and prostitution were not only acceptable but marketed.

During the flashback Offred remembers Moira's disapproval of her affair with Luke, and then she remembers the comments she'd made about Moira's preference for women, that Moira could accuse her of poaching on another woman's husband, but that she herself was guilty of poaching women.

It's hard to tell if Moira's self-sufficience was a point of jealousy or admiration. I think it was both, as she moves in between the 'was' and 'is' of their friendship.

Source(s)

The Handmaid's Tale/ Chapter 28