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Characters

Offred, the Handmaid

The protagonist was separated from her husband and child after the formation of the Republic of Gilead and is part of the first generation of Gilead's women: those who remember pre-Gilead times. Having proven fertile, she is considered an important commodity and has been placed as a handmaid in the home of the Commander Fred and his wife Serena Joy to bear a child for them.^[5]

Offred is a patronymic slave name which describes her function: she is "Of Fred", i.e. she belongs to her Commander, Fred, as a concubine. It is implied that her birth name is June. The women in training to be handmaids whisper names across their beds at night. The names are "Alma. Janine. Dolores. Moira. June", and all are later accounted for except June. In addition, one of the Aunts tells Offred to stop "mooning and June-ing"^[7]. Miner suggests that "June" is a pseudonym, as "Mayday" is the name of the Gilead resistance, and it could be an attempt on the protagonist's part to invent a name; the Nunavit conference that takes place in the epilogue is held in June.^[8]

The only physical description of Offred presented in the novel is the one she gives of herself. Offred describes herself as: "I am thirty-three years old. I have brown hair. I stand five [feet] seven [inches] without shoes" (Atwood, Handmaid's Tale 143). Notably, this description appears about halfway through the novel, so for a significant portion of the book the reader remains ignorant of her physical appearance.

The Commander

His background is never officially described, as Offred does not have a chance to learn of his past, although he does volunteer, in one of their later meetings, that he is a sort of scientist and was previously involved in something like market research. Later, it is hypothesized, but not confirmed, that he might have been one of the architects of the Republic and its laws. His name is presumably "Fred".

Serena Joy

A former televangelist who seems loosely based on Anita Bryant, as well in parts Tammy Faye Bakker and Phyllis Schlafly, she is now a Wife in the fundamentalist theocracy she helped to create. All power and public recognition have been taken away from her by the state, as for all women in Gilead. Assumed to be sterile (although the possibility is raised that it is the Commander who is actually sterile), she bears and resents the indignity of having a Handmaid and being present every month during a fertility ritual wherein the Commander has intercourse with the Handmaid while both are lying atop the Wife. According to Professor Pieixota, in the epilogue, Serena Joy is a pseudonym for the character's actual name, Pam.

Ofglen

A neighbour of Offred's and fellow Handmaid, partnered with Offred to do the shopping for the household each day, so that the Handmaids are never alone and police each others' behaviour. Ofglen is a member of the Mayday resistance (a secret organization rebelling against Gilead). In contrast to the relatively passive Offred, Ofglen is very daring, even leaping forward to knock out a spy who is to be tortured and killed in a "Particicution" (an event in which the handmaids are turned loose to kill a man accused of rape and infanticide) in order to save him the pain of a violent death. Ofglen later commits suicide before the government comes to take her away for being part of the resistance.

She is replaced as Offred's shopping partner by another handmaid, also named Ofglen, who does not seem to share the original Ofglen's feelings about Gilead, and warns Offred against retaining any similar sentiments.

Nick

The Commander's chauffeur, who lives above the garage. On Serena Joy's suggestion and arrangement, Offred starts a sexual relationship with him to try to increase her chances of getting pregnant and saving herself from being shipped to the Colonies in disgrace. Offred subsequently starts to develop real feelings for him, even going so far as to tell him her pre-Gilead name, a revealing act of trust. Nick is an ambiguous character, and Offred does not know if he is a party loyalist or a member of the resistance, until near the end of the story and her time in the Commander's household, when he proves himself to be a member of the resistance and arranges her escape.

Moira

Moira has been a close friend of Offred's since college, hinted in the book to be either Harvard University or Radcliffe College.^{[citation needed]} An important aspect of Moira is her homosexuality and resilience to the new homophobia which rules society. Moira is taken to be a Handmaid shortly after Offred, but both women arrive at the indoctrination center (officially called the Rachel and Leah Center, informally referred to by the Handmaids as the Red Center) at the same time. While at the center, Moira manages to escape, while the more passive Offred declines. The narrator tells of her escape, in which Moira steals an Aunt's clothes and leaves the Center wearing them. Offred then loses track of her for several years but encounters her at Jezebel's, a party-run brothel. Moira has been caught and offered the choice between being sent to the colonies and prostitution.

Luke

Luke was the narrator's husband prior to the formation of the Republic. He had been divorced. Divorce, which is illegal in Gilead, is used as an excuse to annul subsequent marriages, take custody of any children, and kill the partners or force them into labor. Luke, the narrator, and their daughter try to escape to Canada, but are captured. She constantly expects to see him hanged at the displaying Wall but never sees him there and never learns his fate.

Professor Pieixoto

The "co-discoverer [with Professor Knotly Wade] of Offred's tapes" and "keynote speaker at the Twelfth Symposium of the Gileadean Research Association," where he "speaks about the 'Problems of Authentication in Reference to The Handmaid's Tale'."^[5]