Offred’s mother

1. Offred’s mother

2. Who was Offred’s mother? • Offred’s mother was an extreme feminist before the time of Gilead. She was a single mother and a strong activist. She did things like burn pornography as an act of rebellion. She disapproves of Offred because of Offred’s scandalous naughty marriage affair. She believed men were totally unnecessary.

3. How Offred felt about her mother • Offred mourns for her mother and misses her dearly even though she did not live by any of her mothers strong views. Offred also knows she wasted a lot of time being embarrassed and never really grew to preparedly know this heroic figure who was her mother. • Quote “I’ve mourned for her already. But I will do it again, and again” Offred p.137

4. Quote • “A man is just a woman’s strategy for making other women. Not that your father wasn’t a nice guy and all, but he wasn’t up to fatherhood. Not that I expected it of him. Just do the job, then you can bugger off, I said, I make a decent salary, I can afford day care. So he went to the coast and sent Christmas cards. He had beautiful blue eyes though” Offred’s mother, p.131.

5. What acts of rebellion did Offred’s mother perform? • Feminism • Women’s Liberation Movement of the 1960’s-1970’s (women’s sexual and social freedom) • Political activist • Resists classification • Pro-abortion march/riots • Burning porn • Defending herself as a single parent.

6. Mother’s impact on Offred: • Offred’s mother was a lot like Moira, strong and passionate and full of energy. This makes Offred respect her mother more. • Offred’s mothers behaviour is shown and reflected through Offred’s resistance. • Offreds learns to appreciate and admire her mother as shes grows an understanding of her mothers feelings. • When Offred reminiscences about her mother it brings a sense of identity back to Offred.