Offred This unidentified, faithful wife of Luke, mother of a daughter, and successful clerk or computer operator working in the discing room of an office or possibly a library among eight or ten other female employees, bears the state-contrived label of "Offred," a term that identifies her as a handmaid specifically to be bred "by Fred." Early in the novel, before she has become "Offred," she is separated from work and loses control of her finances, feels the stirrings of paranoia, and agrees to attempt flight across the Canadian border. The failure of her family's escape leaves her uncertain as to the safety and disposition of family members, who may still survive in the society of Gilead. After becoming the psychologically conditioned Handmaid and mistress of Commander Frederick, she fails her state-mandated mission — to conceive a child. Agreeing to the urging of Serena Joy, Offred becomes the lover of Nick, the family chauffeur. At Nick's instigation, Offred flees with double agents posing as the secret police. Evidence suggests that she departed the Boston area via the Underground Femaleroad, settled in a Quaker way station in Bangor, Maine, and taped a narrative about her servitude in Gilead. Like other escapees, Offred may have relocated in Canada or England, possibly to live in seclusion.
Moira A next-door friend to the novel's central character during college, Moira, who shares internment at the Rachel and Leah ReEducation Center, remains "quirky, jaunty, athletic . . . irreverent, resourceful." She organizes an "underwhore party" to sell risque lingerie to college girls, and later she works for the publishing division of a women's collective. After the takeover of the Congress and suspension of the Constitution, Moira warns her friend that something bad will happen. A logical, skillful survivalist, after being remanded to Handmaid training, she lifts Offred's spirits in clandestine meetings in the washroom. Moira suffers torture for feigning an attack of appendicitis, then overpowers a matron and escapes. Reunited with Offred, Moira continues their tradition of washroom conspiracies at Jezebel's, a nightclub where Moira works as a prostitute. Moira, who is happy to coexist among other lesbians, explains how she was remanded there because of her incorrigible behavior. After Offred's only visit to the night spot, she learns no more about Moira's fate.
Serena Joy A former soprano on the Growing Souls Gospel Hour and crusader for traditional female roles, Serena Joy, whose real name is Pam, once performed maudlin TV antics; she was well-known for being able to weep copiously on camera. Serena enters late middle age with arthritis and the responsibilities of the Commander's household. Pampered by servants, she putters about her garden, sometimes just sitting under a willow tree or leaning on her cane in contemplation of her flower beds. A barren Wife, she detests the intrusion of the Handmaids, who threaten the stability of her marriage. On June 25, 2195, Professor Pieixoto believes that he has possibly identified her: she could be Thelma Waterford, wife of Frederick R. Waterford.
