Moira is for many the true hero of the novel. Provide evidence from chapter 22 to support this view.

‘Moira stood up straight and looked firmly ahead. She drew her shoulders back, pulled up her spine, and compressed her lips. This was not our usual posture.’ (p.g. 132)

• Moira acts as such a paragon of rebellion to the women of the Red Centre because she has not only reclaimed her power, but has done so via her own strength, her own wit, and her own merit, thus proving that a ‘women’s culture’ could exist in the future like Offred’s mother and the feminists of the first and second wave hoped. Furthermore, it could be based on a woman’s merit, rather than her biology, unlike Gilead. 
• This argument is reinforced by the cluster of three laborious verbs used to describe Moira’s reclamation of her status: ‘drew’, ‘pulled’, and ‘compressed’, thus conveying the immense effort behind her actions.
• Finally, the short, final sentence of ‘this was not our usual posture’ emphasises the extent of what Moira has achieved, and heightens the contrast between what she was and what she was able to become.

What is revealed about the character of Janine in chapter 22?

We learn that Aunt Lydia believes that Janine ‘had been broken, she thought that Janine was a true believer’, inferring that Offred’s traitorous views of Janine were accurate, as her thought process had been confirmed by the indoctrinator-in-chief. However, a far more revealing insight is revealed regarding the views of Aunt Lydia and the government as a whole: to be a true believer in the Republic of Gilead and its ideals, one must be inherently broken; indoctrinated to the point of abandoning logic, self-assurance in one’s own identity, and the freedom to think freely. Therefore, the conclusion can be drawn that either the ruling classes have brainwashed themselves to the point of abandoning these things too, or, the more likely theory: they recognise the absurdly oppressive nature of the state they have created and accept it, and thus are clearly more psychopathically manipulative than they are pious and righteous. (p.g. 129)

How is the role of memory explored by our narrator in chapter 23?

‘I think about the blood coming out of him, hot as soup, sexual, over my hands. In fact, I don’t think about anything of the kind. I put it in only afterwards. Maybe I should have thought about that, at the time, but I didn’t. (p.g. 140)

• This aside from Offred highlights the fluidity of memory, it’s fatal flaw, and the ease at which a narrative can be manipulated after the fact for one’s own gain.
• It can be inferred from her manual insertion these rebellious, violent thoughts, mirroring the actions of her hero, Moira, that Offred wants us, whoever we are, to believe she is like Moira, a hero, her own woman, and someone who will stand up for what she believes in no matter the cost. However, her subconscious is floored by the offer of a simple game of Scrabble and the offer of affection, an offer that is overwhelmingly alien coming from a man who plays a vital role in her personal oppression, and fails to think these thoughts, instead falling to the base instincts of flustered confusion; a setting that I believe makes Offred more sympathetic, especially due to the fact she admits this to the reader, unveiling her flaws and insecurities.
• She feels immense pressure from her role as a woman to fight for the validity of that role, but forgets to when it counts, which must undermine her already fragile self-image. 

How are the events of chapter 23 structured for maximum impact?

The cyclical, mirroring phrases that open and close the chapter – ‘This a reconstruction’, and ‘That is a reconstruction, too’ – create a rise in tension and a fall in tension that begin and subsequently conclude its arc. While the first statement creates intrigue and prefaces the encounter with an air of mystery and falseness, the second serves to snatch the reader back from the dramatic highs of the meeting and ground them in the reality of Offred’s self-described position as an unreliable narrator, provoking further reflection upon the chapter they have just read and leaving a lasting impact of uncertainty. (p.g. 134 and p.g. 140)

In chapter 24, how does Offred process and try to come to terms with her meeting with the Commander. Look carefully at the descriptions of her thoughts.

‘I know I need to take it seriously, this desire of his. It could be important, it could be a passport, it could be my downfall.’ … ‘Nolite te bastardes carborundorum It sounds in my head now less like a prayer, more like a command; but to do what?’ (p.g. 144 and p.g. 146)

• In the process of coming to terms with the Commander’s actions, Offred interprets the opportunity as a call to action, an opportunity to fulfil the prophecy written by the previous handmaid: ‘Nolite te bastardes carborundorum’. 
• She reflects on the strangeness and rarity of the encounter, and therefore feels a great weight suddenly upon her shoulders: she has been given an incredibly rare opportunity to make a change, however insignificant, and feels that it is her duty as a woman, to other women, to take it and upset the established, oppressive order.