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Offred’s mother is an assertive woman, a single mother, and a committed radical feminist. Her life revolves around contributing to feminist activism. One of Offred’s childhood memories of her mother is being invited to participate in a book burning, in which Offred’s mother and a group of adult women throw magazines featuring degrading pornographic images of women onto a bonfire. As Offred matures into a young woman, her mother remains consistent with her activism and principles. She tells Offred that she isn’t interested in having a long-term romantic relationship with a man, as she has been repeatedly unsatisfied by male partners in the past. Her disappointment in men includes Offred’s father, who, although charming and attractive, was immature and woefully unprepared to take on the responsibilities of fatherhood. Although Offred and her mother have a good relationship, her mother does make occasional wry complaints about Offred’s lack of interest in feminism. Offred’s mother and Moira, Offred’s dynamic and confident best friend, seem to have more in common with each other than they do with the apolitical Offred.
Offred’s mother symbolizes the type of woman Offred failed to be in her previous life and continues to fail to be in her new role in Gilead. Offred’s mother would never have fallen for a married man, and, unlike Offred, she would have acted on her suspicions that Luke enjoyed Offred’s newfound reliance on him rather than letting it go for the sake of survival. Furthermore, Offred’s mother would have immediately joined the resistance. While Offred is given the chance to spy on her Commander for the rebels, she refuses to do so in order to protect her relationship with Nick, who she hopes to continue seeing in secret. Offred’s mother, on the other hand, would never have chosen a man over the possibility of freedom and would have fought for her own liberation, even at risk of losing her life.
