Rebellion is a difficult thing to pin down for the people of Gilead. Suspicions run high and are encouraged by those in power; this, along with fear, keeps people from rebelling. This is best illustrated in Offred’s paranoia. She’s afraid a few simple words or a look to the wrong person could give her away as someone who doesn’t support the current regime. Gradually, however, Offred’s rebellion grows. It starts internally and with small acts, like stealing butter to soften her skin. She becomes emboldened after the Commander encourages her to rebel: she reads, she talks with him about political matters, she accompanies him to Jezebel’s and sleeps with him. Then, with Serena Joy’s help, she sleeps with Nick. Still, her rebellion is different in that she isn’t interested in joining a rebel group or helping overthrow the regime. Instead, her goal is survival and to restore her personal freedom as much as she can.   

Ironically, her ultimate rebellion—her relationship with Nick—threatens her survival the most. With him, she disobeys everything the Aunts taught her. However, this relationship placates her, giving her a reason to want to stay in Gilead instead of escaping. With the ambiguous ending of the novel, her rebellion either saves her, becomes her downfall, or perhaps both.

Offred’s survivalist mentality is not presented as cowardly. Instead, Atwood portrays her as an ordinary woman thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Offred was never a rebel or a radical like her mother and Moira. She has a loving husband and daughter that she retains a slim hope of reuniting with someday. Essentially, Offred has something to lose. Though she detests Gilead and her life as a Handmaid, she also understands her fertility and the appearance of conformity keep her safe. Her grief upon realizing that her daughter is alive but has likely forgotten her represents the dissolution of her hopes and sends her spiraling into risk-taking and rebellion. 

For Moira, rebellion starts as a battle: she would rather risk her life for a chance at freedom than continue living in captivity. She temporarily achieves her goal, but when Offred reunites with her, Moira’s attitude has changed. She would rather survive as a prostitute, clinging to whatever semblance of Gilead-approved freedom she can, than risk dying in another escape attempt. The woman that Offred looked up to as a beacon of principle and resistance has been tamed by Gilead, highlighting the ways in which fear can suppress the human spirit.

The Commander and Serena Joy rebel in behavior but not intent. They break the law but without the purpose of challenging the regime. When Serena convinces Offred to have sex with Nick, she does so to ensure Offred becomes pregnant and stays a Handmaid, so they both can conform to the regime. When the Commander rebels, he does so purely for personal pleasure and never intends to leave the life of power he created for himself or to challenge the status quo. 

Both Serena Joy and the Commander know that even if their rebellions were discovered, they are not the ones who will be punished. Instead, they put others at risk in order to pursue their own ends. 

Through these different forms of rebellion, Atwood explores how motivation, circumstance, and power impact someone’s ability to resist oppression. For the privileged characters like Serena Joy and the Commander, small infractions are low-risk ways of satisfying desires for companionship or children. For Moira and Offred’s mother, rebellion begins as a necessity and a calling; as a lesbian and a single-mother, respectively, Moira and Offred’s mother know that they do not fit into the prescribed roles for women in Gilead. However, Moira’s spirit is subdued after her first escape attempt; rather than continuing to rebel, she complacently accepts life at Jezebel’s since it offers her the chance to pursue intimacy with other women and spares her the restrictions placed on Handmaids and Unwomen. 

For Offred, survival is paramount. She knows that she must survive if she ever wants to see her daughter again, and her relationship with Nick gives her even more of a reason to stay in Gilead. The ambiguity of the ending captures the apparent stance of the novel on rebellion: all acts of resistance offer both risk and reward, and it is up to individuals to decide for themselves what—if anything—they are willing to risk.