I entertained myself by coming up with various theories for the book's setting at and around Harvard. Perhaps because Harvard was founded by the Puritans? Or because elite academia was still a white male stronghold? Because liberal institutions aren't sufficient defense against the powers of reaction? But I looked up Atwood after I finished and I suspect it's because
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I rather disliked Offred. She was not heroic in the mold of Ofglen or Moira. She fought back only to the extent of hiding a matchstick in her mattress and made stupid choices. Her passivity was understandable but not admirable. And yet the machinery of the resistance saved her and not the others.