In Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale, the narrator assigned to Commander Fred is called Offred.
The name follows Gilead’s naming system for Handmaids: “Of” is combined with the first name of the Commander to whom the woman is assigned. “Offred” therefore signals possession rather than an independent identity. The narrator’s birth name is withheld for much of the novel, reinforcing the regime’s attempt to erase her former life.
Offred lives in the Republic of Gilead, a theocratic dictatorship formed after the United States is overthrown. Handmaids are forced into reproductive service because fertility has sharply declined. The novel presents her account through memory, observation, and uncertainty rather than as a straightforward official history.
Ofglen is another Handmaid, Serena Joy is the Commander’s Wife, and Moira is Offred’s friend. Those names are therefore not interchangeable roles or identities.