Aunt Lydia Flashcards
Why is Aunt Lydia’s position ironic?
She is a woman but seems totally happy to be an agent of a Republic that is organized around the systematic repression of all women.
Describe the voice of Aunt Lydia.
Sometimes Aunt Lydia seems to be the voice of the Women’s Center and the voice of the Republic of Gilead. It’s her voice the narrator hears over and over explaining the rules and consequences of this new lifestyle.
What do Aunt Lydia’s words shape?
The manipulation and brainwashing at the Centre. They lead the women in remaking themselves as Handmaids and twist Biblical passages to provide justification for this new lifestyle.
What is one of the narrators key observations about Aunt Lydia?
“Aunt Lydia thought she was very good at feeling for other people” (8.27). This says a lot both about Aunt Lydia and the way the narrator sees her. Aunt Lydia believes one of her strengths is “feeling for other people,” but from where we’re standing (via the narrator’s vantage point) this is hardly true.
Who does Aunt Lydia care for?
The only people Aunt Lydia seems to feel for are Commanders’ Wives. She tries to manipulate the Handmaids into feeling compassion for the Wives:
Try to think of it from their point of view… (3.18)
How is Aunt Lydia a master manipulator?
She “pleads” with the Handmaids, using body language like “clasped and wrung” hands to signify entreaty, while “smil[ing]” at them and seeming to act “nervous.”
What does the narrator claim Aunt Lydia to always say?
At one point the narrator claims that Aunt Lydia frequently says “men are sex machines” (24.9). Then she amends this:
Aunt Lydia did not actually say this but it was implicit in everything she did say… (24.10)
