Aunt Lydia

Aunt Lydia is one of the Aunts that indoctrinates girls into Handmaids at the Red Centre. She is a genuine believer of Gilead’s values, and constantly preaches her beliefs to the girls to brainwash them. Her voice is often heard in Offred’s mind when she has her flashbacks, demonstrating how deeply and absolutely her propaganda has infiltrated the minds of the Handmaids. Like Serena, Aunt Lydia’s character symbolises the way Gilead has forced women to oppress other women and turn against each other, creating a community of distrust and division, and hence encouraging individual compliance and obedience through this fear and distrust amongst themselves.