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A question I’ve thought worth pursuing the role of the Aunts, in A Handmaid’s Tale. It is interesting to me that I can find sympathy for every character, even a tad for the Commander, but none for the Aunts. I think Atwood kept them incomprehensibly hateful on purpose. My guess is that she would view them a “people who betray their own,” which in this case is other women. If the same concept were applied to Nazi Germany, the “Jew catchers,” or Jewish people that found out and turned in other Jewish people in hiding would be the equivalent. The comparison has its weaknesses, one being people will do much to stay alive in a totalitarian regime, “Jew catchers,” were other people trying to survive also. The Aunts seemed to enjoy their role, even had more authority than the men in some areas.
I hope as I explore the topic farther to have insight into Margaret Atwood herself. She seems very angry to me and it would be interesting to know why. It would also be interesting to mark the differences in women of her generation and women of this generation. If she viewed the Aunts as betrayers, who or what group of people would be view as such now?
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