116 pages • 3 hours read
The Testaments
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BetaPart 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1: “Statue”
Chapter 1 Summary: “The Ardua Hall Holograph”
Aunt Lydia recalls a ceremony held nine years ago to reveal the new statue erected in her honor. The statue depicts her holding the hand of a little girl, while a Handmaid crouches by her side, and a Pearl Girl stands behind her, ready for her missionary journey to the outside world. Now, the pious leave offerings at the feet of the statue: eggs to symbolize fertility, oranges for pregnancy, and croissants to represent the moon.
Aunt Lydia sits in her private sanctum in the Ardua Hall library, one of the few remaining libraries in Gilead after the mass book burnings. She is writing a secret memoir. She hides her writings away from her own surveillance cameras. She realizes the danger of putting her thoughts in writing when there are others in Ardua Hall who would use her words against her.
Part 1 Analysis
The novel opens with a narration by none other than Aunt Lydia, the leading villain of The Handmaid’s Tale. Aunt Lydia is not the one-dimensional monster that she seemed to be in the first book. This Aunt Lydia is thoughtful, funny, and even self-deprecating. She describes the unveiling of her statue, which is meant to recognize her preeminent role in building the society of Gilead.
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By Margaret Atwood
