Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Testaments, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Religious Totalitarianism and Hypocrisy
Gender Roles
Truth, Knowledge, and Power
Shame, Fear, and Repression
Choice
Summary
Analysis
In Commander Judd’s office, Lydia drinks coffee with him and watches a “Particicution” through his viewing screen. Judd adds rum to his coffee to steel his nerves, but Lydia declines it for herself. The two men to be executed are an Angel charged with black market dealing (though truly suspected of helping Mayday smuggle Handmaids out of Gilead) and Dr. Grove, who’s been charged with the attempted rape of Aunt Elizabeth. Elizabeth faked the attempted rape but did so convincingly, and Dr. Grove had little real defense to make, especially in light of his actual sexual abuse of underage girls.
Dr. Grove’s extra-judicial execution—though arguably still justified—alongside an Angel also executed under a false pretense suggests that such false testimonies as Aunt Elizabeth gave, and executions made on false pretenses, are common practices in Gilead, demonstrating the corruption within the regime that seems to be standard practice. The fact that Commander Judd relies on alcohol to steel his nerves is ironic, given that he himself commits grotesque acts and rules in a regime of horrific practices.
Themes
Elizabeth presides over the Particicutions in the stadium, first for the Angel, then for Dr. Grove. For each, when Elizabeth gives the signal, 70 Handmaids beat each man to death and literally tear their bodies to pieces. All of the Aunts, Supplicants, and new Pearls are there to watch, and Aunt Immortelle (Becka) feints as she watches her father be killed.
The Handmaids, who are normally subdued and silent, act with such rage and ferocity that it suggests that they are releasing their repressed rage towards men caused by their oppression. As during Lydia’s arrest, the stadium is a place of execution, where women are coopted into participating in Gilead’s violence.
Themes
In Judd’s office, he turns off the screen and expresses his sympathies for Dr. Grove, asking if he was truly guilty. Lydia reveals that he did not rape Elizabeth but that he was a pedophile, and many young girls, such as Agnes, escaped to the Aunts after being abused by him. Changing the subject, Lydia reveals to Judd that Nicole is now in Gilead—thrilling Judd—though she is still a secret and does not yet know her own identity. Judd is concerned about whether she is still a virgin, but Lydia surmises she is. However, Lydia wants to wait to reveal her to the world until she is fully converted to the faith and purified of worldliness. Judd and Lydia toast to Lydia’s accomplishments and their combined success.
Lydia’s frank admission that she had Dr. Grove torn to pieces for being a pedophile is particularly bold, given that Judd himself is also a pedophile—even if he legally marries his child brides. This demonstrates the scope of Lydia’s power, gained through dangerous knowledge, despite being a woman, since she knows that she is untouchable enough to even subliminally challenge Judd’s own sexual misconduct, despite the fact that he is one of the most powerful men in Gilead. However, Lydia’s revelation to Judd that Nicole is now in Gilead suggests that she is manipulating not only Gilead, but Mayday as well.
Themes
After the Particicution, Elizabeth has a nervous breakdown and is sent to a retreat house. Lydia and Vidala visit her, and Lydia knows that Elizabeth, having committed a massive perjury, is completely under her control, and set against Vidala.
Once again, Lydia’s absolute control over Elizabeth through her knowledge of her own crimes demonstrates that the right knowledge can grant one immense power.
Themes
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