Anonymous wrote:Can we talk for a minute about what Lawrence’s back story is, and how an annie Lennox-listening, modern art-loving cool guy like that became wrapped up in this mess?
Here’s what I’m picturing. He’s like a Econ professor at Harvard or MIT. He’s got a crazy friend who was like his best friend from HS or freshman year college roommate that’s part of Sons of Jacob. He’s like that friend you have who you roll your eyes about because he’s a far-out libertarian, or communist, or prepper, but you give him a pass because you’ve been friends forever. He does some stuff for sons of Jacob as a lark because he thinks it’s an interesting thought experiment about how a new economy would function. Then there’s the coup and demonstrators shot in the street and he thinks “Holy Moses, this is some bad s—-t.” But at that point he thinks that maybe the only chance to get things back on track is to help establish a functioning economy. And that if they can get the economy working again, people will stop looking for a scapegoat and killing each other. (Reference studies about how economics collapse of Germany in the 1920s contributed to rise of fascism.). Five years in, he’s thinking that this was a bad call and he’s not sure what his play is.
As for his wife, I’m imagining she was a nice feminist, maybe an art history professor who was a little wacky to start with, but whose entire family was killed in the demonstrations or as intellectuals, and she’s now hanging on by a thread with him protecting her.
I guess since Lydia was unconscious after the attack (?), he could say that by the time he got there, the handmaid was gone, and it was a brand new handmaid and thanks a lot for giving him such a crazy one. But if Lydia saw anything, he’s got a much bigger problem. I guess there’s some possible twist where he and Lydia have some connection, like she’s his wife’s sister, that would make Lydia want to protect him regardless. Is it clear that Lydia is the one that makes decisions about where handmaids are placed? Maybe there’s a reason she put her there—wacky handmaid, wacky house.
Can we also pause and say what an awful position someone like Lawrence is in with his handmaids. If he never does the ceremony with them, they won’t get pregnant and will get sent to the colonies. I guess he could still ask and give them the option. But just saying he won’t do it is substantially increasing the odds that they’ll be sent to the colonies. This must be at least his third handmaid and no kids in the house so apparently none of them got pregnant.
Lawrence may have been selective about who he took in as a handmaid for this reason. For instance, in the book, a handmaid who had born a child to a Gilead family wouldn't be sent to the colonies for failing to produce additional children, so one who'd already had a baby for another family would be a "safe" handmaid for Lawrence to take in, knowing that her not getting pregnant for them wouldn't send her to the colonies. In Emily's case, Lawrence may have chosen her because he'd been told her background, knew no one else would take her and she'd be sent back to the colonies, and figured at least in his house she'd have a couple more years' reprieve.