Summary

Returning to the present, Aunt Lydia relays Gilead’s “long-standing problem…it’s had an embarrassingly high emigration rate” (112). She explains that the border between Gilead and Canada is difficult to control due its varied terrain, and that the resistance movement persists because smugglers are paid well to covertly transport Handmaids out of the country. Three of the Aunts came up with a plan entitled “Operation Dead End” in an attempt to curb the problem through tighter control of the border. While Lydia is annoyed that they did not consult her prior to devising the plan, she promises to pass it on to Commander Judd. After a raid in upstate New York, the Aunts were in “high spirits” (113) – Lydia commends them for their work and informs them about the deaths of the Mayday operatives, as well as the existence of a traitor in Gilead...