Wu Ting
How would you interpret ‘Aunt Frances’? “So you would think. But this guy Matus has acquired for himself a certain cachet. He used to be a member of the Communist Party. Twenty years ago, when everybody including your Aunt Frances was a member of the Communist Party. Now he comes to the FBI, offers to come clean. Before you know it they’ve got him in front of the HUAC, the whole works. So far he’s remembered hundreds of former associates who now work in government and the media, and for an additional fee he will remember more. Amazing, his memory. The New York Times is a major employer of Communists, he says. Time and Life also. This guy is a star.” How would you interpret ‘Aunt Frances’ in the context? Thanks! And it’s from The Lacuna by Kingsolver.
Mar 28, 2015 2:00 AM
Answers · 2
'everybody including your Aunt Frances' is a phrase meaning 'absolutely everybody'. This means the people you'd expect to be included, and even the ones that you wouldn't : such as, for example, your elderly aunt.
March 30, 2015
It's just a phrase used to help others understand how universal something was. To say "everybody including your aunt Frances" was doing something, or involved in something, is helping the reader understand that when the author says "everybody," he isn't just exaggerating to get a point across.
March 28, 2015
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