Turtledove
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Lucille Simpkins
Fictional Character
"Powerless"
POD: 20th Century(?)
Type of Appearance: Direct
Nationality: West Coast People's Democratic Republic
Date of Birth: 21st century(?)
Occupation: Housewife
Spouse: Charlie
Children: Nikita (son)
Sally (daughter)

Lucille Simpkins was a citizen of the West Coast People's Democratic Republic. She resided in a one bedroom apartment with Charlie, her husband of eighteen years, and their children Nikita and Sally in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California.

She loved her husband, and largely tolerated his decisions to rebel against the state. He had hit her once, but she'd forgiven him, and he continued to feel guilty about it years later. Thus, when he informed her that he'd decided not to put up campaign poster in his grocery as mandated by the Party, she went along with it. Even when he was demoted to a warehouse in Studio City, she stuck with him rather than divorcing him for being politically unreliable (which she could easily have done).

Lucille wasn't completely uncritical of Charlie. When their son, Nikita, was thrown out of the Falcons (the Party's youth organization) because his father was an "unreliable reactionary," Lucille once again pointed out that putting up the poster would have been easier. She did the same when Sally was not let into the Kittens (the girl group that paralleled the Falcons) when she turned twelve. She also played devil's advocate when Charlie was able to cite the appropriate organic law and halt the West Valley Central Committee's play to level an apartment building to make way for housing for Party members.

When they learned that their applications for a car and televisions had "errors" in them, and that they were now several years further away from getting either item, Lucille initially lamented the unfairness of the situation. Charlie reminded her that they probably weren't going to get either a car or a TV, anyway, so they really hadn't lost anything. Lucille realized he was right, and so kept supporting his little moments of rebellion.[1]

References[]

  1. Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction September/October, 2018, ebook.
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