Importance of Anna (Anahid) Balakian

Anna Balakian, called by her Armenian name Anahid, is the oldest sister of Peter's father, Gerard. Anna is opinionated, as are the other Armenian women in the book, but her focus is on combating modern suburbia. She is against the life Arax has chosen with Gerard, and she speaks often of her opinions against the bourgeoisie life. Anna is a professor of French at NYU, and is married to an engineer, Steve. Anna has written several books on surrealism and French poetry and focuses on poetry as a way to combat the human condition.