Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” and James McTeigue’s “V for Vendetta” both serve as important pieces of literature, relating to the extremist and dangerous use of religion in politics. Atwood and Mcteigue’s conservative and theocratic worlds of Gilead and Norsefire reflect real world issues such as the restricting rights of one’s own body using the Bible, seen through Roe VS Wade, where the rights of abortion were stripped away because of Christian nationalism and conservative ideas. As well as the Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz in World War II. For example, in chapter 11 of “The Handmaid's Tale”, Offred is mentioned attending her visit to her monthly doctor checkup to see if she is healthy and yet fertile to be able to give birth, the handmaid’s only function of basically living. …show more content…
Highlighting the restricted rights of one's own body to only conceiving children, justifying it with the use of biblical ideas, similarly seen in Roe VS Wade. Atwood’s use of irony in “that's the law” reinforces Offred’s frustration and hopelessness due to the unfair misogynistic ideals of fertile women being punished for not conceiving, reminding the audience of the consequences of religion being dangerously used in politics and makes us speculate on future contexts to come. In contrast, James Mcteigue’s “V for Vendetta” also illustrates the idea of restricting rights of one’s own body with the justification of the Bible. Mcteigue conveys ideas of speculative fiction by highlighting present contextual concerns, such as experimentation and
Although Offred is the heroine of this story, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the hero’s journey can be found in many characters in the story as well. This story is breaking into shambles between the past and the present, however, through the story, readers can still see the signs of the hero’s journey that Joseph Campbell has studied. Offred, being a handmaid, has been thrown into a world where women are powerless and stripped away of their rights to read and write. Atwood illustrates a dystopian world where equality is a part of history, not in the present day Gilead. However, Offred is one of the main characters who ceased to live in a degrading world and find means to escape. Thus, Offred begins on her Hero’s Journey, which occurs
More than 70% of women experience some form of mental or physical abuse from the men in their life. Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austen, and The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, showcase two corrupted societies. Behind the layer of typical male dominance, there is a layer of pure apprehension. This makes the female protagonists, Elizabeth and Offred, feel as though they have no way out. Both protagonists in the novels are aware of the state of their society however, they must decided whether they should keep to themselves and follow the social norm; or if they should follow their hearts and rebel against the normalization of the gender binary. Both novels succeed in bringing attention to the still relevant flaw in society
Thesis Statement: Both 1984 by George Orwell and The Handmaid 's Tale by Margaret Atwood are similar as they are placed in dystopian societies with governments that have complete control over their citizens, however, the roles of the narrator in both novels contrast each other. In 1984, the point of view is Limited Omniscient while the point of view in The Handmaid 's Tale is first person.
In Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale, women are subjected to unthinkable oppression. Practically every aspect of their life is controlled, and they are taught to believe that their only purpose is to bear children for their commander. These “handmaids” are not allowed to read, write or speak freely. Any type of expression would be dangerous to the order of the Gilead’s strict society. They are conditioned to believe that they are safer in this new society. Women are supposedly no longer exploited or disrespected (pornography, rape, etc.) as they once were. Romantic relationships are strongly prohibited because involving emotion would defeat the handmaid’s sole purpose of reproducing. Of course not all women who were taken into Gilead believed right what was happening to their way of life. Through the process of storytelling, remembering, and rebellion, Offred and other handmaids cease to completely submit to Gilead’s repressive culture.
The government in Huxley's Brave New World and Atwood's Handmaid's Tale, both use different methods of obtaining control over individuals, but are both similar in the fact that humans are looked at as instruments. Human's bodies, in both novels, are looked at as objects and not directly as living things with feelings. In both societies the individuals have very little and are controlled strictly by the government. In Handmaid's Tale and Brave New World, through issues of employment, class systems, and the control of reproduction, Atwood and Huxley forewarn that in an all-powerful society, it is destined to become corrupt.
Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale is a story heavily influenced by the Bible and has many biblical themes that are used to prove Atwood’s belief in balance. The novel is set in the Republic of Gilead, which was formerly the United States. The story is told through the perspective of a handmaid named Offred and begins when she is placed at her third assignment as a housemaid. Offred describes her society as a fundamentalist theocracy where the Christian God is seen as the divine Ruler over the Republic of Gilead.
Many texts that were published from different authors have introduced topics that can be related in today’s society, but Margaret Atwood’s creation called, “The Handmaid’s Tale”, gives voice to the thoughts and revolves around the narrator Offred, a woman whose rights have been deprived due to political issues. However, the information shared by Offred to the reader to the text is not reliable for the reason that she only touches upon her own perspective. Through the text, Atwood depicted what the United States of America would be in the future based on the actions of humanity during 1980’s. The text is set up in an androcentric and totalitarian country called Gilead, where the government attempts to create a utopian society. Thus, in order to attain this society, the authorities generated their legislation from the teachings of the Holy Bible in an attempt to control humanity. The governing
In Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaids Tale’, we hear a transcribed account of one womans posting ‘Offred’ in the Republic of Gilead. A society based around Biblical philosophies as a way to validate inhumane state practises. In a society of declining birth rates, fertile women are chosen to become Handmaids, walking incubators, whose role in life is to reproduce for barren wives of commanders. Older women, gay men, and barren Handmaids are sent to the colonies to clean toxic waste.
In the two dystopic novels, The Handmaid's Tale by Margret Atwood and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, they lack essentials freedoms that are necessary for a functioning society to exist. In these novels, each individual in the society has been deprived of their freedoms by their government Their particular government has made sure to control every aspect that makes us human such as our individuality, knowledge, and the relationships we from with others. Both of these governments share a common goal, which is to create stability in a weak society.
Built on the pillars on Puritanism, the United States of America has been largely divided over the debate of whether the fusion of politics and religion would be suitable to run a country. Margaret Atwood addresses this question in her novel, The Handmaid’s Tale. Published during the growing conservative era of the 1980s, The Handmaid’s Tale takes place in the fictional Republic of Gilead, where the religious extremists have grasped control of the government. The laws implemented by the Gileadean officials, largely based around religion, are meant to act on the issue of a declining birth rate. Although the laws are rooted in valid concerns, their religious influences are soon manipulated to oppress women and validate the oppression. Offred,
The Dystopian Dream of Brave New World, The Handmaid’s Tale and GATTACA In Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill writes that “it is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied.” By this he meant there are qualitative degrees of satisfaction and if to be satisfied we’re lowered in status to that of a pig, it’s better for us to be dissatisfied humans. The film GATTACA and the books Brave New World and The Handmaid’s Tale create fictional places where the needs and desires of humans are met, but not as well as they should be and not without a price. Given the achievements in science over the last several decades, specifically in areas of genetics and biology, it is no wonder why we dream of altering our world in the name of progress. But with social progress in these tales comes repressed
Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, the author Margaret Atwood gives the reader an understanding of what life would be like in a theocratic society that controls women’s lives. The narrator, Offred, gives the reader her perspective on the many injustices she faces as a handmaid. Offred is a woman who lived before this society was established and when she undergoes the transition to her new status she has a hard time coping with the new laws she must follow. There are many laws in this government that degrade women and give men the authority to own their household. All women are placed in each household for a reason and if they do not follow their duties they are sent away or killed.
The United States of America; the former powerhouse of the world, became a country that is taken over by religion and no longer controlled by a democratic society. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood follows the perspective of Offred who showcases the struggle of living and the oppression the Handmaids go through in their daily lives. While it is arguable that freedom is given if they comply to rules, that is not directly true, the Handmaids live in harsh conditions that restrict the women of their rights; where they are objectified as means for reproduction, are being oppressed by being unable to voice out their opinion freely without punishment, and are under patriarchy.
As The Handmaid’s Tale is considered an allegory of the social injustice women face against traditional expectations of their role in society, the symbolism of the Handmaids and other women as a whole for repressed feminine liberty and sexuality allows Atwood to connect her work to the theme between gender and expectations in her society. As Handmaids in the Republic of Gilead, females are stripped of their previous identity and are defined as a tool of reproduction for the men who is assigned them. At its core, these females are forced against their will to be mere tools, experiencing unwanted sex at least once a month, which Gilead names “The Ceremony”, hiding its true nature as a form of rape. Offred
However, as Margaret Atwood warns in her novel The Handmaid’s Tale our reality is a dangerous one in which our complacency can result in the loss of every single one of these freedoms. Offred’s journey gives us a glimpse into what lies ahead for this country if we don’t take action. Her rights have been stolen from her and her family is taken away from her all as she is pushed into the role of a sex slave for the Gilead. Such a grisly depiction of the future is closer to the truth than what meets the eye. The inability to take a stand against this adversity is what is allowing it to begin with. Collectively, we must not stop the fight for actual justice for the oppressed of this country until we see them come to fruition. Inaction now will result in our own