Fear is the awareness of a threat to one’s life. It flourishes if kept in the mind, like wild fire through a dry forest. What makes fear so powerful, is that we are all susceptible to it. Fear is infectious, debilitating, and it will consume us if we allow it. We will reflect on the use of fear through methods of torture, death, religion, and language. By examining the novels, The Handmaids Tale and 1984, we will analyze two dystopian countries functioning under the use of fear. We will discuss the different methods of fear and how it affects the lives of people from Gilead and Oceania. We will gain a strong understanding of why staying aware to changes made within our own American country is vital to our own wellbeing.
The Handmaids
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tale demonstrates the use of fear on the wall “…there are ugly new floodlights mounted on metal posts above it, and barbed wire along the bottom and broken glass set in concrete along the top. No one goes through those gates willingly.”(Atwood 31). Atwood paints a picture of the wall for her audience: it is a secure fortress, heavily protected, and brightly lit. The Wall surrounds a Gilead prison, people who commit crimes are killed and displayed on the wall like dolls on a shelf of a shop display. People passing by the wall; can view the dead bodies, including crimes they have committed. Bystanders are expected to stop and look upon the bodies hanging lifelessly by the hooks they were placed on “…sometimes they’ll be there for days, until there’s a new batch, so as many people as possible will have the chance to see them.”(Atwood 32). Atwood decorates the wall with torment and death to explain the power that Gilead has over its people. The dead are labeled by a place card, explaining why they were executed; persuading the public not to repeat the choices of the dead, by displaying the consequences of their choices. The Wall serves as advertisement to the power Gilead has achieved. As a result, men and women hang lifelessly to pose as a warning to those passing by: all shall be judged, all will pay for their sins. In 1984, The Ministry of Love exemplifies the use of fear. It is where criminals of the totalitarian Government are taken to be corrected. The building itself is a secure fortress, cold, consistently guarded, windowless, and bright. The air is filled with fear and lost hopes, as no one left the Ministry of Love without first being rehabilitated. Citizens who commit crimes are persuaded in to becoming honest citizens through significant methods of torture. It is where Winston was taken, after committing the ultimate sin: he loved someone other than Big Brother, he loved Julia. Because of his humanistic behavior, Winston ends up at the Ministry of Love. Winston knew he would end up here “He had the sensation of stepping into the dampness of a grave, and it was not much better because he had always known that the grave was there and waiting for him.”(Orwell 159). Orwell defines Winston’s thoughts prior to his rebellion, as a foretaste to the atmosphere at the Ministry of Love. It offered the darkness and loneliness of a cold damp grave. Knowingly, Winston continues on the path of self-destruction, his place at the Ministry of Love was waiting for him, he knew if he rebelled that they would catch him, and he would face punishment for his crimes. Criminals, like Winston, must have an honest change of heart before they are released. Winston fell victim to antagonizing torture, he betrays Julia in hopes of offsetting his own torture “Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!”(Orwell 286). Winston betrayed the woman he once claimed to love, in hopes of saving his own life. He was face to face with fear, and his mind reverted to a basic human instinct: to seek safety from fear. After submitting to Big Brother, criminals are released into society to pose as warnings for those rebellious in nature. Criminals symbolize defeat, and serve as a Government issued warning of their power. In the end, all will obey, and all will submit to Big Brother. The Ministry of Love defines how fear can be manipulated over the course of constant torture. After analyzing both novels, the wall, and, the Ministry of love, it is apparent, that they have one common purpose: to captivate fear upon society. The Wall and the Ministry of Love, emit fear upon people through methods of torture and death. Power is taken unconsciously, from viewers of the horrific displays, like water evaporating towards the unforgiving sun, the act happens automatically. By showcasing criminals to the public eye, power is captivated from those who view their consequences. Gilead kills their criminals and labels them with their crime, the labels indicate the crime that was committed, like a silent promise, it is used to advise the public of their limits. In comparison, the Ministry of Love rehabilitates their criminals, through endless extents of torture. When ready, they are released back into society, and killed when deemed convenient by the Inner party. Ultimately, it is the use of fear that allows control over both countries. Gilead and Oceania produce fear through different methods of torture and displays of death; the result is fear instilled unwillingly, and power taken unconsciously, resulting in societies obedience. Atwood uses religious language, as a form of fear, that captures the people of Gilead.
It is especially directed towards the Handmaids. Throughout the novel, Atwood quotes parts of the Bible to explain key points of a Handmaid’s purpose. Religious language is present on ceremony nights “God to Adam, God to Noah…Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth…Give me children, or else I die. Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? Behold my maid Bilhah. She shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.”(Atwood 88). Atwood uses religious language to capture the essence of human reproduction placed upon Handmaids. The purpose of a Handmaid, is solely for her reproductive capabilities, leaving her extremities vulnerable to torture. The term ceremony night, is used to indicate when a Handmaid is her most fertile. Handmaid’s are forced against their will to carry out the task of repopulating Gilead. As a result, Handmaids will themselves to be raped by their commander while lying between the legs of his wife “My arms are raised; she holds my hands, each of mine in each of hers. This is supposed to signify that we are one flesh, one being.”(Atwood 94). The act alone is torture. Offred uses her imagination to pull herself away from the act while the commander does his duty “…I lie still and picture the unseen canopy over my head. I remember Queen Victoria’s advice to her daughter: Close your eyes and think of England.”(Atwood 94). The act creates a distortion among Handmaids: if they do not comply, to the word of God, and bear a child for their commander, they will be punished by further torture, or even death. And, if Handmaids do submit, the result would be the birth of a child conceived by rape. Atwood leaves a new perspective on religious language, she creates fear by carefully twisting the definition of Bible
verses. Orwell also puts a twist on language to create fear upon people of Oceania. Doublethink is the power to hold two contradictory beliefs simultaneously while believing both at the same time “…to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies…”(Orwell 214). Doublethink is knowing the difference between right and wrong; while knowing that wrong will always be right. For a citizen to function under such dystopia, they must believe in Doublethink, which most of the party members do “It is learned by the majority of Party members, and certainly by all who are intelligent as well as orthodox.”(Orwell 214). As for Winston, he found himself at the Ministry of Love because he loved Julia, and, because he lost his belief in doublethink. Being normal, was unnormal, and is what caused Winston’s intervention. Winston, was taken to the Ministry of Love, were he was tortured to the point that he would believe in Doublethink, “We shall crush you down…Everything will be dead inside you. Never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity…We shall squeeze you empty, and then we shall fill you with ourselves.” (Orwell 256). Orwell explains how the Totalitarian Government shapes their citizens. It was the form Winston was to take once they were done with him. Winston was broken, his thoughts of rebellion where gone, his hopes of a better future for Oceania where annihilated. As a result, Winston was made new again, reborn as a committed citizen who loved Big Brother, he believed in Doublethink. Orwell uses language in terms of Doublethink to create fear. Fear continuously manipulates and controls the people of Oceania, locking them in a dystopian reality. Atwood and Orwell use fear through language as an expression of control. Atwood uses religion to captivate the way society functions, while Orwell uses doublethink to enclose the minds of the Inner Party. The Governments common functions are to control society through fear, torture, and manipulation. Atwood cleverly uses bible verses to aid the view of rape and human reproduction. She does so through religion “Give me children, or else I die”(Atwood 60). She cleverly twists the definition of Bible Verses; beautiful meanings become dark theory’s. Cursed by this, Handmaids are forced to live a life of fear. On another note, Orwell uses mind control to captivate the way society functions through Doublethink, “It was more natural to exist from moment to moment…even with the certainty that there was torture at the end of it.”(Orwell 229). The torture one faces if convicted against Doublethink is life altering. Each novel instills a sense of fear for the lives of each main character’s wellbeing, because this could very well be implemented into our own society, our own lives. In conclusion, we have examined two countries functioning under the use of fear. In Gilead and Oceania, fear is present in methods of death, torture, and language. Fear is exemplified on the Wall, and, in the Ministry of Love. Viewing death, upon the Wall, became a part of each Handmaid’s normal routine. And, Winston, had to be reborn in to his society, through torture, to function as a totalitarian citizen. The Handmaids and Winston had to adjust to their new world order, while also being aware of the realities their dystopian societies inflict. Language is also used to create fear over Gilead and Oceania, each in a different light. Gilead uses religious language to control people, specifically, the Handmaids. Oceania uses language in terms of Doublethink to manipulate the minds of people across Oceania, specifically, the Inner Party. Techniques of death, torture, and language are applied with one common goal: to stimulate fear upon citizens in the attempt to gain total control and power over them. It is paralyzing to think that we too, could wake up one day, and not be in total control of our own lives, our own future, or our own fate. Are Americans currently using terms like Doublethink in social media? Is America powerful enough, to avoid being overthrown, by a dark force, such as, Gilead? Does America currently have an establishment like the Ministry of Love? It is vital to our wellbeing that we stay aware of the changes, both big and small, that affect our country. If not, we too may find ourselves on the wall, or laying before the commander’s wife, or worse, we may be aiding those in power.
The worlds of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Road are complete opposites; One is an anarchical society where there is no societal structure while the other is a very well-structured world with a thoroughly defined hierarchy. Despite this, it could be argued that these two worlds are simultaneously also very similar due to the way they approach the topics of patriarchy, misogyny, and survival. Atwood and McCarthy accomplish this differently, but they achieve it using the same literary techniques and, despite one of the worlds being dystopian while the other is post-apocalyptic, making heavy usage of descriptive writing.
Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake describes a world very different from the one we live in today, but not too far from a possible future. The story, told from the viewpoint of Snowman, possibly the only human survivor, recounts the end of days in human history. His description, given to us as flashbacks, tells of a world where technology is power, and those who lack power are doomed to a sub-par existence. This world gone mad is reminiscent of another Atwood novel written in 1986, The Handmaid’s Tale. In this story, the world of today is gone, democracy has been eradicated, and it is the elite few who control the fate of the masses. By comparing these two novels by Atwood, one can see corresponding themes dealing with governmental control, the dangers of technology, the uses of religion, and the treatment of sexuality.
In The Handmaid’s Tale Offred refers to Handmaids as a “two-legged wombs” “sacred vessels” and “ambulatory chalices” (136). While “two-legged wombs” is fairly literal both “sacred vessels” and “ambulatory chalices” have religious connotations. This relates back to the idea that Handmaids are used to bear children for the benefit of society and God. “Vessels” and “chalices” both remind readers of physical objects, such as communion cups, used by the church. The Handmaids are seen as religious objects by their governments and by the Commanders that they have to have sexual relations with. Atwood is trying to tell readers that bearing children is something that should never be forced on a woman, for religious reasons or not, either by the government, or more realistically in today’s world by a man. We can see a different message regarding reproduction being given by Butler. “‘See,’ Nigel told me later with some bitterness. “‘Cause of Carrie and me, he’s one nigger richer’” (161). Butler exposes the problems with slaves being dehumanized and seen as property. It’s important that Nigel was bitter about this situation. His child was being seen as making a white man “one nigger richer.” Slave owners saw their slaves as a form of currency rather than human beings. While Atwood critiques the government’s view of reproduction Butler is critiquing the slave owner’s view. Both
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.
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.
The ability to create life is an amazing thing but being forced to have children for strangers is not so amazing. Offred is a handmaid, handmaid's have children for government officials, such as Commander Waterford. Offred used to be married to Luke and together they had a daughter but then everything changed; Offred was separated from her family and assigned to a family as their handmaid. The society which Offred is forced to live in shaped her in many ways. In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood uses cultural and geographical surroundings to shape Offred's psychological and moral traits as she tries to survive the society that she is forced to live, in hopes that she can rebel and make change.
Surveillance is a major occurring theme in both 1984 and The Handmaid’s Tale. Characters are either being watched by Big Brother, The Eye, or even the people close to them. Either way, no action escapes The Eyes of the secret police. Spying is not a crime unless you do it for the good of the government, it is encouraged to spy on everyone.“‘You’re a traitor!’ yelled boy. ‘You’re a thought criminal! You’re Eurasian spy! I’ll shoot you. I’ll vaporize you, I’ll send you to the salt mines!’”(Orwell 25). There are microphones placed everywhere to keep the citizens in check, children are taught to keep a lookout on their own parents regardless of any family bond. Due to this, parents are always cautious of their own children. "There must have been
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
Having a child in Gilead was no longer a pleasurable activity, but a privilege, and children were considered valuable commodities as well. Like categories of fruits and vegetables, children were divided into two categories based on their health: “keepers” and “unbabies”, just as women were deemed “woman” or “unwoman” based on their fertility. “There are only women who are fruitful and women who are barren, that’s the law” (Atwood 61). In Gilead, procreation is industrialized and the handmaids are reduced to one essential function: reproduction. All other aspects of the women’s sexuality and individualism are outlawed and repudiated. When called to meet with the Commander, Offred ruminates:
This principle from the Bible is used throughout ‘The Handmaids Tale’, the principles being that it is the idea of both assemblages that a women’s duty is to have children and that it is acceptable for a man to be angry if a women can not produce a child. Both these beliefs show that in jointly the Bible and ‘The Handmaids Tale’, women are completely defined by fertility and are classed as ‘walking wombs’. ‘The Handmaids Tale’ recreates the selected stanzas from the bible with Jacob, Rachel, Leah and the two handmaids. The tale is an Old Testament story about surrogate mothers, on which the novel is based. The section gives biblical precedent for the several practices of Gilead, by doing this it paves the way for Atwood to comment on patriarchy where women are undervalued and abused in all walks of life. The idea is also expressed later when we discover the ‘Red Centre’ governmentally known as the ‘Rachel and Leah Centre’. As the basis of the novel it is replicated many times throughout the text, for example, it is found in the family reading before the monthly ceremonies, and in Rachel’s plea ‘give me children, or else I die’. This clearly lays emphasis on the threat to the Handmaids life. By failing to produce a child, they will be classed as Unwomen and sent to the Colonies to die.
This text blatantly makes it clear to the reader that handmaids are expected to conform to the society in the sense that women are responsible for all of men's faults regardless of how the men treat them. Janine eventually ends up conforming to the rules of Gilead, "it was my fault she, she says. I led them on. I deserved the pain." This quote of her conforming just shows how the handmaids are so heavily oppressed that they feel that they must take responsibility for the faults of others even when it harms them. The handmaids accusing the rape of being her fault know it's wrong to blame Janine, however they know that they need to harass her to survive in the world they are in. Offred tells us, "We meant it. Which is the bad part. I used to think well of myself. I didn’t then." This idea that the handmaids must tear each other down to conform to the world they are in really develops the fact that they are in a society where they are so oppressed that they can't express how they really feel even if it is harmful to someone else. This also contributes to the theme of secrecy because handmaids must keep their true thoughts and feelings hidden. Handmaids are also required to engage in mating rituals with their commanders and their wives regardless if they consent or not. Offred describes this ritual as neither rape or making love, it is just something she must bear.
It is hard for anyone to describe something in just a few words, let alone the vast genres of books and films we read and see everyday. Science fiction, as a whole, can be difficult to define, but books and films within this genre share many characteristics as well as bringing in their own originalities. 1984, by George Orwell, helped pave the way for science fiction, and more specifically dystopian societies, even far after its’ time. Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale, redone as a television show in 2017, resembles many of the same characteristics as 1984 while still keeping its’ individuality within the science fiction genre as a whole.
Both 1984 by George Orwell and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood depict dystopian societies in which they demonstrate a society where living conditions are uncomfortable and testing. Dystopian societies show how the desire for a perfect world can turn and go very wrong. Both Orwell and Atwood demonstrate dystopia through the eyes of a main character, demonstrating their handling of their living conditions. 1984 is narrated in third person telling the story of Winston Smith and The Handmaids Tale is told in first person by main character Offred. Both characters are put into similar situations to demonstrate dystopian societies, but each book represents these societies differently. In both books dystopia is most commonly represented by lack
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
The epigraph in The Handmaid’s Tale amplifies the importance of fertility in Gilead. The quotation at the beginning of the book ‘‘And when Rachel saw the she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said unto Jacob, Give me children or else I die...And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees,that I may also have children by her.’’ makes it seem that Gilead wants to go back to traditional values, thus manipulates its citizens that their ideology is correct since it corresponds with what the Bible says. Consequently, this state is telling its citizens that a woman’s worthiness only depends if she is able to produce or not. In fact women who are barren, and are not of a high class are sent to the colonies. The handmaids’s only purpose is further amplified through the rights Gilead abolishes; they can not communicate with others, in fact Offred says, ‘How I used to despise such talk. Now I long for it’ and are no longer able to go outside alone or without being spied...