Essay

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Both 1984 and The Handmaid’s Tale are dystopian novels, however, these books are a lot more complex than mere portrayals of dystopia, it can be argued that they are explorations of dystopia rather than mere portrayals. In order to explore dystopia, many themes must be considered, such as; feminism, love and repression. Nonetheless, it is apparent that human characteristics are the driving point of the two novels, predominantly, the depiction of human resilience. In an imperfect world, it is important to have certain qualities which, if plentiful, it can mean success, whereas if it lacks, it can mean failure, this characteristic is resilience. The protagonists in each novel, Winston in 1984 and Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale face situations which leave them both in disarray, and both even consider suicide. The authors tentatively highlight human resilience, its limits and most importantly its strengths into the two novels. Whilst both Winston and Offred portray strong resilience, it seems that possibly, the bleak setting in each novel manages to defeat them. In 1984, Winston lives in an unforgiving setting where the sky is ‘harsh blue’ and the ‘world looks cold ’even through a ‘shut window pane’. Dually in The Handmaid’s Tale, the novel starts with a feeling of emptiness, with Offred in the gymnasium where a ‘palimpsest of unheard sound’ lingered. The gymnasium was incomplete, there were basketball hoops, but the ‘nets were gone’, the incompleteness suggests that there might be a sinister story behind the setting. Both characters are surrounded by dark settings, the authors’ use of pathetic fallacy to introduce both characters highlight their vulnerability, thereby foreshadowing danger in the future. However, despite living in such... ... middle of paper ... ...g to love the ‘BIG BROTHER’ with all his ‘heart’. However, victory and defeat are two subjective results and the line between them is still undefined. Regardless, Resilience is not about winning or losing, it’s about the endurance against the struggles. Both characters undeniably portray an amazing display of resilience throughout, and although history repeats itself, the struggles brought with repeated history create new challenges which strengthen the bonds between humanity, thus increasing the resilience further. In conclusion, the George Orwell and Margaret Atwood use these dystopian novels as cautionary texts to some extent, warning the readers of possible futures. Nevertheless, 1984 and The Handmaid’s Tale are predominantly based around the complementation of Winston’s and Offred’s utilisation of resilience throughout the adversity of the two dystopian worlds.

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