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.
In “1984,” Orwell uses Winston to portray a single individual’s attempt to take action against a powerful government, culminating in his failure and subjugation. His individual efforts failed tremendously due to the overarching power of the Party to control every aspect of social life in Oceania. Orwell uses Winston’s deeply seated hatred of the Party to portray his views on power and social change. Winston’s actions show that even in the direst of situations ...
The two texts Harrison Bergeron, written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and The Handmaid’s Tale by Reed Morano explore the idea of individuality loss due to complete government control through similar and varied techniques. Both texts enable the audience to obtain an understanding that a society where there is no ability to express one’s own self, is ultimately dangerous in both execution and outcome. Throughout the two texts the authors explore individuality suppression through government control by utilising varied techniques such as motifs, similes as well the ideas of handicaps which are a result of the need for constant surveillance. The dystopian texts of futuristic, imagined universes display the illusion of perfect societies that are being created,
Often in life, people take their freedoms, a gift that allows them to express their individuality, for granted. However, in the dystopian societies of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, people are reminded of just how easily their freedoms and humanity can be stripped away. Attwood and Ishiguro urge people to never lose sight of the core values that define who they are. The compelling novels chronicle the life journey of two protagonists as they fight to define their own existence and worth in life. Offred, the central character in The Handmaid’s Tale is exploited as a baby making machine, while Kathy, the leading role in Never Let Me Go, is degraded as a lifeless android in a sea of clones. From Atwood and Ishiguro’s provocative coming-of-age novels emerge two beautiful and inspiring heroines. Whether it is through their remembrance of the past, their loss of innocence, their capability to hope, or their ability to establish relationships, Offred and Kathy prove that they are every bit as human as the rest of society. Ultimately, despite the many differences in their distinct masterpieces, Atwood and Ishiguro share the same intent in their haunting portrayal of the protagonists’ dehumanizabtion—to shed light on the true essence of what it is to be human.
Much like women worldwide, the handmaids are alike in that they face a mutual dilemma. They are forced to accept an unjust reality and are changed greatly because of it. First Offred is forced to abandon her family and her societal role to assume a new one, she “[yearns] for the future,” where this reality no longer exists. The reds have a “talent for insatiability” that always remains “in the air”(3-4). Yet, this fundamental longing for change, for the progress of women, is one that has been present in culture for many centuries. Atwood’s depiction of Offred’s desire for a new reality is one that many individuals in society already aspire to obtain, for they currently face dystopian-like circumstances of being silenced much like the handmaids. Offred “[tries] not to think too much” because while she is intelligent
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 Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) was established to provide employees with ability to take a leave from work for personal or family health issues. The Act lays out specific circumstance in which an employee may take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave within a 12 month period. Under the law, employees may request a leave for personal health issues, to care for a child, spouse or parent with serious health issues, birth or care of a child during the first year or for newly placed adoptions within one year. Employees are covered under FMLA if the employer has 50 or more employees and the employee has worked for the employer for at least 12 months. The employee must submit a written request for FMLA and provide documentation supporting their request. Once approved, the employee may take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Upon return the employee is guaranteed a job, if the employer had to fill their position out of business necessity, the employer must provide the employee with a position with equal responsibility and pay.
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
George Orwell creates a dark, depressing and pessimistic world where the government has full control over the masses in the novel 1984. The protagonist, Winston, is low-level Party member who has grown to resent the society that he lives in. Orwell portrays him as a individual that begins to lose his sanity due to the constrictions of society. There are only two possible outcomes, either he becomes more effectively assimilated or he brings about the change he desires. Winston starts a journey towards his own self-destruction. His first defiant act is the diary where he writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER.” But he goes further by having an affair with Julia, another party member, renting a room over Mr. Carrington’s antique shop where Winston conducts this affair with Julia, and by following O’Brien who claims to have connections with the Brotherhood, the anti-Party movement led my Emmanuel Goldstein. Winston and Julia are both eventually arrested by the Thought Police when Mr. Carrington turns out to be a undercover officer. They both eventually betray each other when O’Brien conducts torture upon them at the Ministry of Love. Orwell conveys the limitations of the individual when it comes to doing something monumental like overthrowing the established hierarchy which is seen through the futility of Winston Smith’s actions that end with his failure instead of the end of Big Brother. Winston’s goal of liberating himself turns out to be hopeless when the people he trusted end up betraying him and how he was arbitrarily manipulated. It can be perceived that Winston was in fact concerned more about his own sanity and physical well-being because he gives into Big Brother after he is tortured and becomes content to live in the society he hated so much. Winston witnesses the weakness within the prole community because of their inability to understand the Party’s workings but he himself embodies weakness by sabotaging himself by associating with all the wrong people and by simply falling into the arms of Big Brother. Orwell created a world where there is no use but to assimilate from Winston’s perspective making his struggle utterly hopeless.
Interprofessional Practice (IPP) is the ability to provide a comprehensive health care service to all patients. Healthcare providers achieve this joining together and working collaboratively to deliver quality care across a range of healthcare settings. An interprofessional setting may offer several benefits to patients, including improved access to healthcare, less conflict and tension amongst caregivers, improved use of clinical resources, better retention of staff, better results for patients in particular those with chronic diseases. (http://www.ontarioshores.ca/about_us/our_approach/interprofessional/). This paper will discuss the benefits of an interprofessional practice to the patient.
... in her place”, showing how society undervalues her. Atwood took historical examples of societies where such repression had occurred such as early Puritanism to write the novel. However, neither Kathy nor Offred let their worlds stop them from knowing who they are. There is an sense of hope at the end of The Handmaid’s Tale, as Offred escapes the regime, and although Kathy remains repressed and will soon ‘complete’ at the hands of society, the last line of the novel, “To wherever she was supposed to be” could imply that she is still searching for her place, despite a reader knowing that she will never find it. Overall, both Kathy and Offred are treated as having lesser identity by others in their society causing them to both question and be defiant of their identity as they are only valuable for their physical body, Kathy for her organs and Offred for her fertility.
In the novel 1984, Orwell produced a social critique on totalitarianism and a future dystopia that made the world pause and think about our past, present and future. When reading this novel we all must take the time to think of the possibility that Orwell's world could come to pass. Orwell presents the concepts of power, marginalization, and resistance through physical, psychological, sexual and political control of the people of Oceania. The reader experiences the emotional ride through the eyes of Winston Smith, who was born into the oppressive life under the rule of Ingsoc. Readers are encouraged through Winston to adopt a negative opinion on the idea of communist rule and the inherent dangers of totalitarianism. The psychological manipulation and physical control are explored through Winston's journey, and with Winston's resistance and ultimate downfall, the reader is able to fully appreciate O'Briens reasoning, "Power is not a means, it is an end."
During the Great Depression, while the competitors were cutting costs and reusing outdated designs, Kress was expanding and building more elaborate stores than their previous ones. The architecture was referred to as an “emporium” evoking an elegant atmosphere more suited to a fine cloth or furniture store in New York rather than the five & dime stores dotting small town America. Many wonder what the driving force was behind these design decisions, especially during a national time of economic recession. Perhaps simply to outpace the competition, but perhaps more importantly Samuel Kress was an avid art collector and a proponent of public art enhancing a community. In this way the Kress legacy of the brand became more than a retail business, it became a symbol of small town civic pride.
George Orwell’s novel 1984, is the most powerful warnings ever released about the dangers and the controls of living under a totalitarian government. The main character, Winston Smith is at war, trying to control the Inner Party and rebelling against Big Brother, the dictator of Oceania. The author gives us readers an image of inhumanity and the impacts it has in the citizens, physically and mentally. Orwell uses literary elements such as imagery, foreshadowing, symbolism, and irony to demonstrate the theme of indestructible of a totalitarism.
Offred’s journey is a prime example of the appalling effects of idly standing by and allowing herself to become a part of the Gilead’s corrupt system. This woman is a Handmaid which was recently placed within a new
Throughout the novel the reader often gets forced into or tends to question him/herself about what really a fictional novel is. Handmaid’s tale is a novel that is fragmented in its plot and theme, and often this leaves the reader to play the role of piecing together and looking at the larger picture of the theme and plot, but often this causes certain times in the novel involving ambiguity. This type of fragmentation is part of postmodern literature. This novel unlike the conventional structure of novel, often points out to the reader itself that the story is somehow linked with the main character and the reader, and this link is where the main theme and the intellectual knowledge of the character in the story lies. The evidence of this unconventional structure lies in the thoughts are quotes said by Offred, the main character, “I would like to believe this is a story I’m telling. I need to believe it. I must believe it. Those who can believe that such stories are only stories have a better chance. If it’s a story I’m telling, then I have control over the ending. Then there will be an ending, to the story, and real life will come after it. I can pick up where I left off “(49 Atwood). This quote is in the end of chapter 7 and it reveals the underlying connection between