Although Orwell’s 1984 and Atwood’s the Handmaid’s Tale were almost entirely different in the tactics and histories of the governments in power, there are similarities in the ways the governments successfully take control of people’s sexualities to allow the governments access to use the citizen’s bodies and minds for the regimes’ benefits. Both novels include the ideas that people surrender to government control due to the fear of insecurity and pain. In both Gilead and Oceania, procreation is of great importance to the governments due to the fear of the decrease in their states’ populations. In the Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood describes the alleged effect of the decaying environment on the decrease of fertility in Gilead. Political philosopher …show more content…
She believes the history books in America have repeated untrue rhetoric that poverty and environmental damage is created by population rise when it is the opposite that is true. The continues use of the “population bomb” in many American history books is similar to Oceania government’s use of “doublethink” (37) where they feed citizens with false historical facts in order to perpetuate the government’s political agendas (45). Atwood is taking from the rise in American converts to Neo-Malthusianism in the late sixties due to Paul R. Ehrlich’s book “the Population Bomb”. Malthusian theory asserts: to continue the stabilization or decrease of environmental impact as well as the stabilization or increase of the stream of goods for each person, we must limit population size (Eager 2004, 47). During the Cold War in the United States, many American politcians held fears of the growing populations of communist and ‘third world’ countries; …show more content…
Offred’s mother was involved in the Take Back the Night marches (120); Atwood was influenced by the marches that started in San Francisco 1978 against pornography’s influence on the rise of sexual and physical assault against women (wiki). There is a contrast between the American women’s liberation movement of 1978 who were protesting the porn industry capitalizing on violence against women and the Gilean regime which used the disturbing violence that is committed against women in pornography to spread fear within women to assimilate (118). Offred also mentions that her mother would have her first in the air (120), a symbol of the feminist movement, popularized by the cover of Robin Morgan’s book “Sisterhood is Powerful” from the 1970s which documents the rise of women’s liberation movement in the United States. Offred’s mother disappeared and was most probably sent to the colonies as punishment for her opposition. In 1984, Winston was tortured for his intentions to be part of the resistance group. In Hobbes’ Leviathan (1651), the social contract is defined as individuals giving away some of their freedoms and choices in exchange for safety and security from the state. In both books, citizens let go of their freedoms over their bodies to establish protections against violence by other citizens and the
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,
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.
Within freedom should come security. Within security should come freedom. But in Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood, it seems as though there is no in between. Atwood searches throughout the novel for a medium between the two, but in my eyes fails to give justice to a woman’s body image. Today's society has created a fear of beauty and sexuality in this image. It is as though a beautiful woman can be just that, but if at the same time, if she is intelligent and motivated within acting as a sexual being, she is thought of as exploiting herself and her body. Atwood looks for a solution to this problem, but in my eyes fails to do so.
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
Identity, Complicity, and Resistance in The Handmaid's Tale, PETER G. STILLMAN and S. ANNE JOHNSON, Utopian Studies, Vol. 5, No. 2 (1994), pp. 70-86
The Handmaid's Tale presents an extreme example of sexism and misogyny by featuring the complete objectification of women in the society of Gilead. Yet by also highlighting the mistreatment of women in the cultures that precede and follow the Gileadean era, Margaret Atwood is suggesting that sexism and misogyny are deeply embedded in any society and that serious and deliberate attention must be given to these forms of discrimination in order to eliminate them.
In Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood creates a society of oppression in which she redefines oppression in common culture. Gilead is a society characterized by highly regulated systems of social control and extreme regulation of the female body. The instinctive need to “protect and preserve” the female body is driven by the innate biological desires of the men. The manipulation of language, commodification, and attire, enhances the theme of oppression and highlights the imbalance of power in the Gilead society.
There are two kinds of freedom, “freedom from and freedom to” (31) throughout Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Freedom from is a negative liberty that involves external restriction to a person’s actions. On the other hand there is freedom to, a positive liberty the one can act upon their own free will. The two different categories of freedom are discussed and debated through a feminist view point. We explore and try to understand the way in which the difference between “freedom from” and “freedom to” is applied to females in society. This novel gives us two contrasting ways of liberal thinking. You are free if no one is stopping you from doing whatever you might want to. The story appears, in this sense, to be free. On the other hand, one can
A common feature in the dystopian genre is a unique protagonist, who holds views which are not necessarily in concordance with society’s regime. Both Fahrenheit 451 and The Handmaid’s Tale display protagonists’ trapped in a situation undesirable to them, yet are powerless to do anything about it. This is due to the oppression which is essential in any dystopian society. However, unlike most people in these societies, Guy Montag and Offred actually realise they live as part of an unjust regime. The two characters are nonconformists to the extent that they both dare to be different in the totalitarian regime that surrounds them, as commented by Devon Ryan, “the protagonist does not always have outstanding powers or talents, ” yet they have to
The theme of how power leads to control is evident in both 1984 by George Orwell and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. The novel 1984 is set in a dystopian country where Ingsoc, the political ideology of Oceania, is controlled by the Inner Party elite, which dictates the people. Telescreens occupy every building in Airstrip One, as well as hidden cameras and microphones in order to capture anyone who may endanger or go against the Party’s regime. Winston, the main character, is depicted as struggling to follow the rules that the Inner Party has set forth. Similarly, The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian novel of the military dictatorship, which quickly swept through the United States. Gilead, a group of conservative religious extremists
The handmaid’s Tale final assignment The handmaid’s tale is a dystopian novel written in 1985 that was also turned into a Hulu series in 2017. The show does a great job at following the same storyline as the book. This is more than likely due to the fact that Margaret Atwood played a big part in the production of the show. However like many books that have been turned into movies, there are some differences between the two as well.
The novel, The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood focuses on the choices made by the society of Gilead in which the preservation and security of mankind is more highly regarded than freedom or happiness. This society has undergone many physical changes that have led to extreme psychological ramifications. I think that Ms. Atwood believes that the possibility of our society becoming as that of Gilead is very evident in the choices that we make today and from what has occured in the past. Our actions will inevitably catch up to us when we are most vulnerable.
Before reading the novel or watching the television show The Handmaid’s Tale I was unsure what to expect, as I read reviews on the novel by Margaret Atwood I became excited to read a book that was out of my comfort zone. I have never been into reading a book continuously because I usually lose interest, but it was different with this novel and television series. With that being said the novel is great because it allows the reader to be put into the setting of a handmaid. I also believe that the television series does a great job of representing the book. I became hooked onto the series, and I often think about the thematic questions we talked about in class because it all correlates.
Margaret Atwood sheds light on two concepts that are intertwined; fertility and motherhood. Nevertheless in Gilead these notions are often viewed as separate. The Republic State of Gilead views women as child-bearers and nothing more. In Gilead, these women are known as handmaids, who’s function in society is to produce children for barren females of a high status. Gilead also prohibits the handmaids from being mothers to their previously born children, meaning before Gilead was created, for instance, Offred, who is separated from her daughter. Thus it is evident that Margaret Atwood generates a state that views birth only as growth in population rather than the beginning of a relationship between mother and child.