ipl-logo

Alienation And Isolation In The Handmaid's Tale

703 Words3 Pages

Outline

Research Question/Topic: What is the effect of alienation and isolation in the works of George Orwell 's 1984 and Margaret Atwood 's the Handmaid 's Tale?

Introduction:
Isolation refers “a person or place to be or remain alone or apart from others”, and through the literary classics The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and 1984 by George Orwell, the theme of isolation plays a key factor in molding the plot into the controversial novels that they are today.

Paragraph 1
(1984)
Explain the role of isolation and alienation in the novel from the direct setting
Quote: “Behind Winston’s back the voice from the telescreen was still babbling away about pig iron and the over fulfillment of the Ninth Three-Year Plan. The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston …show more content…

2015

Paragraph 3:
(1984)
Explain the role of isolation as a role in psychological manipulation
The way that the setting has impacted the way the characters act
For example, Winston didn’t know whether anyone else had the same writing task as he did, or had the same thoughts as he did, and due to the strong surveillance of Big Brother, he had no way of freely communicating his ideas and thoughts thus creating a stronger sense of alienation and manipulation
Room 101/Torture
Winston didn’t know if he was above ground or below, wasn’t aware of the time of day or how long he had been in there
Isolation from the rest of society
Citation:
Orwell, George. 1984. Ed. Erich Fromm. New York: Harcourt, 1949

Paragraph 4:
(The Handmaid’s Tale)
Explain the role of isolation as a role in psychological manipulation
“Mayday”
a “top secret” organisation with the mission of overthrowing Gilead.
Offred was unaware of who was a part of “Mayday”
No communication examples from when they were initiated, having the white wings to minimize eye contact and sight
Constant isolation from others thoughts, position on the government and unaware of who to trust.
Citation:

Show More
Related
480 Words | 2 Pages

In the novel 1984, outward conformity is crucial to the survival of the citizens of Oceania. One character in particular who practices this extremely well is the main character, Winston Smith. He not only conforms outwardly, but also questions his society inwardly, due to the overhanging fear that Miniluv will find and torture him. Winston constantly questions Big Brother and all of the laws that the citizens of Oceania are required to obey while also inwardly questioning his forbidden romance with Julia. Without this rising tension throughout the novel, 1984 would lose its suspenseful tone and would easily lose the focus of readers.

Read More
822 Words | 4 Pages

Alienation is an experience of being isolated from a group or a society. It is something that affects people everyday at school, work or any social events. The theme of alienation is showed in The Lego Movie when the character tries very hard to meet society’s standards. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 alienation is showed when no one listens or pays attention to the protagonist. The Lego Movie and Fahrenheit 451 does a good job demonstrating the theme of alienation with the usage of character emotions, feelings and society’s standards and labels throughout the movie and the novel.

Read More
639 Words | 3 Pages

Outward conformity along with inward questioning, that is what the main character, presented in Margaret Artwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, has to undertake in order to survive in a theocratic society. Stepping out of line in any way risks your life, so in a place where freedom of speech and basic human right’s no longer apply, Offered must comply with whatever rules they have in place and pretend to agree with the system, but in the inside, she cannot help but think about her past life, her husband, her daughter, before everything began. Flashbacks are integrated in the novel to not only compare the old society with the new one, but to also demonstrate this fake conformity Offred has to display to others and her internal struggle with giving up on escaping the Republic or just accepting her fate and playing by

Read More
1854 Words | 8 Pages

As Fredrik Pettersson stated in his criticism, “[Offred] might not have any real belief in the theocratic values, but they affect her life and actions nonetheless. ”(8) Even though Offred may disagree with the values of Gilead, she is too fearful to actively oppose the society, and has internalized some of Gilead’s views. When Offred sees the black van coming towards her, Nick tells her that “it’s Mayday” and to “trust” him. Offred is suspicious, “but snatch[es] at it, this offer.

Read More
1109 Words | 5 Pages

O’Brien’s use of starvation, the electric chair, and mental bullying serves as a crucial motivator for intelligent, problem causing citizens such as Winston to confess and repent willingly eventually. Finally, the use of cruelty by Big Brother reveals the inner and destructive conscience of the party in order to ensure that society is orderly and continually worshipping Big Brother. The suffering and eventual destruction of citizens such as Winston reveals that a free-thinking society is still intact, however, any government’s use of torture could and did destroy the will of a majority of those that were so horribly imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps across Europe. Therefore, the cruelty used throughout the novel “1984” functions in the work as an effective scare tactic that is able to exterminate an entire society while simultaneously creating a new master race that is intellectually void and completely subservient to Big

Read More
806 Words | 4 Pages

No one should have to live their lives being watched over by someone they don’t know like the government. Another quote shows that Winston needed “to conceal his agitation from the telescreen” (Orwell, page 108). The statement implies the need to hide emotions from an eye watching over a citizen. In the totalitarian government, people have to abide by the rules, in this case he can’t feel different emotions like anger. This shows how privacy is being violated in Orwell’s novel.

Read More
1090 Words | 5 Pages

It is quite telling that the most severe punishment in our society other than the death penalty or torture is solitary confinement. Although, isolation is in itself a form of torture, it can drive someone to the brink of insanity. Although published nearly 200 years ago, Mary Shelley clearly understood the potential detrimental effects of isolation, as demonstrated in her famous novel, Frankenstein, where both main characters, Victor Frankenstein and his creation, suffer from and cause isolation for the other. Mary Shelley directs the reader to believe that isolation is the true evil, not the monster, Victor or any emotion inside of them. At the beginning of the novel, Victor is isolated from other people, causing to forget his scientific

Read More
1559 Words | 7 Pages

The society of this novel was a dystopia and it is how George Orwell viewed the world. In the novel 1984, Orwell portrays the acts of betrayal and

Read More
1107 Words | 5 Pages

Further in the novel, we see Offred’s moral traits become even more compromised by her surroundings. When a black van with an eye painted on it drives by her, Offred’s fears that “there must have been microphones, they’ve heard us after all” (Bronte 169). Living in Gilead has taught her to fear her opinions of the society; those before her who rebelled all ended dead. When the police drag a man to the car and brutalize him, Offred’s first feeling is relief and says “What I feel is relief. It wasn’t me.”

Read More
1176 Words | 5 Pages

Furthermore, in 1984, Winston Smith entrapped in the dystopian society Oceania with the ideas of totalitarianism, confinement, and control. capable of ordinary human feeling. The people of Oceania, "[Are not] capable of ordinary feeling [and] everything will be dead inside [them]" (Orwell 323). In response, Winston is trying to escape and fight the system. He is aware of the oppression of Big Brother and understand the dictatorship the community faces.

Read More
1191 Words | 5 Pages

Standing out and individuality is frowned upon in both novels, which is one of the many elements that take place in dystopian literature. In 1984, people are watched and hunt down by the thought police. People in the society are not allowed to think their own thoughts, and they must not go against the Party and Big Brother. Winston, however, rebels against Big Brother and the Party and he wants to go “down with Big Brother!” The Party and Big Brother also frowns upon sexual relationships and love.

Read More
1115 Words | 5 Pages

The book 1984 describes a totalitarian society where citizens are forced to renounce all liberties for the sake of social order. They are guided by the rule of a single figurehead called Big Brother, whom the they are manipulated to entrust their lives to. This figurehead exercises his powers of governing every aspect of the people 's lives by observing and manipulating the populace. Big Brother also divides his subjects into classes as a means to keep the populace oppressed. Throughout this literary narrative the main character, Winston Smith, struggles to survive in this society as he struggles to fit the conventional mold that is preached.

Read More
912 Words | 4 Pages

Award winning writer, George Orwell, in his dystopian novel, 1984, Winston and O’Brien debate the nature of reality. Winston and O’Brien’s purpose is to persuade each other to believe their own beliefs of truth and reality. They adopt an aggressive tone in order to convey their beliefs about what is real is true. In George Orwell’s 1984, Winston and O’Brien use a variety of different rhetorical strategies and appeals such as parallel structure, pathos, and logos in order to persuade each other about the validity of memories and doublethink; however, each character’s argument contains flaw in logic. Winston debates with O’Brien that truth and reality are individual and connected to our memories.

Read More
1500 Words | 6 Pages

In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the main theme is of conformity to the wants of society and the government. Themes of dehumanization of our species, as well as the danger of a totalitaristic state are repeatedly expressed. Orwell demonstrates this theme by using setting and characters in the novel. The setting helps to convey the theme because of the world and kind of city that the main character lives in. Winston’s every move is watched and controlled by the governmental figurehead known as “big brother”.

Read More
501 Words | 3 Pages

In the 1984 novel , Winston Smith is not like the rest of the people in his society. He hates Big brother . In book 3 of the novel Winston is put into the Ministry of love, Where there are four big telescreens monitoring his every move. Winston shares a cell with a few people including his neighbor Mr. Parson who was turned in for a thought crime. While winston shares a cell with a few people some of them get dragged to a horrifying room, room 101.

Read More

More about Alienation And Isolation In The Handmaid's Tale

Related Topics

Open Document