Fahrenheit 451 And The Handmaid's

After reading a select few words of science fiction from the twentieth century, one of the most recurring themes was the power of words and literature. Or rather, the fear of the power that literature and words may have on society. In the dystopian novels, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Fahrenheit 451, and The Handmaid’s Tale, the envisioned societies were all controlled by governments that disvalued books. It could be assumed by readers of these novels, that the reasoning behind the prohibition of novels in these works is due to the ideas that could influence those in their so-called utopias. The symbolic representations of the newspaper in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, the pillow in Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and the temperature at which paper

On the back cover the novel, a review from the Houston Chronicle urging their readers that it is “an excellent novel about the directions our lives are taking…[and to] [r]ead it while it’s still allowed” (Atwood, Back Cover). Since reading is forbidden by all women, their are little books in the town, this review plays on the ideas and fears that the novel discusses because of literature when urging readers to read it. There is a segment in Atwood’s novel in which the main character, Offred, and her mother are on their way to the local park to innocently feed ducks. However, they stumble upon a group of women whom are burning books (Atwood 38). These women force Offred to participate in this act, and the memory is one that stick in Offred’s mind, even after it has been manipulated and not much else as past into her new life. Because women are not allowed to read, when Offred glances at the words on the magazine that she has been handed, her mother tells her not to let them see that she has read the title, and thus, Offred tosses the magazine into the fir She claims, that she wishes that her story were fictional because at that point, she would be able to have complete control of the ending of her story (Atwood 39). This last quote places importance on the power that literature can have. Rather than just being another story with a happy ending, it is able to tell the truth about a series of events. And in a world that tries to censor citizens, having an opportunity to learn the truth is precious. In the bare room that is handed down to Offred at the beginning of the novel, there is a throw pillow with the word “faith” embroidered on to it. At one point in the novel, she questions, if she will get in trouble for even reading the word “faith” that is printed on the pillow. In a world in which female citizens are not allowed to