Similarities Between The Handmaid's Tale And 1984

Emotion plays a crucial role in human nature. It is one factor that dictates many of the thoughts and actions one makes. The manipulation of emotion is a powerful and devious tool used by many people to invoke certain thoughts in others and sway one’s ideas to one side or another. Emotions such as pride and anger can completely overtake someone and alter their perspectives and ideals. The books The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984 both take place in a brutal dystopian society where many people are puppeteered by the manipulation of their emotions due to the government. In The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984, the government manipulates emotions such as pride and anger through their policies and practices to attain power and indoctrinate people into their society.

The government uses its influence to create an illusion of honor when citizens perform tasks that are supportive of the party. One example of this is how in 1984, the government views intercourse, purely for repopulation, as an honor. Winston’s wife, Katherine, refers to it as their “duty to the Party” (67) to emphasize how reproducing and intercourse are purely for the party’s benefit. She uses the word “duty” to make their task seem as though it is a noble and honorable cause. If reproducing was a shameful act, Katherine, a loyal follower of the party would not engage in it. Similarly to this, in The Handmaid’s Tale, the Aunts and other officials of Gilead try to persuade the handmaids that their role in society is an honorable one in which they should take pride. Even though the handmaids face sexual assault regularly, they perform what is considered an honorable task for the party almost as if it is their “duty to the Party” similar to 1984. The Aunts and other Gilead officials can manipulate these feelings in handmaids such as Janine who starts feisty and resistant but is worn down into obedience and brainwashed pride. When Janine has her child, she is full of pride because she completes a task that benefits the party, even though the child is a product of sexual assault. One last example of how the government manipulates pride is how Winston is caught because

There are various ways that this is done throughout the books. One example from 1984 is the Two Minutes Hate program which is a daily manipulation of the anger of inner-party members. The government creates a public enemy for the party in this program to instigate feelings of anger to the point that the “sight or even the thought of Goldstein produce[s] fear and anger automatically.’” (13) The government unites members of the inner party through their hatred of the common enemy. However, they are only united in support of the party. In fact, this hatred actively discourages rebellion and supports the party making it so that the only reason that people would have any support for one another is if their first priority is loyalty to the party. Members of the inner party are generally forced to isolate themselves with one of the only exceptions being a place where they are engrossed in supporting the party and criticizing its opposition. The government embraces this group's anger and hatred to gain the support of the entire inner party at one time. Hate week serves a similar purpose by creating an event out of it, a week dedicated to manipulating anger toward the party’s opponents, almost as if it is a holiday to be celebrated. Hate week has, “the singing, the banners, the posters, the films, the waxworks, the rolling of drum and squealing of caterpillars of tanks,