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Similarities Between The Handmaid's Tale And 1984

1435 Words6 Pages

Zophine Saitua-Rippell
Ms. Reeve
ENG3U6
12 Jan 2022
Looking to the Past with a Warning for the Future: The Dystopian Worlds of The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984
There is something incredibly compelling about a well-crafted dystopian novel. They are set in a believable world, which can be seen to reflect the concerns of the time in which they were written. However, the novels hold an even greater relevance in that they are somewhat prescient and seem to have held warnings of some of the difficulties facing us today. While all dystopian literature is not equal, Margaret Atwood and George Orwell are renowned authors who have created exceptional dystopian worlds in their work.
Margaret Atwood’s book, The Handmaid's Tale follows the life of a woman …show more content…

Both the Republic of Gilead and the Party employ constant surveillance to keep their citizens in line. In The Handmaid’s Tale, there are the Eyes which are Gilead's secret police and intelligence forces. Offred, along with everyone else in Gilead, is fearful of the Eyes; she knows what will happen to her if she’s caught. Traitors are subjected to torture or public execution. The Gileadian population lives in constant fear; aware of the horrible punishments they face, public opposition is non-existent. Furthermore, they use self-surveillance, having the Handmaids walk in twos to monitor each …show more content…

The technology is certainly there for a high level of surveillance, and the books stand as a warning against its potential misuse.
Censorship and propaganda are also tools employed by the governing regimes in both novels. In The Handmaid’s Tale, the news was tailored to put the regime in a good light, and the population would never know the extent to which the news stories that they heard were true.
Even more prevalent is 1984’s use of propaganda. The Ministry of Truth, for example, is responsible for the falsification of historical documents. The documents themselves contain self-contradicting words, meant to deceive people into believing that the Party is always right. Furthermore, the Party has created a language to make unorthodoxy impossible. It dissolved all concepts and words that go against the

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1984 depicts a society where everything is monitored by the government and the people have little to no freedom because their totalitarian government “Big Brother” has convinced them that “freedom is slavery”. The citizens of Fahrenheit 451 on the other

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Through many dystopias, the argument shown is the theme of power, fear, religion, and education. Books like 1984 and The Handmaid’s Tale show a strong government figure or idea by showing an appeal to fear. Both have a problem with propaganda through corrupted education. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, has a strong focus on religion and using it to justify rape. The main character in The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred, is a handmaid for the Republic of Gilead.

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(Orwell 3-4). In 1984, telescreens are everywhere, they speak, record, and scan all areas within its reach. These are designed to spy on people, never allowing anyone to ever be alone, lessening the number of people that will rebel against Big Brother. Society is constantly around technology (not much of a choice), people are thought police that will see that you are guilty of committing a thought crime (thinking any bad thought against Big Brother). In this novel, thoughts are not private anymore.

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In the novel 1984, by George Orwell, rebel is an essential theme. It is shown through various methods and it has in turn heavily impacted literature made after it. This can be predominantly shown in the novel, The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. The ideas surrounding rebellion in these stories are especially similar and important to understand. To do this though, it is important to recognize that both of these stories' central characters, Winston as well as Offred, through love affairs, produce their own forms of hope, and gain back some of their identity against their regimes.

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In 1984 technology plays an important role in the novel 's plot. They live in a society of totalitarianism ruled by Big Brother who ironically, Is Watching You. The “instrument[s]” used to spy on their residents are “telescreens” which “could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely” (Orwell, page 2 ). Big Brother uses technology to spy on them in particular situation throughout the day.

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‘Positive characters … usually prove miserably ineffectual when contending with ruthless overwhelming powers’ claims Amin Malak, noting on such protagonists as Winston Smith and Offred in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and, when looking at the dystopian genre as a whole, he certainly seems to be correct. Dystopian fiction does seem to portray the worse side of human nature than the better, leaving the positive traits to the struggling protagonists. While utopian writers seemed to think that the essence of human nature was to do good, dystopian writers seem to think very differently and it is from this notion that these novels seem to be written. Nineteen Eighty-Four certainly seems to do this, with almost every member of the society representing one or more negative aspects of humanity.

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A story of suppression of individuality: How rebellion can change lives in Orwell’s 1984 and Atwood’s The Handmaids Tale Rebellion is a powerful force that is present in many societies, especially those where citizens are unhappy with how they are governed. This is particularly true in dystopian novels where societies have typically taken a turn for the worst. George Orwell’s novel 1984 follows Winston, an inner party member, as his increasing dislike of the party leads him to work against the party. This novel lays a blueprint for future dystopian novels as they follow with many ideas outlined in this text. One of these novels, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid’s Tale, tells the story of how unhappy handmaid Offred tries to work against her

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In ‘1984’ and ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, the destruction of the individual is due to a combination of the destruction of independence, language and totalitarian monopolistic control. Complete collectivism, despite separate political beliefs, is presented throughout dictatorial societal jurisdiction as being the predominant way to maintain eternal power. The regimes seek to control individuals and therefore engage in continuing reconnaissance or surveillance of the populace. The mind is the most individual source of power to any person and totalitarianism aims to create complete orthodoxy by controlling and manipulating the mind. Both Orwell in ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ and Atwood in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ are examples of how dystopian literature presents

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Atwood clearly emphasizes this point through the inclusion of Offred 's inner thoughts; which in turn, help to illuminate to the reader the process of this deterioration. Atwood also shows how the Republic of Gilead uses totalitarianism tactics, which parallel those used in North Korea, in order to remain in control. In The Handmaid’s tale, a dystopian novel, Margaret Atwood uses imagery and allusion throughout the novel to illustrate how the republic of Gilead uses techniques to deteriorate one 's mind in order to maintain their power. Throughout the dystopian country

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The society of both novel, “1984” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” shares familiar methods in order to maintain higher power to control lower class citizens. Their absolute goal to gain complete dominance is through removing or destroying a piece of humanity in order for disobedience or rebellion to be impossible. Gilead and Ingsoc constantly condition citizens by monitoring and invading their privacy. Both regimes employed similarly styles of monitoring, such as spies organisations or simply through the surveillance camera.

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Thesis: Atwood uses the concept of time through flashbacks to compare and contrast between past and present freedoms. Before the fall of Gilead, the women in society were free to do as they pleased; however, currently, they are forced to obey strict rules, and must give in to the commanders demands. Through constant flashbacks, the main character Offred remembers the freedoms granted to her under a democratic government, compared to protection granted under a totalitarian society. Atwood compares these differences to warn how life for common people would exist under a totalitarian government if freedom is given up for safety.

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Imagine being followed everywhere by a government agent. They’re watching your every move, and they’ll report you if you even make a wrong facial movement. This is essentially the case in George Orwell’s novel, 1984. Run by an English socialist government called the Party, the people’s every move is watched through telescreens. Citizens are not individual, but rather an extension of the Party.

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In face of severe situation, people often feel relief when they think of happier, simpler times in order to alleviate the severity. In the fiction novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, a theocracy government controls every aspect of life in order to produce the best result of its plans. At the beginning of chapter 12, Offred takes a required, but luxurious bath because she can take off the burdensome wings and veils. While she bathes, Offred remembers her daughter from the past and a time with her family. Atwood compares Offred’s past and present through imagery, tone, similes, and symbolism combined with parallel structure to highlight the vulnerability of women to their surroundings.

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The Handmaid 's Tale is one of Margaret Atwood most famous novels written during the spring of 1984, when the Berlin wall was still standing. Atwood creates a dystopia, which mostly consists of gender gap and oppression. The Handmaid 's Tale effectively portrays the United States as the modern-day totalitarian society of Gilead, which was illustrated as perfect by using the book of Genesis. Although the authors ideas are inherently and completely fictional, several concepts throughout his book have common links to the past and present society which the author herself calls a speculative fiction. The author uses a totalitarian system which includes aspects of Soviet system, to describe, deprivation, repression and terror with the use of

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In the 1980s, United States was experiencing the rise of conservatism. Under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, conservative religious groups were gaining popularity. In response to the social and political landscape, Canadian author Margaret Atwood published a fictional novel The Handmaid’s Tale in 1986; a genre of dystopian novels. The storyline projects an imaginary futuristic world where society lives under oppression and illusion of a utopian society maintained through totalitarian control. Dystopian novels often focus on current social government trends and show an exaggeration of what happens if the trends are taken too far.

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