The Plague Vs The Handmaid's Tale

The books The Handmaid’s Tale and The Plague are exemplary examples of extraordinary novels. Both novels take the reader on an exhilarating ride of suspense, mystery, and joyfulness. Both novels are very high quality literature which the reader can easily recognize by reading the two dystopian classic books. The Handmaid’s Tale stands out greater than The Plague relating to symbolism, description, etc. The Handmaid’s Tale was superior than The Plague because of its superior usage of symbolism, characterization, description, and point of view.

Symbolism was one of the things that Atwood was an expert at sprinkling all throughout The Handmaid’s Tale. Although Camus included a substantial amount of symbolism in The Plague, Atwood included more

A good example of this is The Angels. The Angels symbolize “objects of fear” that the people in the society have (Attwood 4). The symbol exposes the fear the people have not only to their security but also of being or even thinking differently. In The Plague Camus made it very clear that the rats were clearly a symbol because of their common presence all throughout the book. The “quantities of dead or dying rats” symbolize or represent the people who are dying because of the plague (Camus 15). The reader is able to understand Atwood more quickly than Camus since Atwood makes it evident very quickly while Camus is more subtle with the meanings. Another symbol in The Handmaid's Tale is the color red which is “the color of blood” which leads the reader to believe it is a symbol of fertility or birth as well (Atwood 8). The color red is what describes Offered and the other handmaids. Another symbol from The Plague is the the old man who “would spit vigorously at the cats… [and]

Atwood used a variety of description all throughout the book which helps the reader better comprehend and really helped keep the book interesting for the reader. While Offred is looking around her room Atwood is sure to describe the room as vividly as possible. Atwood describes a picture which is “a print of flowers, blue irises, watercolor” which helps the reader visualize all of the aspects of the room (Atwood 7). Camus includes description in his book as well but not as vividly as Atwood. While Dr. Bernard Rieux in The Plague is looking a patient Camus mentions that the room “that served as both dining room and bedroom” without much description relating to color size or any objects in the room (Camus 9). Atwood provided more aspects of description which allowed the reader to be more interested and invested in the book unlike The Plague with Camus. As Offred is looking at the garden in the house she lives in, the reader is able to clearly visualize the flowers. Atwood described the flowers, tulips, as “red, a darker crimson towards the stem” which is a very clear description of the flowers (Atwood 12). The Handmaid’s Tale was able to provide more clear, and specific description which help the reader visualize and allow the reader to show more interest. Camus was able to provide a description but not a description which went above and beyond what Atwood was able to provide. Camus had strong key points as