Comparison of the Handmaids Tale and 1984 - Essay Example

?First Number 4 June a). This critical study looks at the major themes in the book, the Handmaid’s tale by Margaret Atwood and 1984 by George orwell. It will reveal the aspects of a dystopian way of life by mentioning some of the areas that this life depicts. In the end, the analysis concludes with a summary on the themes discussed. b) Comparison of the Handmaids tale and 1984 The handmaid’s Tale is more of a science fiction novel that depicts a dystopian way of life. A dystopia is some form of undesirable community, which means the opposite of utopia. The themes often show dehumanization, dictatorial institutions, disaster with the environment and other issues that are associated with bad luck and calamities (Atwood). The same themes are found by reading 1984 by George Orwell (Orwell). This political novel is written with the purpose of warning readers about dangers associated with totalitarian leadership. Where we see authorities using their power to control and manipulate the lives of the people they rule. One of the major areas is in language use for exclusion and mind control, psychological manipulation, control of information and history. In his book for example, Orwell elaborates to the readers on the dangers that are associated with totalitarian leadership. The same issues are found in the Handmaids tale. The Handmaid’s Tale is set in the future times, in a theocracy that has overthrown the government of the United States of America. In the novel there are many themes discussed, some of the major ones is the issue of women who are forced to be submissive to the male dominated governance. The major themes that are explored in this novel includes; the use of women body as political instruments, the cause of urge and use of language to manipulate people. Physical control In his novel, 1984, Orwell talks about how the totalitarian party controls the bodies of its people. The party is very strict and observes any form of disloyalty to the extent that even a simple facial twitch can lead to a person being arrested on the spot. For the reason we find that, a person’s nervous system is actually his worst enemy. The same issues are found in the Handmaids tale, where people and especially women are monitored everywhere (Orwell). c) Use of language to manipulate people In exploring this theme, Gilead, innovates a new language that corrupts the main form of communication and can only serve the society it desires and the elite people in this world. In addition, women are the major losers here because Gilead prohibits any woman to hold jobs and those who are found working are usually put to punishment. For women, they are nothing more than wives and handmaids. They are stripped off their familiar names and called Marthas. Those women who are found with deformed babies are not taken to be human and for this reason Gilead refer to them as unwomen. For men, Gilead ensures that each man works hard to hold strengths of the military system alive. All men are judged by their military might. This form of ill treatment is not only reflected in gender relations but also on racial grounds. (Atwood). Gilead rule is very lethal that even one can be persecuted for not greeting another person in the required manner. This in Gilead’s world is a show of disloyalty. Through this theme, the reader is able to foresee the dangers that the world and our governments would face it were led by a totalitarian society. This can also be found in Foucaults, “Panopticism” from Discipline & Punishment’ (Foucault) where he talks about eighteenth century torture. In his book he analyzes on the issues of totalitarian rule and penalties given to the people who went against the ruling government. Totalitarian rule shaped the way people behaved and how the governments run. Penalties became so harsh that it became a way of life. In Europe and America, penalties would exist in the following ways: economic purnishment, projects reforms, revision of law and crime, moral and political justifications of the right to purnish. All these themes were manipulated and controlled by the people in power. d) Women used as political instruments Gilead was formed due to a decrease in birthrates, the entire structure of the state and a political leadership that would not be shaken to think otherwise, it thus lives under one area, which is control of production. In order for the state to be able to control production, it ensures that women are deprived of their right to vote, read, own property and even get a job. This is because if women do this, they will be able to become more independent and at the end undermine the strength of their husbands. In comparison to Deboard “Separation Perfected” from Society of the Spectacle’ (Deboard) where the writer discusses totalitarian rule as a capitalist culture. There is a sense of Isolations, ideological blindness, manipulation that has been highly used in order to define the lifestyle of different people and culture. There is an issue of political discrimination in order to survive in the world. The same issues are found in our modern world where people are controlled through economic sanctions; this is especially true with the super powers of the world that seem to have a totalitarian form of rule over the rest of the less powerful countries in the world. The theme of discrimination also plays a bigger by in a dystopian world, where the minority groups are never given a voice. For example, in the united states there is much difference in the way colored people are treated as compared to the pure American whites, the same is trickled down to our public institutions where minorities are controlled by way of depriving them off their rights. e) The act of urge In the book, the author portrays how people in the world are always seeking more for themselves so that they are able to fee complete. There is a form of complacency that follows every human action; for example, the character portrayed by Offred is of a woman who falls in love with a man ‘Nick’ in order to feel as a apart of the bigger Gilead state. By the way she is treated with love and affection, the way Nick happens to respect her wishes, makes her feel as if she is more in control of her life that the kind of discrimination and oppression that other women like her have been subjected to undergo. f) Interpretation The Handmaid’s tale by Margaret Attwood and 1984 by George Orwell are two novels that reveal the dark evils that happen in our society but die silently due to lack of voice and totalitarian rule by our governments and social institutions. There are many contributors to such dystopian life in the society; one of the issues has to do with the lack of power for the people. When the government is allowed to take full control of the peoples resources, social life and even economic strength, it is bound to do anything with them. In the novels we learn that people allow totalitarianship to rule over them because they have not come together to condemn it. A totalitarian government leads people by fear, manipulation and force. Due to this, people are not able to make much difference. Works Cited Atwood, Margaret. “The Handmaid's Tale” . Seal Books, 1985. Print Deboard, Guy. “Society of the Spectacle. A Black & Red translation, unauthorized”. Detroit, Mich. Black & Red, 1970. Print Foucault, Michel. “Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison”. Vintage Books, 1977. Print Orwell, George. “1984 (Signet Classics)”. Signet Classic, 1950. Print Read More