Power In The Handmaids Tale & Nineteen Eighty-Four

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“Politics really has to do with how people order their societies, to whom power is ascribed, who is considered to have power…” Margaret Atwood compare how the writers portray the concepts of power in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four.’ Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” (1986) and George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty Four” (1948) both represent a dystopian society. Throughout both novels the theme of power is dominant. The search for individualism and freedom highlights the strong sense of political power and the importance of this in society. Both of the novels explore different types of totalitarian states and the power within them. Margaret Atwood demonstrates the key theme of power through many literary techniques emphasised through the protagonist Offred who lives in the State of Gilead; similarly Orwell presents power in the State of Oceania and the Party of Big Brother. Atwood and Orwell through their novels both portray and highlight the extremist states that once existed and even exist in today’s society such as People’s Republic of China. The similarity between the totalitarian states in both of the novels and their narrative compared with modern times is undoubtedly clear and suggests they are warnings for future generations to come. Atwood stated of her novel “I didn’t invent anything in [the handmaid’s tale] and described as speculative fiction of the George Orwell variety. In the novel “The Handmaids Tale” violence is a key theme and is used as a way to control and scare the Handmaids to obeying the Aunt’s orders: “Aunt Sara and Aunt Elizabeth patrolled; they had electric cattle prods slung on thongs from their leather belts”. The Handmaids are treated like animals and the “electric cattle prod” emphasises the extreme uses of violence that is inflicted onto the handmaids if they do not obey orders, they are seen as inferior

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