As a critic, Atwood cautions to raise self – awareness therefore blocks the path which leads to totalitarian regime. The novel can certainly be interpreted as a caution about the consequences of continuous oppression of women and extreme gender inequity. The propagandist “Offred” is in the role of a handmaid under the new established regime. Her name is a patronymic which comprises the possessive preposition “of” and is followed by the name of her Commander. This shows she is an object labelled after and owned by her commander.
Jane arrives at Lowood as a passionate little girl, who is deeply resentful of her aunt and cousins, but through the influence of Helen Burns and Miss Temple, Jane learns to control her feelings, and be comfortable, "I had given in allegiance to duty and order...I believed I was content...I appeared a disciplined and a subdued character". Miss Temple acts as a strong role model to Jane, and holds the qualities which Jane aspires to have: kindness, sensitivity to suffering of others and is determination to eradicate injustice, "I had imbibed from her something of her nature and much of her habits". Miss Temple is the compassionate and non-discriminatory superintendent of Lowood School, who plays an important role in the emotional development of Jane. She is one of the first people Jane meets when she arrives at Lowood. The initial description of her carrying a lamp is symbolic that Miss Temple is a saintly figure who encourages Jane throughout Lowood.
She also is shown to correct people if they are wrong; "given the slightest chance she would exercise her royal prerogative: she would arrange, advise, caution and warn." Even her clothes are described as tight and restrictive. Miss Maudie on the other hand sets herself outside of the Maycomb conventionality and like Atticus, she stays within the bounds but follows her own code. Scout sees Aunt Alexandra in a bad light, she sees her as uptight as she is so different from her easygoing brothers. Scout wonders if she was switched at birth.
Then the guys they need to go into the world since they are an only volunteer and not committed as he is. The Big Nurse’s infatuation with control thoroughly explains her as being the face of the Combine. Although she is the face of the Combine, because she is excellent at getting people to do what she wants using force and coercing people with her fake mothers like mentality and false charm; she has her agenda. Nurse Ratched not only emasculates the patients but also can manipulate the doctors too. Then the staff into doing and
We first hear of Curley’s wife in chapter two, Candy feeds George and Lennie information about Curley’s wife before she enters the bunkhouse. Candy is preparing them for her, as if she will automatically bring trouble and woe. “Wait’ll you see Curley’s wife”…“she got the eye.” This is the first time we hear of Curley’s wife and we already feel uncomfortable towards her, Steinbeck is prejudicing the reader before we can construct our own opinion. However we also sympathise towards her at the start because we realise Curley's wife doesn’t have a real name. This shows us Curley uses he wife as a trophy and she was never given a name in the novel, she is only treated as a possession of Curley and how no one else on the ranch wanted to get to know her but avoid her instead.
It shows how their behaviour was almost pretence. When Mrs Birling is talking about Eva Smith she enhances her thoughts of being socially and morally superior and being a ‘snob’, by saying ‘girls of that class’. The emphasis on ‘that’ shows her disgust in the working class, almost as though the poor are by definition worthless. Sheila Birling is immediately thought to be an innocent and childlike character because she does as she is told and addresses her mother as ‘mummy’. Yet later in the play when the investigation is in progress, she refers to Mrs Birling as ‘mother’.
In 'The Handmaid's Tale', Atwood creates a very bleak future for the human race, portraying a world destroyed by corrupted morals in which women have had all of their rights removed. One of the fundamental ways that Atwood constructs the dystopia is by showing the manipulability of human nature. The women of Gilead have been stripped of their freedom, yet have simply grown to accept it. The way that Offred refers to her bedroom as "mine" shows how despite her attempts to rebel against the system, society stands no chance against the Gilead republic. The citizens' morals are becoming more re-shaped all the time, painting a very bleak future for the next generation as before long there will nobody to fight against the government oppression.
We see this when Jem says “I declare to the lord that you’re getting more like a girl every day” Here we see that Jem, however well educated by Atticus has fallen victim to prejudice helping the reader understand that however well meaning a person may be they still become influenced by the prejudice around them. Harper Lee uses Aunt Alexandra to illustrate what was expected of women at the time in a deliberately negative way. Scout observes this and says, “Aunt Alexandria’s deportment involved playing with small stoves, tea sets and wearing the adda-pearl necklace she gave me when I was born.” Aunt Alexandra’s view of life astonishes Scout and therefore emphasises the fact that her upbringing, up till now, has been a complete contrast to how other children would have been raised. We also find that gender prejudice does not only restrict girls in their choices but also boys. A key example is when Scout’s cousin Francis says “ Grandma’s a wonderful cook (…) She’s gonna teach me how.” Scout replies bluntly “Boys don’t cook” This reversely links with Jem’s prejudgment of girls an again reveals that even the children of a deeply unbiased and just man can become influenced by the ideas of a community.
Blanche then shows power and control over her sister to hide her exposed vulnerability by condescending Stella’s lifestyle and housing situation. This is shown in her explanations “Now, explain this place to me! What are you doing in a place like this?” Here this patronizing question emphasizes Blanches desperate need to gain power and feel more confortable in the situation. Blanche’s life is spiraling out of control and moving down the social scale, and the only place she still has power and control over is over her younger sister Stella. The concept of using ones vulnerabilities to another’s advantage to gain power is also show throughout
Instead of calling Curley’s wife by her name they say “Curley’s woman”, “a tart”, “the new kid and a jail bait”. If men talked to her more and started calling her by her name Curley’s wife wouldn’t flirt as much and would feel way more valuable than she did. She is first introduced by candy the swamper, who describes her from her perspective to George and Lennie. The fact that Curley’s wife is introduced through rumours means that the reader already has a negative impression of Curleys wife before she even enter the section. Candy mentions that “she got the eye” suggesting that she is flirtatious and immoral, she flirts with other