AN EXPLORATION OF TOTALITARIAN REGIMES IN DYSTOPIAN LITERATURE.
ABSTRACT
In George Orwell’s 1984, and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the dystopian futures imagined and depicted by these two ferociously challenged any notion of independence. This paper aims at scrutinizing the role of vision as a means of sustaining control and investigating the impending ways in which individuals preserve their humanity while at the same time determining whether there is something unassailable within the individual. It will further expose techniques in which the societies illustrated in showcase destruction on individual autonomy and ruminate all forms of inherent and personal resistance adept at overcoming both private and public subjugation. There are various forms of bodily resistance in The Handmaid’s Tale, which have been useful in establishing theories of escapism. This paper borrows several ideas from the works done by theorists to examine the concepts of regulation, surveillance, and selfhood. George Orwell’s, Animal Farm, is an apparent political allegory that recasts the participants of the Russian Revolution as animals(Sutherland,2016). For instance, Joseph Stalin can be compared to Napoleon, with Leon Trotsky corresponding to Snowball. The author is seen to set his story in a traditional fairy tale, fables, and folktales manner, as he went ahead to subtitle the novel, ‘A Fairy Story.’ It indicates that the story has fantastical elements that provide a pivotal moral lesson just as traditional tales. Atwood’s indebtedness to Orwell’s 1984 will be discussed concerning surveillance and its effect on people. Attention will be paid to form and its role in revealing Gilead’s regulation, evident at a narrative level throughout the novel. A close analysis will be done on the sexualization of vision introduced before expanding into other forms of ‘looking’ and regulation. The internal and external states will be explored in this paper, with the body occupying a more central position as a result of Atwood’s attentiveness to the female condition. The paper will demonstrate how even in societies practicing surveillance, the human can find a means of escape.
Introduction
The Handmaids Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, basically lives the life of Offred, who is a protagonist. The narrative illustrates the life of Offred in a dystopian world; in theory, her life takes place in the United States of America(Lowne,2017). The novel majorly focuses on how women have lost all of their rights. Women, including Offred, are compelled to be handmaids, and they all dream of escaping. The theocracy uses women as sex slaves and to bear their white children.
Animal Farm, on the other hand, is written by George Orwell, and the narrative mostly depicts the 1917 Russian Revolution. In the narrative, Orwell tried to show how Stalin led to the fall of the Socialist revolution in the Soviet Union (Chalupa,2012). He also exposed the Soviet myth in a narrative that can easily be related and easily translated into different languages. He employs the use of animals to tell his story. Through the animals, he illustrates how a leader can lead to the fall of ideals in society. There are several ways in which the narrative functions as a satire of the Soviet Union through the way it openly critiques the shortcomings of the system of government with particular emphasis on injustices (Sutherland,2016). Even though it is set out as an allegorical connection to historical fiction, the narrative is not historical fiction. It has the aim of heightening the reader’s awareness, alerting them on what has happened in the novel, and by extension in the early twentieth century in Russia could replicate itself in today’s society.
The sudden prominence of these novels reflects a renewed public interest in decades-old works of speculative fiction as guides for understanding our current political moment. This paper will discuss the increase in the number of readers who are grappling with a jolting shift in American politics when easily verifiable facts are subject to debate and civil liberties, and democratic norms feel fragile, are turning to dystopian novels for guidance and insight.
Relation of 20th Century Totalitarian Regimes to Real-Life Events in the Control of Society
George Orwell’s’ 1984 does not describe any possible sign on the existence of political repression and thought control, whether now or in the societies described. Orwell’s work, a dystopian novel showcasing a world characterized by the authoritarian thought control was the must-read book across all of America after Donald Trump’s inauguration. In current times, democracy seems to feel it is as powerful as ever, or we desire it to be. The courts, ‘on an island in the Pacific,’ ties up Donald Trump’s immigration orders painlessly with the ratings on the existing anti-Trump rants heading for the roof if they are not yet beyond it if what we see on our television screens is anything to go by (Soule,2017). Trump, the bogeyman in the night, as the society portrays him, seems to fade with each morning’s sunrise of policy reversals and statements like, “I don’t stand by anything.” The White House and the Republican-dominated Congress barely agree on a few basics, such as a budget.
The animals in Animal farm depict leaders establish thought control by making the facts unclear with smokescreens. This relates to the Trump administration through more than one way. The Wall Street executives from wall street who were harshly criticized by Trump for getting away with murder are now in charge. The narrative depicts that governance in the farm was filled with feel-good slogans and false agendas. The false agendas and feel-good slogans are depicted by Trump as he came up with drain the swamp mantra. The pigs, due to the fear of losing their power, issued threats as a tactic of binding the other animals. Trump administration is equal to that of the pigs as he issues threats to Mexican Rapists. Trump, in his leadership, deleted a once tweeted message of how he was honoured to host the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas at the white house.
The narrative also anticipated the political aspect of the twentieth century through the phenomenon of fake news. The narrative illustrated fake news by the story of the Battle of the cowshed, which was told over and over with false reports added as the pigs started squabbling.
The Russian revolution relates to some extent in Orwell’s Animal Farm. The relation comes about as Mr. Jones and his fellow humans represent the West capitalists. The pigs, on the other hand, represent the Russian revolution leaders, and the animals are displacing the capitalist system of humans with their communal system (Chalupa,2012). The Animal Farm revolution aligns itself with the Russian revolution that employed communism in an innovative, allegorical, and creative way.
The role and character of Old Major represent the founder of communism popularly known as Karl Max and Vladimir Lenin, who propelled the Russian revolution intending to have a state that would be Marxist and communist informed. On the other hand, Napoleon, a character in the narrative, represents Joseph Stalin, a leader of Russia who followed the steps of Lenin and persisted Russians to push into communism. Communism would, in turn, become a corrupt version of communism and the idea that Karl max had about it. Leon Trotsky, a politician of the soviet and theorist who stood beside and supported Stalin until he eventually differed with his ideologies in politics, is represented by the character of Snowball. The relation of Trotsky and Snowball comes about where Trotsky is kicked out of Russia for conflicting with Stalin. The same happens to snowball, and he is kicked out of the farm for conflicting with Napoleon, who remained in power.
Napoleon takes advantage of his power and uses it to acquire more power making the life of other animals difficult and abandons all communism goals, which was to have a society free from class. The power of owning the means of production and labour was to be for the animals alone. The goals were not achieved, and the life of animals worsened day by day, communism was abandoned, and they lost control of producing goods. Stalin leaves a similar path of corruption and embezzlement.
Animal farm depicts that capitalism, under the leadership of Mr. Jones, is corrupt. It also suggests that communism can be corrupted as it led by Napoleon and his historic alignment, Stalin. The narrative not only explains the indictment of communism, but it also depicts how a system placed in society through manipulation can be destroyed. The end of the narrative illustrates that there is no system better than the other, that is the system of capitalism, and communism can both be corrupted. The animals in their quest for the communist revolution fail as it abandons the ideals set out.
The system of communism, which is in real life, is depicted in Orwell’s narrative of the Animal’s farm. Even though Orwell did not outline or comment on communism, the society depicted by the animals aligns with the start of the Russian Revolution. The notion that all animals should share equally from the wealth made by their general labour is at the centre of Marx’s idea.
In the 1930s, when the narrative was published, communism was alive, and nobody needed any explanation. Orwell aimed to illustrate how power-hungry individuals can destroy the pursuit of an ideal society. The same was depicted by Napoleon, who destroyed the whole set up of communism in the animal farm by embezzlement and corruption.
Dictatorship is observed in many states in current times is illustrated in the narrative Animal Farm. The beginning of the narrative illustrates Napoleon and Snowball serving as monarchs and put down the seven commandments as their constitution. The drafting of the commandment depicts dictatorship as other animals are not involved in the drafting of the commandments. At the end of the narrative, napoleon is granted all the power and uses it to get what he wants and feed the animals with propaganda. It is illustrated in the text where it states, “If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be true.’ ” page 56. An example is page 55, when the author writes, ” ‘I trust that every animal here appreciates the sacrifice that Comrade Napoleon has made in taking this extra labour upon himself. Do not imagine.”
Democracy is defined as a government of the people, and the power is in the people’s hands or elected representatives. At the start of the novel, the animals take over the farm from Jones. The next step is Old Major giving the animals the right to vote. All animals elect leaders, and it is illustrated in the text, “Let us put it to the vote. I propose this question to the meeting: Are rats comrades? The vote was taken at once, and an overwhelming majority agreed that rats were comrades.” page 10. Old major continues by stating, ” All animals are equal.” on page 11. The text also states, ” The work of teaching and organizing fell naturally upon the pigs, who were generally recognized as being the cleverest of all animals.” page 15.
The entire narrative illustrates the change of one type of government to another. In the exodus of the narrative, the government system was democratic, and all animals for the largest part of it were equal (Sutherland,2016). As the narrative proceeded, the rights of the animals progressively diminished until there was pretty much no rights at all.although the pig’s rights increased up to the point they had complete power. The same is evident in today’s world, wherein many states, a group of people, mostly the wealthy, have more rights than others. At the end of the novel, the system became a completely totalitarian state, and the pigs fully controlled animals. Animal farm by Orwell evolved from a democratic system to a constitutional monarchy, then to a dictatorship and finally a totalitarian state.
The narrative illustrates a tyrannical government, and various chapters show different characters in power using tyranny in their ruling. In the beginning chapters, the farm is under the control of Mr. Jones and his fellow humans; under him, there is an extremely tyrannical government where animals are underfed overworked, and they are generally unhappy. The animals are afraid of the totalitarian government and, as a result, do nothing but comply with it. The situation changes for a while where the pigs take over power from the humans, and the animals stop fearing the government but trust in it. In the process of animals trusting the government, the amount of tyranny reduces. At the beginning of the take over the pigs allow for all animals to vote in decisions affecting the farm; as a result, the farm becomes a happy place to live in. However, as Napoleon becomes power-hungry, he begins to take things into his own hands and makes decisions for the farm as well as relating with the humans who, as per the implied rule, are the enemies.
The government by Napoleon is tyrannical as he forces animals to confess in participating in the conspiracy together, Snowball, and kills all who confess. He goes ahead and cuts the rations of the hens so that they could submit their eggs to him and as a result, nine hens die(Sutherland,2016). Even though the animals trust Napoleon and do not fear the government, the government is tyrannical as the animals are brainwashed in believing that Napoleon is doing the right thing. In real life, many states are under totalitarian governments by either fearing the government or the government taking advantage of the power bestowed upon them.
George Orwell’s, Animal Farm, maintained the idea of thought control through obscuring the facts with smokescreens, making the allegory to Trump’s administration spot on. There was a time when the Wall Street Executives were once lambasted by Trump and described him as being able to ‘get away with murder.’ The same executives are now in-charge of various sectors in the economy. In his day, Trump described China as a ‘currency manipulator,’ he is now using the same ‘currency manipulators’ as strategic allies in fending off North Korea. Initially, Trump had openly criticized the golf outings his predecessor yet as at now, and he has been transformed into a golf course habitué, an actual depiction of the happenings in the Animal Farm.
When analyzing the Animal Farm, it is understood to serve as both a warning and a social critique. Being an open allegory to the Russian communist revolution, and the corruption of the movement’s original ideals by Joseph Stalin, the dictator. On the other hand, Trump, the populist, has offered unprecedented access to a number of the largest corporations in America in exchange for their millions of dollars. The entire façade of governance in Animal Farm was meant to placate the sheep, horses, and chickens with false agendas and feel-good slogans. Cleary, ‘drain the swamp.’ Slogan by Trump would have been an appropriate Animal Farm slogan on improving the infrastructure. The pigs were worried they would lose control of the farm and went ahead to create an imaginary threat as a tactic to blind their subjects. There is no difference with the stunt that Trump made an effort using the alert on Mexican rapists.
As a reader and a citizen of the free world, the stories contained in dystopian novels create a familiarity with the current happenings. These stories offer moral clarity at a time when keeping up with the conversations stemming from daily news circles. The fire hose of disinformation and information is uncontrollable on social media can prove to be very difficult for the common folk.
In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood portrays the powerful as having reduced the fertile women to mere slaves used for reproduction for the infertile wives of the elites (Lowne,2017). There was a time when hundreds of thousands of women had gathered around Washington to demonstrate the inauguration of Donald Trump; remarkably, the posters they lifted had referenced Atwood’s, ‘Make Margaret Atwood Fiction Again!’ The Handmaid’s Tale is among the few dystopian novels which seem to be resonating well with the readers who are experiencing heightened anxiety as a result of the state of democracy in present-day America.
The Handmaid’s Tale relates to real-life situations, as many instances in the narrative depict the same. Atwood, in an interview the year the book was published, compiled news paperclips, and presented them in the interview to illustrate her plot in the narrative was based out of real-life situations. The narrative illustrated America with its embrace of convertase, evidenced by the election of Donald Reagen as president. Another instance was the increased power of the Christian Right and powerful organizations such as the Moral Majority, focus on the family and family, Christian coalition, and the rise of televangelism.
At the time, the narrative was published, not everyone in the US government opposed the apartheid regime in South Africa. The vice president Dick Cheney was not for the idea of releasing president trump (Lowne,2017). In her narrative relating to the apartheid in South America, Atwood stated that African Americans were resettled to “National Homelands” in the Midwest.
Atwood, in the narrative, discusses feminism in all types of manner, and it has even gone a step further and interpreted in the book of Genesis as a commentary on sexism. Some of the theories discussed by Atwood were not just speculations of the results of religious rights taking over the ruling in America; rather, it was based on something happening in another place. She continues by stating that Nicolai Ceausescu inspired a part of the novel in his preoccupation with increasing birth rates in women in Romania that resulted in policing of pregnant women and the banning of abortion and birth control. In the part where the offspring of the lower class was given to the ruling class derived from Argentina, where a military junta got into power in 1976 and as a result, over 500 children disappearing who were placed with several chosen leaders.
Her narrative became relatable with women as they protested laws that intended to restrict their reproductive freedom. In Trump’s, authoritarian tendencies, together with his vice president, anti-gay, and anti-abortion belief, led to women protesting wearing handmaids costumes(Lowne,2017). The Women’s March that was inspired by Trump’s inauguration depicted the narrative where women protested in the streets for their rights being violated.
The narrative by Atwood also depicts women human rights their violation and the fight for their rights. The narrative in its beginning illustrates the naivety of women and them not understanding their rights are equal as that of their male counterparts, thus allowing themselves to be deprived of all their rights and Lord over by men. The same is seen in real life where many women in different communities see themselves as inferior, and they do not deserve equality.
Women in the narrative, as depicted by Atwood, are not involved in making choices about their bodies; the regime decides on what women should do with their bodies. In real life, during current times, women’s choices and rights on their bodies are decided by the leaders who comprise largely of male leaders (Okupe,2019). In countries such as Saudi Arabia, women’s dressing is decided by their leaders who are men.
The Handmaid’s Tale illustrates young girls getting married before they are of age girls were married off at 16 years. The totalitarian regime allowed young girls to get married; the same is seen in countries all over the world. the government is condoning child marriages and, at the same time, abolishing sex outside marriage.
The government in Gilead has considered a totalitarian one women fear the regime and have no voice in the government. They are compelled to do what the regime thinks is right. The same can be observed in real life where during the 90s, restrictions were placed on women in Afghanistan when a Mujahiahideen commander abducted and raped three women. Taliban then vowed to restore law and order, he exiled the Afghanistan president and took control from him. A totalitarian government occurs where the use of violence overthrows a leader.
The regime in The Handmaid’s Tale is a dictatorial one; the leaders make laws and decisions without involving the citizens(Lowne,2017). In real life, the dictatorship was observed in the ruling of Vladimir Putin. The totalitarianism, on the other hand, was depicted by Adolf Hitler in his ruling in Germany during the world war.
Atwood depicts the Gilead society as a totalitarian one as it uses language in effecting its power; an example is where commanders have sex with the handmaids, and this is referred to as ceremony. The term handmaids, which should be a religious term, actually refers to women as reproductive objects. The idea behind language is that governments use it to gain emotional support from society(Lowne,2017). Governments that are theocracy, such as Gilead in real-life use religious terms and allusions in the bible to get infinite power from the people.
The totalitarian government in Gilead depicts how leaders make choices of the people most, especially women, and how women, due to fear, have a novice in the government and also in their homes. The same is depicted in real life where the Sharia law depicts millions of women under the oppression propelled by men. In Russia and China, religious minorities and homosexuals are persecuted daily.
Exploring Various Methods Used In Dystopian Literature.
Animal Farm got its author Orwell into trouble, as his book is considered to be one of the most spectacular emperor-has-no-clothes books. Individuals who single out the uncomfortably obvious, are likely to be emphatically baa-ed at by a flock of irate sheep as they run counter on the existing popular wisdom (Aron,2017). The pattern in animal farm is portrayed very clear. George Orwell later wrote the book 1984, to a majority of readers, it was a bit more realistic with the main character Winston Smith with his skinny frame was subjected to physical education under chilly conditions but often got tired but was silently at odds with the ideas and manner of life which was proposed to him. Winston had a desire to make a record of his forbidden thoughts, mostly scribbling his views on it.
Animal Farm falls into the category of dystopian literature as it depicts a world in which the characters strive to have a utopian society. However, their efforts end up in a world far worse than the one they changed (George,2013). From the beginning of the narrative, it is clear the animals would fail, as Orwell puts across their endeavours as a revolution. By simple definition, a revolution is one full 360 turn. As per the meaning, it means that the animals, in their efforts to change their lives they will face the same problems they faced before.
Old Major’s ideal of animals working for the betterment of their kind rather than for the humans, propels the formation of animalism. Just like most revolutions, the principles that form the revolution are aligned to serve the needs of the people leading the revolution. Napoleon, the pig, and his ally Snowball fight for the betterment of the pigs and not for all animals. Snowball is kicked out of the farm as he is as a threat to the autocratic rule of Napoleon. The autocratic rule of Napoleon shows evidence that the narrative is dystopian.
The farm animals, because of their loyalty and belief to the principles of animalism, are easily manipulated. Their blind adherence to animalism principles leads to the formation of a series of commandments. Apart from the commandments, the mantra that “Two legs bad, four legs good!” is formed, resulting in a list of rules modified to the betterment of pigs, yet all animals must abide by them. The effect of this favouritism on the pigs leads to the downfall of the animals.
Betrayal, as depicted by Orwell in the narrative, is illustrated by the pigs lead by Napoleon. The betrayal is evidenced by the slaughter of Boxer, the royal horse. The end of the narrative shows a modification of the commandments reading that all animals are equal. However, some animals are equal to others. The pigs live in the farmhouse, wear clothes, sleep in beds, and drink alcohol, all of which symbolize the previous human regime. In the end, animals are unable to differentiate the pigs from the humans they trade with. For example, in chapter 10, Clover states that “No question now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which”.
George Orwell uses the style of flashback all through the text. From the narrative, it states that animals who could remember life before the change know that their life was worse than before. On the other hand, some animals could not remember a time where pigs were not rulers, and dogs served as police and guards. Generally, by the farm animals striving for a utopian society makes the narrative to be regarded as dystopian.
The narrative employs the power of language in the narrative. Language in the narrative is a tool used in manipulating and controlling animals to bring about change. Napoleon and Squealer regularly abuse the power of language to manipulate animals. The previous ideology of Old major is twisted and distorted. Equal as per the narrative was the term commonly abused as pigs preached for equality every single time, yet they did the opposite. The accusation of snowball for everything going wrong on the farm is a way of manipulation.
Orwell uses Paradox in the narrative where he puts across that “all animals are equal, but some animals are equal than others.” The Paradox aims to emphasize the corruption of authority. Songs poems and slogans are styles used to serve as propaganda and idealize the dictator.
In Atwood’s narrative, The Handmaid’s Tale, there is the use of dialog evidence of dystopian literature. The lack of quotation marks is evidence of the use of dialog throughout the narrative. Dialog in the narrative is used to outline personal thoughts and feelings. Many people reviewing the narrative conclude that the quotation marks used in the dialogue are erroneous mistakes that were not corrected by the editor(Lowne,2017). New research, however, denotes that statements with quotation marks illustrate real dialog. An example in the narrative includes the statement. “The war is going well, I hear,” she says.
“Praise be,” I reply.
“we’ve been sent good weather.”
“Which I receive with joy.”
“they’ve defeated more of the rebels, since yesterday.”
“praise be,” I say. I don’t ask her how she knows what were they?”
“Baptists. They had a stronghold in the Blue Hills. They smoked them out.”
“Praise be.”
The absence of quotation marks shows dialog in her memory. Atwood uses quotation marks when she is outlining dialog in the present, as it is occurring. When the dialog occurs in the past, that is in her memory, and the quotes are not present. In the example above, the quotation marks appear where the statement is in the present tense, and they are not used in the past tense.
Atwood employs the style of introspective and nonlinear throughout the text. Incorporation of introspective and nonlinear styles illustrate the dystopian literature. The style is present where the narrative weaves together past and present stories of Offred. All through the novel Offredseparates from her current environment and narrates past events, an example includes here being married to Luke and the time she was in Red Center. She admits that she gets acquires her descriptions from memory as she does not know how to write.
The Handmaids tale employs the use of multi clause sentences, a style often used in dystopian literature. Offred during the ceremony describes the bedroom in detail, even if she is unable to see it. “What I would see, if I were to open my eyes, would be[…]only the canopy, which manages to suggest at the same time, by the gauziness of its fabric and its heavy downward curve, both ethereality, and matter.” The revelation depicted in an autobiographical manner illustrates that in Offred’s case finding beauty and meaning where she can is a survival tactic and also a form of resistance.
Margaret uses the fragmented storytelling technique in “The Handmaid’s Tale” by implementing the use of puzzles that the readers are supposed to join as they read. This method creates anxiety upon the reader to keep them reading. Atwood has also applied the aspect of consciousness throughout the narrative (Coakley,2015). She juggles the three tenses of past, present, and future. By applying the three tenses, the reader is in a position to recognize and separate the various episodes of time referred to by the protagonist offred. Using chapter 13 as an example, she states, “I used to think of my body as an instrument.” The word ‘used’ in the statement refers to past tense showing how the society they presently live in has changed over a given period. The use of structures of time in the novel, Atwood links the dystopian fiction genre by showing the changes a totalitarian state has on the society(Lowne,2017). By introducing the reader to the past, the consequence is they can be separated from the present. The separation allows flaws that would proceed into the future to be exposed.
In chapter 6, aunt Lydia uses the time to create their reality, where she states, “it will become ordinary.” The statement shows how she depicts the societal future and how the inappropriate ways of the current times will be the usual way of life. The Gilead regime has also used the time to facilitate itself, and this shows how it applies in dystopian fiction, such as in Orwell’s 1984. Gilead safeguards pieces of the past in his mind that the state had not destroyed to remember how the world was before the regime came up.
Atwood employs random combinations of flashbacks to put the reader in the shoes of women whose lives had were built upon Gilead’s way of life. The method achieves its purpose by leaving the readers in a confused state and disorientation, just like the subjects in the story. Flashbacks and referring to the past suggest to shows the reader how the current society that has taken over has become monstrous. For example, by looking at the singing career of Serena joy and Gilead shows how women are restricted to specific roles in the society and how Serena joy is in a position of pursuing her talent because of the regime.
The acceptance of violence in The Handmaid’s Tale is just one of the many ways of how the narrative aligns with the features of dystopian fiction. The brutality at the salvaging is an example of how society has embraced using violence as a means of punishment for wrongdoers. The way handmaids attack prisoners has a description of animalistic, and it just shows how state intervention has led to the abandonment of morality. By the regime controlling women and forcing them into submission has encouraged immorality for the society to function. As a result of the regime, the women’s loyalty is to the state, and they can attack and harm another person when ordered to do so. Violence in the novel is a way of showing allegiance to the regime and a solution to problems the state faces. The narrative by the desensitization of violence depicts characteristics of dystopian fiction.
Different points of view have been used to explain Offred’s experiences in Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.” At a point, she uses the first person to help the reader visualize her view of the world at that time. At another time, Offred expresses her mind’s thinking through a series of flashbacks the first person point of view has helped put the reader at the speaker’s position; hence more details are emotional triggers.
Orwell matched the names of the pigs to their characters symbolically. She names Snowball according to the revolution process where the resemblance of the ruling animals to that of humans reveals (“snowballs”) itself. Napoleon’s name was derived from his lust for power, which made him almost unstoppable while pursuing his ambitions. Squealer’s name is symbolical to his character of being noisy and argue some. It is from his character that he was made Napoleon’s minister for propaganda.
Margret uses foreshadowing in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ when she narrates the scene where aunt Lydia was stretching her hands to the narrator as a sign of both offering and invitation (Howard,2019). She later realized that she was talking about the speaker’s hands and not hers. She meant for the narrator to hold a future which could be held but not seen. By saying that the narrator’s lord was in heaven and heaven was within, Atwood used parody to hide sense within humour in her narrative.
In “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Offred portrays superstition when the writer says that her word one was etched with Latin words. The words were said to be a warning from Offred’s childhood, which is identical to her present. The words are also said to be from other errors that comfort her by letting her know she was never alone. However, she isolated herself in her bedroom.
The imagery was used in “The Handmaid’s Tale” to explain how Offred preserved memories on her mattress by covering it with sheets. The narrator says that the memories were preserved like delicate dried petals of a flower.
Explore ways in which George Orwell’s other novel, animal farm, as the political allegory in his work alongside my other chosen novels, successfully highlights the fearsome future many feared within the 20th century.
In Orwell’s 1984, all of the things depicted come true, with the novel being pessimistic, gloomy and bleak. The society portrayed in this narrative is one ruled by fear. In Oceania, there is no freedom of speech, a typical dystopian society. The author goes ahead to re-imagine the world’s geography as he remaps the borders of the countries. Orwell establishes a perpetual war between three giant nations: Eurasia, Oceania, and Eastasia. Oceania is comprised of England and the Americas, where the novel is set. The state is controlled by a regime known as ‘The Party,’ and an all-seeing law enforcement entity known as ‘Big Brother.’ The novel’s title suggests a future setting, especially with it being written in 1948, the title comprising of reversed numbers. What if 1984 is just a state of mind and not the future? The author wrote the novel right after World War II, which had utterly created a pessimistic climate. The prescience of the novel is that it does not describe a distant dystopian future, as its setting is pretty close to home.
Orwell’s forecast of fake news in his novel, “Animal Firm,” might have been a result of his political conversance. The events of humans’ replacement from the firm were spiced with all kinds of fake news. This faking of the story was fueled by the need to rotate the facts often. Owing to this, Snowball, Battle of the Cowshed’s hero, was found out to have collaborated with humans. This event relates to Trump’s deleted tweet, which expressed gratitude towards the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, for his visit to the White House. When the Barn wall writings were altered due to political necessity, the animals could not remember the original writings or their changing process.
Sean Spicer’s place was well represented on Orwell’s peace by the pigs’ representative, Squealer. Squealer’s role was to reconcile critical cases and implementing the ridiculousness of the pigs’ administration. His among others are the crème-de-la-crème events covered by the book. In America, the presidential elections which were worn by President Donald Trump were said to have interference from the Russian government. Donald Trump now owes the Russian powers for facilitating his victory and shows motives to play by their rules without considering the consequences upon his state.
Russia’s political failures were also addressed where the human’s rule was replaced by that of pigs who promised to reorient the community along with egalitarian ways by, for example, rewarding animal workers for working on a liberal firm. Orwell perceived this event as being identical to that which Russia’s Stalin embraced a quashing system of corruption and the Gulag camps. The pigs later resembled the human in most doings and forewent their promise for change.
The Russian revolution can be said to be an allegory of the Russian revolution with the rise of Joseph Stalin. in the narrative, Orwell demonstrates the harm that comes with Utopian projects, that have the risk of propelling into totalitarian nightmares like Stalin’s USSR or the Animal farm under Napoleon. Old major is a figure of Karl Marx who makes the animals recognize their oppression and call for revolution. Snowball relates to Leon Trotsky, a hero of the Red Army. Napoleon’s relation with the human illustrates the Nazi-soviet non-aggression pact .just like Hitler, Napoleon’s team attack the animal farm and brings destruction to the windmill. Napoleon, in another scenario, depicts Stalin, where he uses bloody to effect fear and control in the animals.
Explore the cultural history and identify the social panics that came from restrictions and dehumanizing of these regimes set in the 20th century.
“The Handmaid’s Tale,” which takes place in the near-future United States, known as Gilead. As a totalitarian regime has taken power and stripped women of their civil rights, it was published 32 years ago (Fraser,2019). However, in recent months, Ms. Atwood has been hearing from anxious readers who see eerie parallels between the novel’s oppressive society and the current Republican administration’s policy goals of curtailing reproductive rights. Atwood’s book cautions against oppressive patriarchy while educating the masses about the dangers of the current political and societal structures.
Shelden (1991) quoted a letter sent by Orwell to Dwight Macdonald in The United States of America, communicating that he had motives to write Animal Farm. Orwell was trying to change the negative perception of his book amongst readers. He admitted intending the book for satire to the Russian government. However, his only intention was to illustrate the kind of revolution that can cause radical changes in a government if the masses stay alert and know how to eliminate leaders that have performed their duties. He emphasized that if the other animals were alert and took action when the pigs hid the milk for themselves, things would have gone right—the negative perception of Orwell’s book insight people against such leadership.
The treatment of Russian civilians is illustrated in Orwell’s book Animal Farm, where Boxer and Napoleon represent them, represents the Russian government. A third character, Mollie, is used in comparing the Russian people’s status to that which they would be in if they contributed nothing towards their revolution (Jeremiah,2015). Boxer is dutiful while molly is Lazy and cowardice as she avoids work and Mr. Jone’s attack mission to hide underneath the hay. Boxer then supported Napoleon’s takeover of power. However, Napoleon still got rid of Boxer when he could no longer be of service to him. Russian people are said to be abandoned by the government when they can no longer provide services for the nation.
Claims from people like Michael Shelden and Peter Davison(an author) implied that Orwell was influenced during his Spain visit, which led to his intentions to demote the people’s beliefs in Soviet communism through the book when he returned (Shelden, 1991, p. 399). Peter Davison went ahead to say that apart from the Spain visit, Orwell’s childhood had an impact on his book’s motive. According to Peter, Orwell admitted using art in writing the book to promote his political motives in an essay he wrote with the title, “Why I Write.” Nobody wanted to publish the book after Orwell wrote it.
The animals rebelled against Jones by braking into store-shed after he failed to feed them due to drunkenness. Jones and his men were beaten by the animals when they arrived and started whipping the animals. Later on, the animals got rid of Jones’s traces and celebrated his disappearance. The animals’ struggle for freedom was succeeded by Ukrainian civilians during their fight for independence in the 1990s when it declared sovereignty following the Soviet Union’s unravels in 1990. In 1991, Ukraine attained independence, and The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was dissolved. These actions were a result of people’s rebellion against Poland and Russian reign upon Ukraine.Address the difference in control and restrictions placed on both men and women. Is there a pattern, or are both treated the same when under a state’s repression? Who is most likely to conform, and who is to reject?
Overt and physical forms of control often typify dystopian fiction, an example being Orwell’s projection of the future of “a boot stamping on a human face forever” in the classic novel 1984. The governing authorities in the text 1984 are all-consuming and totalitarian, as they are portrayed as enforcers of fear and violence in varying degrees as effective tools of control, all in a bid of maintaining the dystopia. In 1984, Orwell depicted the Party’s ideology that power belongs to “who controls the past controls the future.”
Female characters are given less opportunity and minor roles in the book, “Animals Firm. “The book features only about three female characters and about fifteen male characters. This distribution of roles is a representation of North Korea’s situation where men are the most supreme in a house setting and have more opportunities in participating in the making and implementation of laws. This treatment persists despite the larger contribution of women to the country’s development. Similarly, women make 91% of men’s contribution to Washington DC’s economy.
Gilead is faced with a shocking shortage of children, and healthy fertile women are forced to bear children of the commanders. The situation is the way it is as the wives of commanders are infertile. In the narrative, Offred before the Regime had placed much meaning in her life before she was made a handmaid, and her dreams came crushing. Offred’s body previously used for pleasure and freedom, and currently, it only revolves around one body organ. The feeling of Offred towards her body is the same as how the whole society in Gilead views women; as a result, women will more likely reject the rule.
While the men are getting an education and broadening their knowledge, women in the regime are restricted from education and knowledge. In the world that Offred lives in, women are controlled by limiting their access to knowledge. The limiting of knowledge is by, whom they communicate with and restricting their sources of information. Films filled with Propaganda are shown to convince viewers of the horrible horrors they may face outside the regime. Bugging of public spaces has an aim of eves dropping on all conversations. All these restrictions on women make them reject the rule.
Orwell narrated that during Napoleon’s rule, females’ roles were distinct from those of males according to the activities involved. The males were involved in heavy and more risky activities while females engaged in light-weight activities. For example, the farm animals once complained that cocks were made to fight with razor blades tied to their spurs. All over the world, countries have assigned more men than women, duties in the military where their lives are at risk. This is due to the perception that males are less susceptible to death than females.
The publication year of Animal Farm was 1945. This year was an important time in history as it was marked the beginning of women taking roles and attributes that were previously for men only. In relating to this time, Orwell, in his narrative, illustrated Clover as literate, she could read a little but not greatly. Literacy at the time was male inclined, and by a woman taking up the role of literacy was a huge step.
In the ruling of the pigs, gender plays an important role in the hierarchy of power. The division of roles of pigs according to gender has taken place where female pigs are used as objects by Napoleon to have children, and that is their only role. From the example, gender discrimination is observed as female pigs have the lowest role in the farm, while the male pigs assist Napoleon in the ruling.
Misogyny during the time that the novel was published was still alive, and much more surprisingly, it was included in the text. Orwell depicts misogyny in the narrative by his description of Clover the mare. He describes Clover in a statement stating, “Who had never quite got her figure back after the fourth foal.” Although the statement might seem like a normal comment in current times, when looking and taking note of the time of the narrative, it is a clear judgment.
Patriarchal pigs in the narrative feature gender discrimination, by Napolean, Snowball, and Squealer, being the only pigs described shows high levels of gender discrimination. As noted in the narrative, only male pigs are mention and absolutely nothing about the female pigs. Feminists have taken note of how females are not regarded equally as men on the farm or even mentioned.
The objectifying of hens in the text just shows how gender insensitive the novel. Napoleon declared that hens must surrender 400 eggs every week, and this is the only time mentioning of hens appeared in the novel. By hens, being objectified as a source of income shows the different roles and levels placed by gender. The role of hens was to provide men with eggs on the farm.
The gender patterns in the narrative evidence that the treatment of males and females is not at all equal. Females in the narrative play as minor characters. For example, Mollie is a character in the animal farm representing the females as the minority. In the text, she is there only as a pretty face, who abandons the rise of animalism as soon as it begins. The males in the text have traits such as brave, risk-takers, and aggression, females, on the other hand, such as Mollie, have traits such as weak, cowardly, and lazy.
Orwell has dominated the novel with male characters, and most of the characters who have names are male pigs (Frank,2014). The mentioning of a female pig comes only at the end of the novel. The female pig was Mrs. Jones, where it stated: “While his favorite sow appeared in the watered silk dress which Mrs. Jones had been used to wear on Sundays.”
The narrative cannot be said to treat females and males equally, and the commandment changed evidenced that fact females are equal to others.” The commandment came about due to pigs becoming like men and thus ruling over other animals. The whole picture of changing of a commandment because of male pigs just shows how the regarding of the male gender is higher than the female one.
The Handmaid’s Tale depicts a woman as a ruthless being who is accorded less power than a man but still uses the little power to cause trouble. For example, the handmaids brutally chock men accused of rape by encircling them before killing them wildly. They also executed their fellows accused of betraying the state.
Treatment of men and women as per The HandsmaidsTale cannot be said to be equal. The stripping of women of their human rights, unlike their male counterparts, shows clear evidence of unequal treatment of both genders. The narrative shows women restricted from their human rights as well as their economic rights. Women were unable to access financial institutions as the regime ensured the closure of their bank accounts, depicting denial of their economic rights. Furthermore, after closing of the bank accounts, husbands retained contents in those accounts. The regime required employers to fire all female employees, and this had a consequence of ending women’s rights to work.
The categorization of roles in the handmaid tale is through one’s gender. Women in the narratives were in six distinctive groups handmaids, aunts, unwomen, Marthas, economies, and wives. All the distinctive groups had different roles. The problem with the division was that women, unlike men, could not change their status. Women could only change their status by becoming a unwoman and being sent to the colonies.
Treatment of both genders, according to The Handmaid Tale, is unequal. Fertility in the narrative determines a woman’s role in society; on the other hand, a man’s fertility does not hold anything against him. Assignment to a given group and the roles that followed with the group relied upon a woman’s ability to be fertile. The culture presented by Atwood clearly showed the disregard of women in society.
The role of men in The Handmaid’s Tale comprised of protecting the nation and providing for their families, women, on the other hand, were objectified, and their sole role was bearing children. Feminists all over the world always fight against objectification of women, at the time of publishing of the book, objectification and gender discrimination were still alive. Atwood incorporated live events from the society at the time.
In Atwood’s narrative, the social structure is very strict. In Gilead’s regime, men and women have very distinct roles. Powerful men who are aged get official privileges that include marriages that younger men do not get. Women, on the other hand, have castes that are well defined than those of men. Very few women work outside their private homes. Wives have the role of acting like ladylike consorts men in power, and they have the duty of administering their houses. Marthas, on the other hand, are house servants who carry out most of the work, and the wives take part in handicrafts. Because of nuclear pollution, not many women are fertile, and so are their male counterparts. Even though both men and women are faced with the same situation of infertility, women’s infertility has majored on more than the males. Because of the situation, it is tough to bear children, and children born suffer from various malformations. To counter the problem, the Gileadean state assigns handmaids to high –status homes where the wife is infertile.
The role of women in The Handmaids Tale depicts various roles. The wives have the role of standing loyally behind their husbands who have the role of being commanders. They are generally infertile women tasked with expanding the Gilead’s population through assistance from the handmaids. Their infertility, however, is not always confirmed, and an example is where Serena and Water ford, a conclusion is made that Fred is unable to reproduce. Even though the wives have a high financial status in the Gilead society, they are considered lessor because of their gender.
The major role of wives in the Gilead society was during the ceremony, which was a practice of ritualized rape. Their role was holding the arms of the handmaid in the rape. The men have the role of impregnating handmaids and ensuring the reproduction of their handmaids. Impregnating the handmaids was a choice that the commanders had, whereas handmaids were compelled into being fertilized.
The role of men and women in Atwood’s narrative are distinct. The distinction is whereby men decided their roles in the regime women; on the other hand, they were compelled into various roles. Women who refused to be in alignment with Gilead’s teachings were forced to serve as sex workers, commonly referred to as Jezebels. They served in the part of Gilead that was considered a male domain. The role of Jezebels was to increase the prostitute population. There in the male territories, they were forced into drugs, alcohol, and sinful sexual encounters.
Another distinction taking place was that no woman was assigned the role of commander, and the wives were the highest rank in the regime. As men in the narrative got various promotions, the women did not get any good promotions. They would be promoted into wives only if they remain loyal. The Marthas was a promotion from a handmaid. They were women who ranked higher than handmaids as they were not sex slaves; rather, they were household servants. They were infertile and had a low status. As a result of qualifying them to fall in the role of household servants. They assisted wives in raising children born from handmaids.
The role of women in The Handmaids Tale is different from their male counterparts. Men are given the role of governing and commandeering the Gilead regime. The women, on the other hand, are assigned the role of resisting the Gilead government. The Marthas assist in resistance by assisting in arranging June’s escape from the Waterfords. They have also mastered a network of communicating. As a consequence, the trading of goods people and information became a secret.
The distinction of roles in the regime could not be clearer where the woman was punished for the sins of his husband, whereas a man could not be punished for the mistakes of his wife. The econowives are women who are not considered because of their fertility rather being loyal to Gilead’s teachings. The econowives could remain with their husbands, who ranked low in the society. The privilege, however, came with the condition of living a life free of sin. If the econowives’ husbands sinned, they were burdened with the role of receiving punishment on their behalf. The punishment included serving as handmaids.
The roles of women and men in The Handmaid’s Tale are different from that of men in education and leadership. Male children are given the best education and are formed into leaders. Women, on the other hand, get married at the age of 16 or given roles of handmaids, Marthas, or unwomen. Men hold leadership positions and enforce the law, and their position included commanders of the faithful (Akhter, 2018). Commanders of the faithful were those men with the highest position and class, and they ruled Gilead. Then there were the Eyes, and they ranked second, their duty was to recognize those violating the laws of Gilead. The Angels followed. They were soldiers who fought in wars in an attempt to expand and safeguard the country from enemies. Guardians ranked last they taught the rules of Gilead.
Conclusion
From the above questions relating to the dystopian literature, it is clear that dystopian novels or narratives all have the same factors and characteristics in common. Such characteristics include the literary styles used, the themes present in the narratives, the gender roles of the characters in the novels, and the year of publication of the narratives.
The Handmaids Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, basically lives the life of Offred, who is a protagonist. The narrative illustrates the life of Offred in a dystopian world; in theory, her life takes place in the United States of America(Lowne,2017). The novel majorly focuses on how women have lost all of their rights. Women, including Offred, are compelled to be handmaids, and they all dream of escaping. The theocracy uses women as sex slaves and to bear their white children.
Animal Farm, on the other hand, is written by George Orwell, and the narrative mostly depicts the 1917 Russian Revolution. In the narrative, Orwell tried to show how Stalin led to the fall of the Socialist revolution in the Soviet Union (Chalupa,2012). He also exposed the Soviet myth in a narrative that can easily be related and easily translated into different languages. He employs the use of animals to tell his story. Through the animals, he illustrates how a leader can lead to the fall of ideals in society.
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