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Handmaid's Tale Theocratic Dictatorship

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Totalitarian governments are not an uncommon concept amongst individuals present day, as many are aware of the harsh political situations currently in progress across the globe. As religion begins to play a larger factor in these types of societies, it takes the form of a theocratic totalitarian state, where all laws and regulations must be based on a specific religion’s criteria. In the book The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood is able to convey the main conflict concerning the lack of individualism in the Republic of Gilead – a society controlled by a theocratic dictatorship – mainly through the treatments endured by women as their lives happen to be very restricted. Similarly, the revolution in the name of religion can be connected back

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...Symone Cherrie EN327-OL 4/20/15 How is Gilead a dystopian society? Gilead is a dystopian society by the definition of types of dystopian control; Gilead is philosophical/religious control. Philosophical/religious control is “a society is controlled by philosophical or religious ideology often enforced through a dictatorship or theocratic government” (class notes). Gilead have this type of control because women are been seen object and not human beings. When Offred was at the doctor’s office to get tested for pregnancy and disease, the doctor tries to talk her into having sex and getting her pregnant. When she says know he tries to blackmail her, Offred says, “He could fake the tests, report me for cancer, for infertility, have me shipped off to the colonies, with the unwomen” (The Handmaid’s Tale 61). The doctor was not treating her like a women, he was treating her as an object. Offred was afraid of what was going to happen to her, she was thinking about all the possibilities. Once she thought about it she rethinks the whole situation and told him that she will think about it. This was also showing dictatorship because societies like this man have all of the power and women have no power. Gilead is also a dystopian society by how the women have no control over their money. In a society like this woman was not allowed to vote nor owned ownership of their job. For example when Offred was reminiscing about how she was fired from her job and her money was to her husband’s...

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‘Dystopian Fiction Is Less About the Powerful and More About the Powerless’

...‘Dystopian fiction is less about the powerful and more about the powerless’ To what extent is this true in The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984? Dystopian fiction usually revolves over a power struggle between an oppressor and the oppressed, alternatively this can be given the label of powerful and powerless. However, the exposure given to one of these groups is often inclined to be imbalanced. For example, The Giver by Lois Lowry has biased exposure towards the powerless due to the simple fact of the third person limited narrator perspective from Jonas, a member of the aforementioned sector of respective society. This is similar to the 1984 narrator where Winston is never truly aware of what goes on when he wasn’t physically present. But, it could be for this exact reason that in 1984 the dystopian genre inclines towards the powerful, highlighting the hold over the powerless. Contrary to this, The Handmaid's Tale (THT) has blurred lines as to whether the dystopian fiction prevalent in the novels are more or less about the powerful. This is majorly due to conflicting plotlines and enigmatic characters, significant in both of the books. For example, the character of Nick could be characterized for the powerful and powerless. Nick behaves with Offred in a manner which confuses the reader about his loyalties. Ultimately, this essay will aim to prove an option that is a fusion between the two rivals of dystopian fiction offering the complex concept of the powerful powerless. The powerful...

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Compare and Contrast the Theme of Control in the Handmaids Tale and Nineteen Eighty-Four

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