The Handmaid's Tail/1984

8/15/2010

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and 1984 by George Orwell were an interesting pair of books to read together. There were certainly differences. Handmaid's Tale was centered from the perspective of a woman who was not content with her culture, but willing to accept her place in life, since she figured there was not much she could do about it without severe consequence. 1984 was the male perspective of someone who was curious and fed up with the current system, and he was ready to try and figure out a way to get things back to the way they used to be, even if he could be killed. Having said this, it wasn't hard to find the similarities between these two novels. They each possessed a plot that developed around the concept of a futuristic oppressive society. Also, each novel included a culture that had rid itself of romance. In the settings that each book created, it was made clear that the death penalty was handed out freely to all who chose to oppose to the government in even the slightest way. The main similarity I was able to take away from the novels was that in each society, the protagonist knowingly broke rules that seemed absurd but had grave consequences. In both cases, the outcomes of the conflicts favored the sides of the oppressive societies, and not the sides of those who wanted their freedom.