To what extent are the protagonists in ‘1984’ (Winston) and ‘A Handmaid’s Tale’ (Offred) both changed and compromised by, and yet resistant to, the dystopian societies in which they live?
To what extent are the protagonists in ‘1984’ (Winston) and ‘A Handmaid’s Tale’ (Offred) both changed and compromised by, and yet resistant to, the dystopian societies in which they live?
Both the protagonist’s in ‘A Handmaid’s Tale’ and ‘1984’ change and compromise because of the dystopian societies they live in. At first, Winston’s apparent distaste for the oppressive regime might lead you to believe he does not change his mind-set in response to his dystopian surroundings and that he is rebelling quietly against the system. “This he thought with a sort of vague distaste – this was London”. But this is not entirely the case; he is actually shown to have become fairly institutionalised. He has clearly adjusted to the system as his distaste is “vague” which show even though he knows what has happened is wrong but he can no longer quite put his finger on why or how it happened. An inevitably when you take into account his job, at the Ministry of Truth, is to rewrite the past to suit the party. The fact that he feels the need to quietly inwardly rebel against the absolute and strictly obeyed totalitarianism that dictates the way he lives his life shows how much his life, character and rebellious attitude has been shaped by the very structure in which he looks to secretly work against. He even struggles to revisit his childhood and cannot remember whether London had always been the same grimy landscape that is now become. “But it was no use, he could not remember: nothing remained of his childhood except a series of bright-lit tableaux, occurring against no background and mostly unintelligible”. It’s as if he is losing grasp of the life that came before the dictatorial system.
A further example of how he has already adjusted to the oppressive regime in which he lives and is losing a grasp on what came before it; is how he systematically responds to the threat of constant surveillance, as if it has become a natural habit for him to do so. “Winston kept his back to
Both the protagonist’s in ‘A Handmaid’s Tale’ and ‘1984’ change and compromise because of the dystopian societies they live in. At first, Winston’s apparent distaste for the oppressive regime might lead you to believe he does not change his mind-set in response to his dystopian surroundings and that he is rebelling quietly against the system. “This he thought with a sort of vague distaste – this was London”. But this is not entirely the case; he is actually shown to have become fairly institutionalised. He has clearly adjusted to the system as his distaste is “vague” which show even though he knows what has happened is wrong but he can no longer quite put his finger on why or how it happened. An inevitably when you take into account his job, at the Ministry of Truth, is to rewrite the past to suit the party. The fact that he feels the need to quietly inwardly rebel against the absolute and strictly obeyed totalitarianism that dictates the way he lives his life shows how much his life, character and rebellious attitude has been shaped by the very structure in which he looks to secretly work against. He even struggles to revisit his childhood and cannot remember whether London had always been the same grimy landscape that is now become. “But it was no use, he could not remember: nothing remained of his childhood except a series of bright-lit tableaux, occurring against no background and mostly unintelligible”. It’s as if he is losing grasp of the life that came before the dictatorial system.
A further example of how he has already adjusted to the oppressive regime in which he lives and is losing a grasp on what came before it; is how he systematically responds to the threat of constant surveillance, as if it has become a natural habit for him to do so. “Winston kept his back to