Totalitarianism In The Handmaid's Tale
Navneet Kainth
Ms. Camilleri
ENG 4U0
7/21/2015
Corrupt Totalitarian Society in
The Handmaid’s Tale and Brave New World
Totalitarianism is a political state that hold total control of one’s life and causes a corrupt society to occur. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley and The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood share a corrupted totalitarian society through the use of the characters, conflicts and themes presented in the novels. These literary works are presented with the character’s freedom being taken away from the government by suppressing knowledge, identity and relationships with others as they try to stabilize their society. In the novels, negative impacts like censoring freedom of expression in a totalitarian government, can cause …show more content…
Primarily, in Brave New World, the conditioning that each person has as a child and a drug called “Soma” forces them to feel that sex should be treated very casual and light with no emotions involved in these sexual affairs. Henry Foster and the Assistant Predestinator both have a conversation about Lenina Crowne and their sexual experiences related to her. Henry mentions that “She's a splendid girl. Wonderfully pneumatic,” and how he’s surprised how the assistant hasn’t been in bed with her. The assistant replies by saying he will with the first opportunity that arises (Huxley 51).This shows that the two men do not show any type of emotional connection with her and do not distinguish her as a real person. Sex in this novel, is a topic that does not yield an uncomfortable conversation as it’s handled as a very care free topic. Not only that, but copulating is seen as a recreation, not something that two people with feelings would do. The authorities have eliminated citizens to have such deep feelings and emotions with each other that relationships are formed easily with anyone through the use of the powerful drug. Conversely, in The Handmaid’s Tale through the character of Offred, the lack of love, makes it impossible to create a relationship with someone since there is …show more content…
Atwood and Huxley use the characterizations of conflict, theme and characters to show how powerful authorities create a corrupt society since the government’s censorship over knowledge, the lack of an individual’s identity and the government’s control of relationships between the society overpowers the positivity’s of a
Ms. Camilleri
ENG 4U0
7/21/2015
Corrupt Totalitarian Society in
The Handmaid’s Tale and Brave New World
Totalitarianism is a political state that hold total control of one’s life and causes a corrupt society to occur. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley and The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood share a corrupted totalitarian society through the use of the characters, conflicts and themes presented in the novels. These literary works are presented with the character’s freedom being taken away from the government by suppressing knowledge, identity and relationships with others as they try to stabilize their society. In the novels, negative impacts like censoring freedom of expression in a totalitarian government, can cause …show more content…
Primarily, in Brave New World, the conditioning that each person has as a child and a drug called “Soma” forces them to feel that sex should be treated very casual and light with no emotions involved in these sexual affairs. Henry Foster and the Assistant Predestinator both have a conversation about Lenina Crowne and their sexual experiences related to her. Henry mentions that “She's a splendid girl. Wonderfully pneumatic,” and how he’s surprised how the assistant hasn’t been in bed with her. The assistant replies by saying he will with the first opportunity that arises (Huxley 51).This shows that the two men do not show any type of emotional connection with her and do not distinguish her as a real person. Sex in this novel, is a topic that does not yield an uncomfortable conversation as it’s handled as a very care free topic. Not only that, but copulating is seen as a recreation, not something that two people with feelings would do. The authorities have eliminated citizens to have such deep feelings and emotions with each other that relationships are formed easily with anyone through the use of the powerful drug. Conversely, in The Handmaid’s Tale through the character of Offred, the lack of love, makes it impossible to create a relationship with someone since there is …show more content…
Atwood and Huxley use the characterizations of conflict, theme and characters to show how powerful authorities create a corrupt society since the government’s censorship over knowledge, the lack of an individual’s identity and the government’s control of relationships between the society overpowers the positivity’s of a