Is the Handmaid’s Tale the feminine version of 1984？

【Abstract】1984 written by George Orwell， a famous British writer of 20th century， and The Handmaid's Tale written by a Canadian female author， Margaret Atwood， are both two representative works as dystopian literature. However， it is inappropriate to make The Handmaids Tale the feminine version of 1984 directly. But the common significance， alarming totalitarianism， reminds us to examine the political environment today soberly， lest the tragedy would come to the stage.

【Key words】The Handmainds Tale； 1984； totalitarianism

【作者簡介】李茸，西安外國語大學(xué)英文學(xué)院。

1. Introduction

George Orwell， a British writer of the 20th century， was famous for his political satiric novel like Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. The latter is about a created society， Oceania， ruled by the totalitarian. According to Oceanias ideology， all emotions are required to be directed towards the figure of the leader， Big Brother. The hero， Winston Smith， after struggling is totally obedient under the physical and psychological torture.

Margaret Eleanor Atwood， known as “the queen of Canadian literature”， is a Canadian poet， novelist， literary critics， essayist and environmental activist，. The Handmaid's Tale is set in the background of a totalitarian Christian theocracy which is named itself as the Republic of Gilead. This novel mainly describes what the heroine， Offred， has suffered in the Republic of Gilead. When the environment pollution has seriously threatened human survival， the Commanders make young fertile women to be the productive tools， the “walking womb”， of the privileged class. In the end， Offred regains the completely freedom.

2. The Handmaids Tale is not the feminine version of 1984

In the Ministry of Love， one of authoritative department to rule peoples thought， Winston was tortured physically and mentally， and at last Winston loved Big Brother and held the recreated truth only.

Unlike Winston， Offred finally succeeded. Her success not only lies on her efforts， but also depends on others help. Mayday， which is nothing similar to the Brotherhood in 1984， is a real existed resistant organization which provides help to her. And Offred believes in Nick， who belongs to the secret organization. Most importantly， the country begins to collapse inwardly in the dominant class itself.

Margaret Atwood and George Orwell both create the typical totalitarian state in their novels and describe the miserable life of the ordinary people. In the two novels， there are different rulers and citizens， but the two totalitarian countries take similarly power operating systems. The Commanders and the Inner Party， as the dominators in two countries， want to exert authority on people through a series of methods， making clearly class system， creating strictly controlling system， using the public punishment for warning people and denying the past memories and languages. However， where there is oppression， there is rebellion. Many minor characters rebel against the totalitarian government all the time in the novels. So the protagonist decide to rebel against the authorities. In addition to the similar aspects of two novels， there are some obviously different sides. After reading The Handmaids Tale， the readers clearly know that there is religious color everywhere in the novel. It is created on the basis of the Bible. And Offred， the heroine， is the main objection of oppression. So Margaret Atwood mainly describes the patriarchal oppression. Offred adopts secret ways to fight for womens identity. Finally， she successfully escapes from Gilead. Nevertheless， the Inner Party in 1984 takes the method of cultural domestication to discipline people to be obedient. Winston is eager to freedom and normal emotion， so he uses dynamic and open methods for rebellion. Undoubtedly， he fails in the end and becomes a loyal member of the Party. So it is inappropriate to define The Handmaids Tale as 1984s feminine version.

3. Conclusion

Definitely， Its insignificant to regard the novels as two versions of the same one considering its profound social value： first of all， under the dissatisfied social situation， the ordinary people， if they do not pay attention to social problems and do nothing， will be ruled by the totalitarian government. Secondly， the totalitarian power mechanism displays clearly before us in this thesis by comparing the two novels. Then the readers can better avoid the potential existing totalitarian in contemporary society. People should keep independent thinking， enjoy reasonable freedom and then unite together to create a harmonious and democratic society.

References：

[1]Atwood，M.The Handmids Tale.New York：Anchor Books，1998.Print.