Progga Choudhuri
FIQWS
Professor Minnich
Dystopian fiction emphasizes hegemony in a controlled environment. In 1984 by George Orwell and in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the ruling class dominates the masses through various mediums of control. Both books explores dystopia through authoritative control that is maintained by the socialization from a young age usings tools such as propaganda, education and history. The state plays a crucial role in the normalization of societal control. It disempowers the rest of the population. The regimes perpetuate their power through manipulation of culture and history using extreme forms of social control. People are willing to assimilate to the existing culture because they are looking to fit …show more content…
So the elite constantly denounces the past, and make up lies about the current state to boost public morale. For instance, the Handmaids go shopping for groceries, they see that the shelves are no longer filled with processed food, due to the government which insist that their society is healthier than before. The underlying reality is women are forced to stay at home, making food from scratch. The government was benefitting from the exploitation of women. One of the ways the ruling class instilled their ideologies was through institutions.Women were not allowed to read in The Handmaid’s Tale. "Ordinary, said Aunt Lydia, is what you are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary." (Atwood 33). The Handmaids were indoctrinated with oppression through education, which normalized their lifestyle. This makes the people …show more content…
This would benefit the current society because by instilling this rule, the women are conditioned to lose their individuality and forget their past experiences, so they can be active citizens and fulfill their role. In Gilead’s society, women were to be taken advantage of, not given advantages over men.
The Inner Party constantly repeats blatant lies, expecting to get a reaction from the public, either of disbelief or fright. “In the end the Party would announce that two plus two made five and you have to believe it”(Orwell 102). The authoritarian tone is used maintain order and compliance from the citizens. By forcing Winston to understand and accept the lie, the Party is using systematic torture to perpetuate their power, just for the sake of power. History was consistently changed to disorient and misdirect the public’s focus. For instance, records and files were continuously being changed and burned and replaced with new data and facts. “When memory and records were falsified, the claim of the Party to have improved the conditions of human life had got to be accepted because there did not exist...any standard against which it could be tested”(Orwell 118). Constant warfare surrounds the totalitarian like society in Oceania to foster fear in the masses and create unity under the Party’s rule. People are made to think that without history and memory they have no one
FIQWS
Professor Minnich
Dystopian fiction emphasizes hegemony in a controlled environment. In 1984 by George Orwell and in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the ruling class dominates the masses through various mediums of control. Both books explores dystopia through authoritative control that is maintained by the socialization from a young age usings tools such as propaganda, education and history. The state plays a crucial role in the normalization of societal control. It disempowers the rest of the population. The regimes perpetuate their power through manipulation of culture and history using extreme forms of social control. People are willing to assimilate to the existing culture because they are looking to fit …show more content…
So the elite constantly denounces the past, and make up lies about the current state to boost public morale. For instance, the Handmaids go shopping for groceries, they see that the shelves are no longer filled with processed food, due to the government which insist that their society is healthier than before. The underlying reality is women are forced to stay at home, making food from scratch. The government was benefitting from the exploitation of women. One of the ways the ruling class instilled their ideologies was through institutions.Women were not allowed to read in The Handmaid’s Tale. "Ordinary, said Aunt Lydia, is what you are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary." (Atwood 33). The Handmaids were indoctrinated with oppression through education, which normalized their lifestyle. This makes the people …show more content…
This would benefit the current society because by instilling this rule, the women are conditioned to lose their individuality and forget their past experiences, so they can be active citizens and fulfill their role. In Gilead’s society, women were to be taken advantage of, not given advantages over men.
The Inner Party constantly repeats blatant lies, expecting to get a reaction from the public, either of disbelief or fright. “In the end the Party would announce that two plus two made five and you have to believe it”(Orwell 102). The authoritarian tone is used maintain order and compliance from the citizens. By forcing Winston to understand and accept the lie, the Party is using systematic torture to perpetuate their power, just for the sake of power. History was consistently changed to disorient and misdirect the public’s focus. For instance, records and files were continuously being changed and burned and replaced with new data and facts. “When memory and records were falsified, the claim of the Party to have improved the conditions of human life had got to be accepted because there did not exist...any standard against which it could be tested”(Orwell 118). Constant warfare surrounds the totalitarian like society in Oceania to foster fear in the masses and create unity under the Party’s rule. People are made to think that without history and memory they have no one