Orwell realised that in politics, language was the key to power as it had the ability to manipulate the truth and mislead the public and he used this information to base his novel around. Both Orwell and Atwood found the significant strength of language in it’s ability to manipulate and how it is often more effective than physical punishment as it "can be continuously applied to the general public without raising great public opposition of fear” (Berke) Gilead and Big Brother both exploit language to alter perceptions of reality. Atwood does this through the Gilead discourse which is “a hybridised rhetoric which combines biblical language with traces of American capitalist phrases” In a similar way Big Brother creates his own discourse that
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These neologisms are created to signify the changes that have occurred and contrasts modern society to how it used to be. The use of new language and vocabulary in daily life also forces people to let go of the past and accept new ideas. Also the Handmaid’s are assigned new names based up the name of the commander who they are working for at the time. Offred’s name is construction of the word “of” and the name “Fred” because she belongs to her commander, Fred. Her name changes with each placing signifying not only that she isn’t worthy of her own name but that her name will always only signify who she belongs to, not to who or what she is. The disposal of her name strips her of her identity and causes everyone to refer to her as an object of someone else, this control of language used to regard her restricts her freedom as she is never her own person; she no longer owns an …show more content…
Language is an incurably important instrument in ideological control and Gilead society exploits this by deploying biblical language to name things which has a great impact on determining our thinking process. GIlead often steals quotes from the Old Testament which is a common features of sects as the archaic language promotes patriarchy and therefore is suiting to promote Gilead values. Characters are each given a job which has a title originating from the bible. Marthas and Angels are common in the bible and their traits are transferred to modern society where they determine occupations. Characters such as Aunt Lydia and Gilead as a whole quote the bible to justify their actions; Gilead justifies its actions by quoting Genesis, 30: 1-3 "And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, "Give me children, or I shall die!” And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel; and he said, ”Am I in the place of God, who hath withheld from you the fruit of the womb? ”Then she said, “Behold my maid Bilhah, go in to her; that she shall bear upon my knees, and even I may have children through her.” Gilead distorts the language of the Bible and uses it to seem like a godly and moral scheme even though it oppresses and suppresses its residents. It uses moral religious texts and quotes in an attempt to mask the inequality that pervades the society. In the Handmaid’s Tale biblical
These neologisms are created to signify the changes that have occurred and contrasts modern society to how it used to be. The use of new language and vocabulary in daily life also forces people to let go of the past and accept new ideas. Also the Handmaid’s are assigned new names based up the name of the commander who they are working for at the time. Offred’s name is construction of the word “of” and the name “Fred” because she belongs to her commander, Fred. Her name changes with each placing signifying not only that she isn’t worthy of her own name but that her name will always only signify who she belongs to, not to who or what she is. The disposal of her name strips her of her identity and causes everyone to refer to her as an object of someone else, this control of language used to regard her restricts her freedom as she is never her own person; she no longer owns an …show more content…
Language is an incurably important instrument in ideological control and Gilead society exploits this by deploying biblical language to name things which has a great impact on determining our thinking process. GIlead often steals quotes from the Old Testament which is a common features of sects as the archaic language promotes patriarchy and therefore is suiting to promote Gilead values. Characters are each given a job which has a title originating from the bible. Marthas and Angels are common in the bible and their traits are transferred to modern society where they determine occupations. Characters such as Aunt Lydia and Gilead as a whole quote the bible to justify their actions; Gilead justifies its actions by quoting Genesis, 30: 1-3 "And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, "Give me children, or I shall die!” And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel; and he said, ”Am I in the place of God, who hath withheld from you the fruit of the womb? ”Then she said, “Behold my maid Bilhah, go in to her; that she shall bear upon my knees, and even I may have children through her.” Gilead distorts the language of the Bible and uses it to seem like a godly and moral scheme even though it oppresses and suppresses its residents. It uses moral religious texts and quotes in an attempt to mask the inequality that pervades the society. In the Handmaid’s Tale biblical