Dystopian Worlds in 1984 and The Handmaid's Tale

Dystopian fiction often portrays a society that is in cataclysmic decline, resulting in environmental ruin, control through technology, and government oppression of individual freedoms and expressions. Two excellent examples of dystopian texts are George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and the film The Handmaid’s Tale, based on Margret Atwood’s novel of the same name. Through compelling Juvenalian satire, the two texts depict the distressing effects of the tools and methods utilised by the government to maintain power over the populace. Within these texts, each government utilises many human and inanimate tools to infiltrate and conquer all aspects of society to ensure that they can maintain power and control over the collective.

Disturbingly, both texts demonstrate how ubiquitous inanimate surveillance suppresses people's individual and human expressions through the emphasis that any individuality could be detrimental. Within the first few pages of Nineteen Eighty-Four, the reader is introduced to both propaganda and use of technology for control. The posters that are plastered all over Oceania describe “… a man…with a heavy black moustache…”. The repetitive use of a moustachioed man acts as a motif, positioning the reader to sympathise with the protagonist and recognise that surveillance is a regular occurrence within the society. The caption that accompanies the poster reads, “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU”. This not only reinforces the idea of mass surveillance that is apparent within the text, but also reminds the citizens of Oceania that they lack freedom of thought through establishing a sense of tyrannical dominance. Moreover, the term ‘Big Brother’ itself evokes a sense of familial trust amongst the people ensuring that the loyalties derived through sex, love and family are always redirected to the party. Another tool that is used by The Party is the Telescreen. It is described as, “The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously…any sound above whisper would be picked up by it”. The telescreens that are situated throughout every square inch of Oceania, described as a ‘living entity,’ is an example of anthropomorphism. As Winton is cognisant of, this panoptical surveillance system can “receive and transmit”, since he states, “nothing is your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your head”. The oppressive use of inanimate surveillance within Oceania is used to control the citizens thoughts and actions, subsequently keeping the subjugation, and upholding the negative values.

In Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell also uses humans as a surveillance tool to suppress the people of Oceania from having individual expressions. An effective tool utilised to manipulate and control the masses in Nineteen Eighty-Four is the use of children as Junior Spies. In Chapter 2, Orwell defines the "spies" as a group of children whose role is to acquire information and report transgression to the party. This is a reference to Hitler's youth who were a group of German children that were indoctrinated to adopt the Nazi’s ideology. Through enlisting children, the party abuses the sacred parental relationship, as “Family becomes an extension of the thought police”. The party knows that brainwashing future generations such as the junior spies, will inevitably give them the power to subjugate the collective and maintain power. Additionally, Orwell uses the antagonist O’Brien to maintain control and power. Winston initially sees O'Brien as a ray of hope when he says to him, "They will meet in a world where there is no darkness." The imagery of this quote results in Winston imagining himself in the Golden Country, where he will be independent of Big Brother's tyrannical clutches.  Moreover, through Orwell’s use of heterodiegetic narration, O’Brien is further constructed as an archetypal villainous character who actively captures and tortures anyone who dares to deviate from orthodox behaviour and thought. The misplaced trust in O’Brien eventually led to Winston’s downfall with O’Brien stating he “save Winston and make him perfect”.  During the torture scenes, O’Brien strategically used Dysphemism such as “You are rotting away” to further break Winston down. Furthermore, when O’Brien tortured Winston in Room 101 his goal was to ‘not merely destroy our enemies; but change them’, completely transforming and controlling Winston, making him ‘love Big Brother’. 

Similar to the dystopian world Orwell envisioned in Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Handmaid's Tale presents readers with a patriarchal, dictatorial theocratic regime through the use of non-human tools. The film depicts a dystopian future in which the United States is conquered by a theocratic totalitarian government, becoming Gilead. Throughout the film, the Handmaids used several phrases to greet each other. "May the Lord open" and "Praise be" are two excellent examples of biblical symbolism, which acts as a motif to position the audience to remember that Government of Gilead uses religion to control their citizens. Another tool that the government uses is the manipulation of the handmaid's identity. Kate’s name ‘Offred’, is a patronymic of the Commander to whom she is assigned, which allows Gilead to deny individualism of the Handmaids by depriving them of their names. In this theocratic state, it is believed that women are only characterised by traditional gender roles, such as Wives, Marthas, and Handmaids thus, they do not have the privilege of owning their names. Through this dehumanisation, the government’s power and control is further enforced. Overall, as a dystopian film, The Handmaid's Tale illustrates a society that aims to accomplish an ideal system of belief by empowering its own language and dialogues while suppressing others. Using language and discourses as tools, Offred, the narrator, shows the significance of power and the true reality of the regime within this society.

In The Handmaids Tale, Atwood also utilises human tools in the form of The Aunts to maintain power and control over the Handmaids. The Aunts' purpose in Gilead is to maintain authority and power as well as to instruct the Handmaids. Through the Aunts’ teachings, the Handmaids are indoctrinated and become accustomed to their new lifestyle. Aunt Lydia's admonitions about the Handmaids’ future are often recalled by Offred. They reassure the Handmaids by stating, “This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will…become ordinary”. This foreshadows the Handmaid’s future of Gilead’s oppression and control by numbing the natural reaction of fear. The Salvaging’s are an example of how the Handmaids inevitably accept their oppression and torture. When the Handmaids accept this way of life, it demonstrates the persuasive abilities and influence the Aunts’ and the government wield over the Handmaids. The scene where Janine (Ofwarren) is shamed by the Aunts’ and Handmaids provides another clear example of how manipulation of language and discourse can impose fear and control. When Janine tells the story of her sexual assault, the other Handmaids are manipulated to believe that she was responsible. The Aunts’ question “Who led them on?” and the Handmaids respond by chanting “She did. She did. She did”. This repetition is used to break down Janine, leading to future psychological implications. Janine then internalises this victim blaming and the other Handmaid’s are further brainwashed to believe the misogynistic values of Gilead. Without a question, the film offers a terrifying glimpse into a dystopian future ruled by exploitation and totalitarianism through the use of The Aunts’ as a human tool to maintain power and control.

Both Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Handmaid's Tale serve as a cautionary tale foreseeing major societal problems that may lead to a dystopian society. The iconic classic Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell highlights the way oppressive leaders can use surveillance, and censorship to achieve absolute control. Through this dystopian text, Orwell attempts to warn the reader that the collective must never take their right to privacy and independence of expression for granted. The Handmaid's Tale presents a dire warning about how religion can be exploited to oppress individuals. The significance of gender equality is highlighted throughout the film. Atwood provides a compelling overview of implications of Gilead's dehumanising laws. The Handmaid's Tale based on the feminist theory that men's attitudes towards women are a form of control and even violence in a male-dominated society. The issues identified pertaining the moral implications of reproductive control are perhaps the most disconcerting for modern audiences. It is no surprise that the text has become a symbol for repressive regimes that target women. As a result, both Atwood and Orwell position their audiences to be aware of the power that governments could have over the collective, and to always scrutinize the information that they get from them.

Human and inanimate techniques have been employed within these texts to govern the collective under the direction of Big Brother and the Republic of Gilead. The reader is positioned to consider how rapidly the world may descend into such deplorable states, through the themes and systems of control utilised in Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Handmaid's Tale. Furthermore, men's selfish desires have the potential to degrade mankind and its principles. The writers warn readers to keep in mind the long-term repercussions of getting corrupted by power, as well as the permanent effects of losing control. As Big Brother states, “Who controls the past controls the future."