Final copy of coursework includes bibliography and footnotes. Coursework was about Handmaid's Tale and 1984 and the extent to which the novels are simply speculative fiction (easily link to essays about warnings of the future, control, dystopian genre, etc) with good context and critics.
Research ...
Julia Dane Sheikh
Candidate number: 8119
British School of Bahrain 90306
“Both novels could be considered as speculative fiction”
How do you consider this to be true of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and 1984 by George
Orwell? Consider relevant contextual factors and alternative interpretations.
Written in 1945, Orwell’s allegorical Animal Farm reflecting the 1917 Russian Revolution
helped Atwood’s awareness increase to the threats of authoritarian regimes allowing her to make
connection between the dystopian world and her society. Later on, Orwell’s 1984 became her
inspiration for The Handmaid’s Tale as it alerted her “early to the danger flags” of despotic,
totalitarian regimes. 1984’s futuristic setting with new technology such as “telescreens” and the
birth of “Newspeak” plainly contrasts with The Handmaid’s Tale’s regressive, ceremonial
setting full of Biblical quotations as seen in the epigraph from Genesis 30: 1-3 “Give me
children, or else I die” setting the tone of infertility. The emphasis with the aforementioned quote
lies with the fact that Gilead implements this verbatim due to the introduction of “Colonies”
where the “Unwomen” are surrounded by “chemicals, rays, radiation” leading to their deaths.
Even though this may argue that The Handmaid’s Tale is ‘speculative fiction’ due to its extreme
‘imagined’ elements, one of Atwood’s inspiration for the novel was her trip to the theocratic
country of Afghanistan, which remains the same after six years, evident of the cyclical idea of
Gilead’s religious fanaticism using “religion as a front for tyranny”. Contrary to this, Orwell’s
political inspiration of Stalin’s Cold War propaganda is apparent in 1984’s “Newspeak” as words
against Russian proxies were replaced from ‘terrorist’ to ‘rebel’ in the same manner “Newspeak”
replaces “bad” with “ungood” to limit “freedom of thought”. Despite being considered a
‘speculative’ fiction, Orwell’s inspiration was a reality and his belief that “Hitler, no doubt, will
soon disappear, but only at the expense of strengthening Stalin”1 seemed prescient rather than
fictional, due to the Stalinist era being overly influential that some Orthodox Churches are still
adorned with icons of him even in today’s society.2. Through these relations, both novels’
‘speculative’ genre is arguably inaccurate as The Handmaid’s Tale see eerie parallels between
Gilead’s oppressive society and the current Republican administration’s goals of curtailing
reproductive rights whilst Orwell’s 1984 is analogous to North Korea’s version of “Newspeak”
which was abolishing the use of Chinese characters and the banning of descriptive, flowery
language for recommended terms of speech. 3 Both provide totalitarian premises far from
realistic portrayals of today’s contemporary fears, offering a “pungent critique of the current day
society”4.
The Handmaid’s Tale structure consists of sections where Offred’s memory blurs with reality as
, Julia Dane Sheikh
Candidate number: 8119
British School of Bahrain 90306
“Both novels could be considered as speculative fiction”
How do you consider this to be true of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and 1984 by George
Orwell? Consider relevant contextual factors and alternative interpretations.
flashbacks especially in the ‘Night’ sections where Offred’s free to revisit her past. The “Night”
chapters occur regularly throughout the novel, suggestive of Offred’s daily routine as well as
symbolising that Gilead’s government is not simply ‘speculative’ but a real cyclical part of
society. Furthermore, the “Night” chapters are less misogynistic as it’s from Offred’s thoughts
alone which is important given the fact that Gilead focused on silencing the voices of women
through biblical precedents as the name “Gilead” itself is taken from the Old Testament to
suggest a fertile place in Palestine5. In the “Historical Notes”, this misogyny is reinforced as
Professor Pieixoto continues an ironic layering of texts to rearrange Offred’s story like “a frame
around a painting telling us to read an enclosed space in a certain way”6, corroborating Alcoff’s7
declaration that “every source of knowledge about women has been contaminated with
misogyny”. Pieixoto intentionally creates a multiple pun “underground frailroad” as women were
considered the weaker sex as the pejorative term “frail” suggests a girl or a woman
dehumanising Offred’s experiences to induce “laughter, groans” emphasising the treatment of
women in expense of men. This reinforces the argument that The Handmaid’s Tale is no longer
‘speculative’ as the professor listened to Offred’s tortures yet remains reluctant to judge the
perpetrators of her suffering similar to sexual assault accusations of Supreme court Justice Brett
Kavanaugh, in which Christine Ford8 tells her story only to become a victim of death threats due
to people’s preconceived opinions that it was essentially her fault analogous to Janine getting
blamed for her rape “her fault, her fault, her fault”. Furthermore, women continue to fight for
their voices to be heard in the #MeToo era, in which protesters campaign to “Make Atwood
fiction again” due to anti-abortion legislations limiting a woman’s alternatives. Hence, the
“Night” chapters are an escape from the watchful “Eyes” which symbolise an omniscient
government similar to “Big Brother” allowing her to reject the patriarchal oppression of Gilead
by confiding in her own thoughts. However, her narration ultimately becomes overweighed by a
male speaker in the “Historical Notes”, enabling Atwood to add a final feminist commentary to
her novel as Offred is deprived of narrative in two counts conveying the reality of this dystopian
society and further highlighting the reality of silencing women’s voices throughout history,
asserting the argument that The Handmaid’s Tale is not simply ‘speculative fiction’.
5 https://www.aresearchguide.com/handmaids-tale-biblical-references.html
6 Margaret Atwood’s Modest Propsal http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1001&context=eng_facpubs
7 Alcoff suggested that throughout history, women’s voices have always been contaminated with sexism
and misogyny, resulting in our voices - even though they’re heard - still being ultimately repressed.
http://alternatifpolitika.com/eng/makale/feminist-kuramlarin-kimlik-krizine-karsi-jean--jacques-rousseau-
nun-esitlikci-ve-demokratik-mirasini-yeniden-dusunmek Word count : 695
8 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/09/27/christine-blasey-ford-tells-her-story/
1437671002/
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