The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood and Brave New World by Aldous Hu

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. While there are many differences between the societies portrayed in dystopic literature, they still have the common bond of lacking the fundamental freedoms required for a properly operated society to exist. This cannot be truer for The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. These novels prove that the individual's freedom are sacrificed in dystopic societies when the government controls the knowledge, individuality and relationships of each person in order for there to be stability in the society. Dystopia is shown in each of the novels through: the use of conflict demonstrating the authority over knowledge, the use of theme to establish the lack of identity and the use of character to show the control of knowledge. It is evident in both novels that a dystopic society exists through the authors' use of conflict to illustrate the control of knowledge of the past and present in order for there to be stability. For example, in The Handmaid's Tale, all Handmaids are forbidden from reading or writing, this is an attempt by the leaders of the society to control the knowledge their citizens can utilize. This control extends over any form of written word, and if the rules are disobeyed, there are consequences: "Scrabble!. This was once the game of old women, old men to be played in retirement villas when there was nothing good on television. Now it's forbidden, for us. Now it's dangerous. Now it's indecent . Now it's desirable" (Atwood 174). In this society, Scrabble is considered "forbidden" because of what it represents -- freedom of expression. The consequences the leaders have imposed create a c... ...ge, individuality and relationships of each person in order for there to be stability in the society. Through the use of conflict, dystopia is established in both of the novels using the control of knowledge of the past and present in the society in order for stability. In addition, through the use of theme, dystopia is established using the lack of identity of each member of the society in order for stability to be in the society. Finally, through the use of character, dystopia is established through the control of the relationships in each member of the societies. In order for there to be stability in a society there must be sacrifices made, especially in a society that is considered dystopic. Works Cited ----------- Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. U.S.A: Seal Books, 1986. Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. Hammersmith, London: Flamingo, 1994.