Similarities Between Gattaca And The Handmaid's Tale

A “want” is often described as a strong desire for something while a “need” is a necessity or something required because of importance. In The Edible Woman and The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood explores the world in which men are the center, and women are merely extras in society. In both novels, the female protagonist has her practical needs met, but her more fundamental need for freedom and love is not met, at least not initially. It takes a willingness to rebel against society—a culture controlled by men—to secure those more basic needs. In the end, both protagonists attain complete freedom through the love they find during the novel.

A genuine identity and individuality is not possible in an oppressive environment especially when one’s daily life, actions, and thoughts are dictated by domineering societal expectations. Oppressive environments such as regimes controlled by a dictatorship and that run off a totalitarian government system strip an individual of their civil rights as a human being in order to gain ultimate control over its citizens. A government such as the Republic of Gilead in Margaret Atwood’s work, The Handmaid’s Tale, controls their citizen’s lives to the extent to where they must learn to suppress their emotions and feelings. In the Republic of

The Handmaid’s Tale and Fahrenheit 451 are similar novels because they both portray the disciplines in the humanities of literature and film. Both novels present issues that are related to the disciplines of government and political science. The protagonist in each novel is placed in a situation that they are powerless in which is due to the oppression of their dystopian society. Although everyone else has conformed to this new society, Offred and Montag have realized that the societies they are living in aren’t flawless. In both novels, we see the main characters approaching a point in their lives where they start to see the imperfections in the societies and wish for change because they aren’t currently satisfied with the lives they are living. They are longing for a deeper connection with people, and even though the society is trying to form them into something they are not, they refuse to be controlled by a government and a society that is not meant to be. The idea of government and political science can be explored to expose not only the ideas themselves, but the connections between literature and humanities through The Handmaid’s Tale and Fahrenheit 451.

A dystopia is a common genre among many novels and all novels are able to capture the problems within the current society. These problems can vary and each different setting has different problems than the other. Margaret Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale in an effort to capture problems going on in real life: abortion and women’s rights. Another author that captures a similar essence to Atwood’s is Suzanne Young in her novel series The Program. Although both authors emphasize different problems that are going on in society, they both have a correlative narrative style. While Young discusses the stigma around people who have a mental illness and how they should be separated from society, both authors use a similar voice in their writing.

A dystopian text is a manifestation of society 's deepest fears. How is this explored in The Handmaid 's Tale and Gattaca?

The advancement of women in society is a remarkable achievement, and the first step to true equality in the world. Despite the tremendous progress, oppression faced in the past should not be forgotten, largely because it is present modern society as well. In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, both female relationships and identities are explored to determine the purpose of women. Society's historic tendency to undervalue women is seen more in The Handmaid's Tale than in The Color Purple.

The Handmaid's Tale is less of a pro-active person she knows that her society is

Firstly, The Color Purple (1982) is written by the African- American novelist Alice Walker. For creating such an innovative novel, Alice Walker’s The Color Purple won both the Pulitzer Price and the National Book Award. Walker initiated her novel by a confession that The Color Purple is her spiritual journey and the female protagonist represents her during this journey. The novel is made up of 90 letters written by Celie to God and some of these letters are written by Nettie to her sister Celie. These letters are similar to a diary that Celie finds as a way to express her feelings , emotions and thoughts in a place she is not permitted to be free. Generally, the novel portrays a life and a journey of a young fourteen -year- old black girl who is persecuted throughout her life from her stepfather who repeatedly raped her and forced her to marry a cruel man who, in turn, oppressed her.

Parents typically don’t want their children reading in depth books about sex; however, The Handmaid’s Tale offers great fictional examples that teach sexism and the mistreatment of women, yet these examples can lead some in the wrong way. Therefore depending on the view in society, The Handmaid’s tale should be banned or kept to certain areas of the world because of the unfair treatment of women.

Dystopian texts’ roots lie in social criticism. Many of the classics such as Orwell’s 1984, Huxley’s Brave New World and Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale all end bleakly for the protagonists: their purported futures are warnings, and at least part of their purpose is to make us wonder what horrors our own real world decisions could ultimately engender. Gattaca is a 1997 “cautionary futuristic fiction” film directed by Andrew Niccol and the predominant reason for its dystopic nature is due to society’s yearning towards a utopic world, where humans are genetically perfect. In attempting to create this flawless world, dystopic elements such as the genetic engineering, discrimination and oppression as well as a lack of individuality are brought about, generating an unintended dystopia, and encouraging the audience to speculate about the world mankind has created.

Written by Aldous Huxley, Brave New World revolves around a dystopian society years into the future. Every member of this high-tech civilization is bread with a predestined life plan while drugs and sex are so encouraged that they are apart of the social norm. Following the success of this book came another that is just as popular. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is a critically acclaimed novel that takes place in a world where the United States has been overpowered by a Christian theocracy dubbed the Republic of Gilead. Society is quickly reconstructed and a woman’s value is soon only based on the fertility of her womb. Despite their difference in demeanor, these two novels share a similar trait: their government structures implement class systems that keep people in check through conditioning and strict social interactions.

Composers of dystopian texts base the central conflicts of their stories on contemporary concerns dragged out to their extremities, creating societies that had not previously been considered a potential reality. Confrontation with these worlds and the realisation that these visions are not just restricted to popular imagination, but are contingent on controversial issues impacting our modern world, conveys to the audience the overwhelming and shocking possibilities that dystopian literature holds. This concept is explored in Andrew Niccol’s film Gattaca (1997), which invites viewers to question the ethics and ramification of contemporary scientific progress and the unrestrained pursuit of technological advancement (Malone 2002). The strive for

Rebellion of an individual occurs when there is a difference of opinion. This conventional trait among society allows diverse ideas to be suggested and added upon for a better future and eventually an all around Utopia. Rebellious attitude is depicted throughout George Orwell’s novel 1984 and Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale in a subtle, yet powerful way. The faint, disobedient remarks made by their characters suggest their hope in the future generations opposed to the present one. When a rebellious mindset comes in contact with an oppressed society with strict rules and regulations, the outcome suggests a better future through the realization of mistakes and unity for a common goal.

The Handmaid's Tale, a science-fiction novel written by Margaret Atwood, focuses on women's rights and what could happen to them in the future. This novel was later made into a movie in 1990. As with most cases of books made into movies, there are some similarities and differences between the novel and the film. Overall the film tends to stay on the same track as the book with a few minor details changed, and only two major differences.

Offred is a Handmaid in what used to be the United States, now the theocratic Republic of Gilead. In order to create Gilead's idea of a more perfect society, they have reverted to taking the Book of Genesis at its word. Women no longer have any privileges; they cannot work, have their own bank accounts, or own anything. The also are not allowed to read or even chose who they want to marry. Women are taught that they should be subservient to men and should only be concerned with bearing children. Margaret Atwood writes The Handmaid's Tale (1986) as to create a dystopia. A dystopia is an imaginary place where the condition of life is extremely bad, from deprivation, oppression, or