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Dystopia in The Handmaid's Tale Essay

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Dystopia

Utopia and Handmaids Tale are significant stories that strive and link to together. The two societies endure the reader in an epic way of living, highly different than the ways we interact and inhabit our homes we call Earth. Utopia is a place of remarkable way of peace and the great virtues of living, but uniformly, the dystopian society in Handmaids Tale becomes extremely fascist and totalitarian way of living.

The two sequestered civilizations, Utopia and Gilead both have distinct chemistry, but they are marked with dissimilarity as well. Utopias boundaries are isolated by the formation of boulders and considerable bodies of water. In this bay there is no great current, the whole coast is, as it were, one continued harbour, which gives all that live in the island great convenience for mutual commerce; but the entry into the bay, occassioned by rocks on the one hand, and shallows on the other, is very dangerous (More 28). The city of Amaurot is basically protected by water masses and colossal walls, keeping invasions not present. Gilead, the city of the dystopian society is also fortified by astronomical heavily guarded. Behind the barrier, waiting for us at the narrow gateway, there are two men, in the green uniforms of the Guardians of the Faith with the crests on their shoulders and berets: two swords, crossed above a right triangle (Atwood 20). They vary on the house hold they were given. People of Amaurot are more peaceful and they do not have lock doors where outsiders can proceed and depart out of their homes. Their doors have all two leaves, which, as they are easily opened, so they shut of their own accord; and there being no properly among them, every man may freely enter into any house whatsoever (More 31). The dystopian society is strict on women and they are forbidden to speak and their household is keenly arranged to where they cannot escape or commit suicide. When the window is partly open it only opens partly the air can come in and make the curtains move (Atwood 7). People of Amaurot live in harmony and of their homes distinctly the same. There buildings are good, and are so uniform, that a whole side of a street looks like one house (More 31). Their windows in their homes are well constructed to omit wind and light. They also use in their windows a thin linen cloth, that is so oiled or gummed that it both keeps out the wind and gives free admission to the light(More 32).

Utopias law disagrees with the dystopian novels laws. The society of Amaurot does not tolerate the ignorance of marriage-bed. They punish severely those that defile the marriage-bed (More 59). The dystopian society of Gilead, is more severe. Men are not permitted to interact or communicate with women. Their method of castigation is either execution or exile to the colonies. The colonies is a place of hell, where women are not capable of giving birth or people who disobeyed the laws are transported here to clean up dead bodies and clean up toxic chemicals. As we walk away I know theyre watching, these two men who arent yet permitted to touch women (Atwood 22). The two imaginary societies disburdened all of their lawyers and closed all the universities. There are no lawyers anymore, and the university is closed (Atwood 23). They believed lawyers would revolt on the opinions and philosophies the commanders set forth for their people. Relationships are not like they used to be. They trained themselves to endure the irrelevance to stay away from love. Arranged marriages have always worked out just as well, if not better (Atwood 220). The society basically believes the necessity of arrange marriage have successfully worked. The Gilead society is no longer a society of lust and romance. Even though, they are forbidden to have sex for pleasure, the feeling of temptation still exists. All the pornography, videos, and magazines of the past were inflamed. There are no magazines, no more films, no more substitutes; only me and my shadow, walking away from the two men, who stand at attention, stiffly, by a road block, watching our retreating shapes (Atwood 22).

Agriculture is their main tool of work and tool of trade. They were born and raised to adapt to these keen ways of living. Agriculture is the which is so universally understood among them, that no person, either man or woman, is ignorant of it; they are instructed in it from their childhood, partly by what they learn at school, and partly by practice; they being led out often into the fields, about the town, where they not only se others at work, but are likewise exercised in it themselves (More 33). They consider breeding animals and growing crops. They breed very few horses, but those they have are full of mettle, and are kept only for exercising their youth in the art of sitting and riding them; for they do not put them to any work, either of ploughing or carriage, in which they employ oxen; for though their horses are stronger, yet they find oxen can hold out longer; and as they are not subject to so many diseases, so they are kept upon a less charge, and with less trouble; and even when they are so worn out, that they no more fir for labour, they are good meat at last (More 30). People of Amaurot are no required to bring items to exchange if they are in town. When they want anything in the country which it does not produce, they fetch that from the town, without carrying anything in exchange for it (More 30). Gilead is a limit on their resources due to the war. The fruits such as oranges are sparse. The war interferes with the oranges from California, and even Florida isnt dependable, when there are roadblocks or when the train tracks have been blown up (Atwood 25).

Works Cite

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaids Tale. New York: Anchor Books, 1986.

More, Thomas. Utopia. New York: Dover Publications, 1997.

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