Both writers use images relating to the past to show the instability of the dictatorial regimes. The “huge scar” in Waknuk is an ironic metaphor of the failure of past ideas; Atwood's use of the word “palimpsest” also has a similar purpose, but also echoes the Gilead’s lack of success in fully eradicating the past from people’s minds, like Offred for example. The animal imagery in the title “The Chrysalids” also implies the instability of the Waknuk regime. The word chrysalid symbolises the helplessness of the Waknuk society under the control of the authorities. Yet the fact that the larvae will one day emerge gives hope of the destruction of this oppressive society.
The exploitation of the religious concept of the Eyes of God allows the Gileadean regime to rule with extreme authority by inducing as a method of control. Similar to George Orwell's “1984”, there is an intimidating awareness of being watched. Atwood achieves this by creating an extended image of an eye applied from the eye painted on the “black van” to the tattoo engraved on Offred's ankle; this surveillance provokes a sinister and secretive atmosphere. Atwood describes the black van of the Eyes with animal imagery, a “shark on the prowl”, inviting the reader to perceive the Gileadean regime with almost animalistic motives, hungry for their next victim. A government is responsible for establishing security for their people yet ironically, this government only creates a more threatening aura surrounding Gilead. The closer surveillance in Waknuk propels the people to live more secretive lives; unlike “The Handmaids Tale”, there is a more disquieting vulnerability among the people due to the lack of control over their classification as mutants.
The authorities of both societies increase their control not only by controlling speech but also by influencing people’s minds. Atwood emphasises the repression of speech in Gilead with the absence of speech marks, indicating how speech is curtailed, showing its isolating effects. Among the handmaids, speech is an enforced ritual pattern and response; Offred describes herself as “the voice of a monotone, the voice of a doll”. The dehumanising descriptions also reflect the government’s control over the handmaids: “Without a word [Ofglen] swivels, as if she's voice activated, as if she's on little oiled wheels, as if she’s on top of a music box.” Atwood's robotic imagery illustrates the dehumanising theme that recurs throughout the novel; this allows the government more control over women by reducing them to mere robots. In contrast, the communication in Waknuk has no overtly imposed prohibitions. However, Wyndham creates an atmosphere of secrecy where people are terrified of revealing the truth, whether concerning a Blasphemy or the ultimate truth. Through David, Wyndham reveals that there is no great fear of the freedom of speech as it is in the people’s favour to keep quiet.
By prohibiting reading and writing among women in Gilead, Atwood allows the reader to understand the power of the written word. Wyndham also demonstrates this to an extent by exposing the deprivation of good education for children. It is only through Michael and Uncle Axel that David finally becomes more aware of the world in which he lives.
“The pen between my fingers is sensuous, alive almost, I can feel its power, the power of the words it contains.” The words “sensuous” and “alive” humanise this pen to denote the power of the pen and the knowledge which it holds. Ironically, this is the power which the Gileadean regime has deprived women of. The strict policies on reading and writing reveal the extent of control over women, even the names of shops have been replaced with pictures: “All flesh is marked by a large wooden pork chop hanging from two chains”.
Yet the rigid control of communication is only a small part in the manipulation; the role of influence and brainwashing plays a much bigger role than the smothered communication. In “The Handmaids Tale”, the society of Gilead is influenced according to each persons role in society. However, there is a lack of full insight into all the methods used as the reader can only judge from a handmaids point of view; some critics may say this is a disadvantage of using the first person narrative and therefore a weakness of the novel. Nevertheless, I feel this narrative method increases the mysterious and sinister ambience, allowing a more personal and subjective view on the experiences of a handmaid.
Although Offred is able to repeat word for word what she has been taught at the Red Centre, she fails to be influenced by Aunt Lydia. She is mentioned constantly throughout the novel; it may seem like admiration at first, but the reader soon grows to empathise with the underlying irony in everything that Offred expresses. It is only towards the end of the novel where her hatred for Aunt Lydia is vehemently revealed: “Hatred fills my mouth like spit.” Offred's irony throughout the novel reflect the rejection of the society in which she lives; her refusal to be influenced and also her strong survival instinct and determination provides the reader with not only hope but approval: “I intend to get out of here.”
There is a similar approval of the character of David. Like Offred, David is also trained thoroughly by his father, yet he fails to be influenced. This is shown in David’s refusal to accept Sophie as a Mutant for just having an extra toe: “It seemed a very small toe to cause such a degree of anxiety”. The reader approves of David’s open-mindedness and his innocence.
The brainwashing of the handmaids in “The Handmaids Tale” is made easier by reducing them to mere children. Atwood's image presents the training as the teaching of children: “Her fault, her fault, her fault, we chanted in unison”. This chanting is almost reminiscent of school children learning their multiplication tables, degrading women to children and increasing the control over them.
Likewise, David is made familiar with references to “Repentance’s”, the basis of the Waknuk religion. He is able to repeat these by rote like Offred; Wyndham's dehumanisation of David when he “mutters parrot-like” reveals the attempted level of control over the people's minds, although we know David is not affected by this. Wyndham's comparison to animals accentuates the idea of Waknuk imposing a control and training that is similar to animals, whereas Atwood had preferred comparison with children.
The more horrifying method of brainwashing in the “Red Centre” is the use of pornographic movies to manipulate the handmaids, intensifying the already violent and hostile environment: “Once we had to watch a woman being slowly cut up in pieces, her fingers and breasts snipped off with garden shears, her stomach slit open and her intestines pulled out.” Offred's description is very objective and detached; Atwood applies this impersonal approach in order to show horrific methods being integrated into society and how they change people without their acknowledgement: “Nothing changes instantaneously: in a gradually heating bathtub you'd be boiled to death before you knew it.” The image of the gradually heating bathtub resembles the government’s slow and furtive strategies that create their perfect society. This conspiracy of silence extends the already threatening atmosphere.
Yet Offred is a character with profound intelligence; this allows her to recognise the motives of the government: “Maybe the night falls because it’s heavy, a thick curtain pulled over the eyes. Wool blanket.” Atwood adopts the proverb “pulling the wool over ones eyes” also as a metaphor of the Gileadean regime, revealing Offred's understanding of the governments veneer, and allowing hope to play a part in the novel.
Punishment is the most cruel method employed by the two regimes as a means of control as it reveals the lack of human rights in the violent control imposed. The punishment in both societies is harsh with an unforgiving ambience, reflected by the use of banishment by both writers. Atwood's evocative imagery in the Colonies, where “your nose falls off and your skin pulls away like rubber gloves”, emphasises the extremity of the punishment. Similarly, Wyndham's descriptions of the strange Fringes reinforce the shallow and heartless views of the Waknuk society in banishing innocent people into such deprivation.
Human rights are further betrayed in “The Chrysalids”; the loss of compassion is revealed by the shocking policies of killing the new born labelled Mutants and the banishment of women in their inability to produce a Norm in three chances. Wyndham explores the loss of compassion in “the haunting scene that lodges in the memory: a mothers futile pleas for her baby” as Castro comments; this poignant scene is certainly haunting and very shocking. Although these policies see a contrast to Gilead's desperation for children, Gilead similarly labels imperfect children as Unbabies. The policies of Waknuk also see a degradation of the role women similar to those of Gilead, where sterile women, Unwomen, are too ostracised.
The degradation of women in Gilead is extended further with the strict control of sex. Offred's inconsistency of narrative between the past and the present invites the comparison of the freedom of the past and the oppression of this new regime. Sex totally degrades women to a point where they are merely “two-legged wombs”. Offred describes handmaids as “scared vessels, ambulatory chalices”, but the reader’s familiarity with Offred’s irony suggests the description is rather an idealistic portrayal of what the Gileadean regime claim it is and what the handmaids wish it to be.
Offred’s objective descriptions and shocking narrative assist Atwood in her portrayal of the dehumanisation of women. The sentences are short with an indifferent tone in response to events, for example the Ceremony. “Below it the Commander is fucking. What he is fucking is the lower part of my body.” The strong language portrays the absence of love and response from Offred due to the removal of emotions, yet the shocking discovery of this horrific Ceremony is that, as Christopher Lehmann-Haupt says, “It has a sense of humour about itself”. However, this humour seems better phrased as dark humour. I do not think that Offred’s narrative is humorous; I feel it is rather a device to evoke pity.
Offred often describes her body as being dead because of the removal of her emotions, thus stressing the idea of dehumanisation. Atwood's personification of worms describes the lips as being dead as they are no longer attractive or used as symbol of love: “Here and there are worms, half dead; flexible and pink, like lips”. The lack of emotion due to the strict control of sex on both men and women and the extent of this control is disturbing because of the violent outcomes of rebellious behaviour. Even during the act of kissing “they must then think immediately of the floodlights, the rifle shots”. The irony, however, of these strict policies is that they fail to reduce sexual stimuli among the society and intensify sexuality instead. Despite the brainwashing, Offred ironically seems more aware of her sexuality than in her previous life, implying that the Gileadean policies are not effective in decreasing sexuality, but are just another method of control.
The dehumanisation of women in Waknuk is much more cruel than the strict sex policies of Gilead. The Waknuk authority does not control sex in itself among the Mutants; instead the females are made barren in order to control the Mutant population. Sophie's suffering evokes sympathy when we learn of her desire to produce children: “I'd have given him babies gladly, if I could. Why didn’t they kill me? It would have been better than this”.
The degradation of women is ultimately revealed in Gilead's rigid hierarchical system where people are labelled by their roles in society. The symbolism of colour within the colour-coding scheme of the society is significant in revealing the extent of the control exercised over the groups, denying the individuality of people. Gabriele Twohig uses Goethe's Farbenlehre to understand how colour symbolises the personality of each group. The colour blue indicates “coldness” and “emptiness”. As their habit suggests, the Wives posses a distant approach with emptiness reflected in their infertility. Similarly, the red habit represents sexual attraction, which is ultimately how the handmaids are perceived. Although they are considered a valuable source of Gilead, they are ironically the most degraded of women, being replaceable categorised objects.
Offred often finds herself in conflict with Serena Joy as a result of the conflict created by the differing levels of control on women; Offred’s aversion of her is displayed in her constant mocking and enjoyment of the implicit power she holds. Lack of compassion also leads to conflict in Waknuk, although it is more shocking than in Gilead. This conflict is more personal as it exists between families. An example of this is the conflict between David’s mother and his Aunt Harriet: “Tell her to leave the house and take that with her.” Wyndham's family conflicts differ from Atwood’s power-hungry image. The foundation of “The Chrysalids” is on relationships; Wyndham reflects on how such strict control can lead to the destruction of family relationships. The women of Gilead ironically fight among themselves, but, as Offred’s ambivalence towards the Commander shows, women fail to recognise their true enemy – masculine power.
As many readers have commented, “The Handmaids Tale” seems to be a warning to young women of the post-feminist 1980s where the secured rights for women were being taken for granted. Perhaps it is also a warning of the returning influence of religious powers; some may argue that Atwood’s novel is still relevant today by examining the influence of the Taliban, although I feel Atwood has captured the control which the USA presently holds over the world. Similarly, “The Chrysalids” may pose a similar warning, but I feel it is rather a reflection on the recognition of the bigotry and narrow-mindedness of the world which will perhaps never change.
In conclusion, it is obvious that both Atwood in “The Handmaids Tale” and Wyndham in “The Chrysalids” employ a variety of methods in order to reinforce the level of control inflicted in each society. The regimes use violent and cruel methods, positioning people at a lower level by dehumanisation in order to take complete control. Atwood and Wyndham express the nature of power-hungry elites in the extent of their use of shocking and disturbing methods to control their inferiors.
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