The two novels, The Handmaid's Tale and
Anthem, are both haunting, first person tales of personal hardship in a closed
and controlled society. In this essay I
will point out many important similarities and differences between the two
books, mainly the setting and the similarities between the two societies in
which the stories take place, as well as more important differences between the
main characters.
To start I would like to compare the
settings of the two books. In Anthem the
story takes place sometime in the future after some catastrophic event. Apparently society as we know it was
destroyed and the leaders that were left decided that the problem was the
individual, that all men are equal in all things and that anything that is
created by one person is evil. This train of thought is carried to such and
extreme that the very word "I" is removed from their vocabulary. An example of this is found when the main
character, Equality-1329, re-invents the electric light. He shows his invention to the scientist and
although this invention could improve the quality of life of the people it is
deemed "evil" because he worked on his project alone. The society in this book is also strict and
authoritarian to the point of dictating what your job will be, to whom you will
have children with.
In The Handmaid's Tale the story takes
place sometime in the near future after some kind environmental catastrophe
that makes it impossible for most women to have children. To solve this problem some radicals set off a
nuclear bomb in Washington during a full session of congress and then declare
marshal law. They then systematically
took all rights away from women and forced the ones that could have children
into camps where they would be contracted out to powerful ranking officials to
have their children. These women are
referred too as "handmaids."
Next, I would like to discuss the main
characters, in The Handmaid's Tale and in Anthem. In both books the main characters are
basically nameless people, in The Handmaid's Tale we never learn the name of
the main character, because she always refers to herself as "I" and
the other characters in the book refer to her with a generic title for her
position as a handmaid. In Anthem the
main character does not have the word I in his vocabulary so he either refers
to himself as Equality-1329, or as "we."
As far as physical appearance goes, in
Anthem the main character is a man who seems to be in good heath since he has a
job as a street sweeper and he is able to preform his duties well. Later in the book he finds a mirror, and he
describes himself as beautiful." He
also seems to be of good intelligence because he describes his experience in
school as easy and boring, and he said that he understood more that the
teachers. In Handmaid's Tale the main
character is a woman of who seems to be mildly attractive since she acquires
the interest of several men in the story.
She also seems to be fairly intelligent because she said that she had
taken several college courses. Although
both characters are both apparently in good health and both are intelligent,
but they have very different personalities and personal goals.
In Anthem the main character is
pro-active, he sees that there are problems with the society that he lives in
and he tries to change it. He discovers
a secret place where he can go and do scientific research and he re-invents the
electric light. He shows his invention
at a convention of scientists, and when his ideas are rejected he is strong
enough to realize that it is he, the individual that is right, and not society,
he then runs away into the wilderness in hopes of starting his own new
society. The main character in The
Handmaid's Tale is less of a pro-active person she knows that her society is
flawed, and she tells the reader that she does not like her life yet she does
nothing about it. The high ranking
general that she is "handmaid" for takes her into a position of
confidence, and rather than use her position to affect positive change she
squanders it on cheap pleasures such as asking for a magazine to read, and
playing bored games.
In ending I would like to say that
although both characters live in similar controlling societies, I like the one
in Anthem the best because he was pro-active and he did something about his
surroundings rather than just accept what was and go on.
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