The Handmaid's Tale, Fahrenheit 451, and 1984: Rebel Archetype (Evaluation)

One common theme that exists in all three novels is the rebel archetype. Winston, from "1984" is a rebel that has unorthodox impulses, and acts upon them. He commits "Thought Crime," by writing in his journal about certain things that he remembers the government changing, such as their ally. In addition to that, he also meets his girlfriend, Julia, in a time when relationships are illegal unless they are approved by the government. Similarly to Winston, Montag, from "Fahrenheit 451," also acts upon his impulses. When his fear of the consequences of reading books begins to melt away, he begins to read novels, as a way of searching for the cause of his life's emptiness. In addition to that, he also kills Captain Beatty when he fears for his life, and he plants a book in a fellow fireman's home and calls in an alarm. Offred, from "The Handmaid's Tale" also commits several acts which entail her the rebel title. Acts such as secretly meeting with the Commander and playing Scrabble together, as well as using banned items such as hand creme. But while Winston and Montag's acts of unorthodoxy are discovered by others, in "The Handmaid's Tale" ambiguous ending, it is left up to the reader to interpret whether or not Offred's acts have been discovered as well.

Authenticity: Staying true to a vision for the sake of the vision, not for ulterior motives (propaganda, indoctrination, subversion, monetary gain)

The three authors emphasize the protagonists' rebellious nature. They do this by accentuating the fact that they are a minority that is struggling against a society that has taken away one's most basic human rights. This, makes the reader sympathize with the protagonists and wish for them to succeed in regaining these rights by rebelling. In the case of "1984," the reader is left feeling helpless from the moment when the "Thought Police" captures Winston. That is because starting from that point, his dream of leading a private life, and all his other dreams, are immediately snatched away.

Similarly, in "Fahrenheit 451," the reader feels the same intense fear that Montag feels when he is running away from the Mechanical Hound when trying to escape from the city. Once he is successful in leaving it behind, and he begins a new life, and the reader feels great relief for his achievement.

In "The Handmaid's Tale," Offred's ambiguous destination as a result of her subtle rebellion, leaves the reader feeling as if her world is spinning out of control. Atwood makes the reader feel this way by making the plot development feel rather "slow" throughout most parts of the novel, and then adding a lot of crucial plot development in the last few pages of the novel. This sudden "change of pace" is what causes the reader to feel the intensity of Offred's feelings, and to interpret whether or not she makes a mistake by telling Nick about her innermost feelings and thus, not conforming to the society.

Originality: Creating a story and characters from a unique perspective and not adhering to a preset formula or concept (cliched or one dimensional characters, predictable plot, overused style and stale imagery).

In "1984", George Orwell places the protagonist in a society that is far from our own. In a society that is certain to shock the reader, and make their imagination flourish. He places Winston in the most horrific society that one can imagine. In a society where one must control everything; from the words that they choose to express, to their thoughts. This makes the reader understand how restricted Winston is in his daily life due to the things he can and cannot do, and it makes the reader fully comprehend the reason why Winston begins to rebel.

Bradbury, places Montag in a society that is not extremely different from the one today. It is a somewhat original society. Although the society that Montag resides in is very technologically advanced, there are still more elements that it has in common with the society that exists today.
The prominent symbolism of fire is a very original and subtle concept. Throught the novel, whenever Montag's attitude changes, so does the way that he views fire. For example, prior to rebelling, Montag views fire as a wonderful medium of destruction, because to him, burning books provides him with an illusion of happiness. But once Clarisse opens up his mind about books, and makes him see how they are truly alive,he begins to rebel. After he realizes what importance books have, he begins to see the destructive quality of fire, and he views it as a detrimental element.

Magaret Atwood, is also quite creative in regards to the imagery that she uses in "The Handmaid's Tale." The most prominent example of imagery that she uses to portray Offred's sorrounding world, is the color red. The red color can be seen in Offred's (and the other Handmaids') outfits, and in the red tulips from Serena Joy's garden. Primarily, the red color is associated with violence. In the Handmaid's Tale, the red color that sorrounds the Handmaid's can be seen as a reminder of the violence that women are subjected to before the Republic of Gilead. Alternatively, red can also symbolize the passion that is building up inside of Offred, and she is unable to express until later on. This passion is most often expressed as physical longing. Offred feels this longing as a result of not having physical contact with someone that makes her feel wanted, and the color itself, is simply a reminder of why she rebels by secretly meeting Nick.

Consistency: The story, characters and message stay true to the context of the novel and to each other. This would include believability within the context of the story.

All the authors capture the reader's attention in such a way that they are entirely engulfed in the struggles that the characters face. They do this by creating drastically different societies and by portraying them in detailed descriptions. Furthermore, they also take the reader's hand and guide them throughout the story, without leaving any gaps, or inconsistencies that the reader must fill out by themselves.

Although the pace of the three novels changes drastically towards the end, the authors do this in order to create an effect. They do it in order to create suspense about the protagonists' destinations. In addition to that,the last part of the novel, is the most intriguing part because it provides answers to the protagonist's destination. It communicates to the reader whether or not the protagonist is successful through their act of rebellion. The suspense itself, is just another great addition to make the reader continue on reading in order to find out what the protagonist's destination is.

Subliminal Messages: Closely related to authenticity, subliminal messages are hidden messages that contradict the apparent theme of the novel. For example the novel is about independence, yet the female protagonist is waiting for a man to make her life complete.

The subliminal messages include the fact that the protagonists are slightly hypocritical, by rebelling against something that they are partially responsible in causing. For example, in "1984", Winston works at the "Ministry of Truth," where he is responsible for rewriting the past. Although he is fully aware of the party's indiscretions, and he despises their rewriting of the past, he, himself is just as responsible as any other party member for re-writing the past.

Similarly, in "Fahrenheit 451", Montag is a firefighter and until the beginning of the novel Ray Bradbury implies that he has been burning books for all his life, and that he truly enjoys his profession. But later on in the novel,he changes his mind and he begins to despise burning books. The truth is, that when he rebels by stealing books and hiding them in his own home, he rebels by treasuring books. This is somewhat hypocritical, because books are something that he caused the destruction of before.

Margaret Atwood, accentuates how Offred dislikes being a Handmaid because of only being viewed as important for one reason:the ability to give birth. Throughout the novel, Atwood shows the reader how any other form of female individuality has been snatched away, such as a female's name. But, prior to being turned into a Handmaid, Offred is given the choice of either being a Handmaid or going to the Women's Labor Camp, and she chooses to be a Handmaid, which is something that is her own personal choice (despite the fact that she is not faced with a plethora of options).

By portraying the protagonists as characters that have to do something that they despise, the authors are accentuating the protagonists' need to rebel. If they would not abhor the things that they must do, then they would not have a reason to fight for their freedom.