Atwoods Attention to Words in The Handmaids Tale Essay -- Margaret A

Atwoods Attention to Words in The Handmaids TaleThe Handmaids Tale illustrates that despotism can be established bycreating a put forward of consternation one time language controls are instituted. As atradition to dystopian novels, Atwood has halen much attention to themeaning of words and the significance of name, as well as theprohibition for women to read or write, in say to portray Gilead asa successful totalitarian state. Atwood is trying to admit the pointthat in a dystopian world, language can be the power.The meaning of names is a central focus of the novel, because names trace people. Their worth and functions are summarized by the names.To some extent, the names also disapprove originality. This occursespeci all in ally to the Handmaids, whose names all begin with the prefixOf, plus their commanders names, forming names such as Offred,Ofglen, and Ofwarren. This act taken by the Gileadian state in allobjectifies the Handmaids. They no longer have a status in theso ciety, and or else they become possessive items of the commanders.In the case of Offred, she does not mention her strong name throughoutthe entire novel. In fact, Offred is probably numbed by the earthly concernthat she doesnt even want to mention her real name, as she once said,I must forget about my secret name and all ways back. My name isOffred now, and here is where I live. (p.185)As a result, she is oftentimes perceived as an imaginary figure. In a way,she has already confounded her original identity, that we are unable totrace her in the future. Here, Atwood is trying to draw the attentionthat stripping peoples names may as well result in stripping theirindividuality. Furthermore, she has created a system of titles to trounce wome... ... has tried to warn the readersthat there would be a genuine sequel if language is exploited.What Atwood is trying to promote to the readers is that words arentjust words. language is incredibly powerful for getting people to notlook at the reality of things, or for making things to be moreemotional than they inquire to be. Renaming can certainly be used tocreate a state of fear through distinctive classification. More master(prenominal)ly, it can significantly disgrace people and take awaytheir identities. Other than that, religious influences also intromit thegovernment to control the society psychologically. After all,language is an extremely important device in The Handmaids Tale. Agood understanding of how language functions in the novel allows us tobecome aware of how a totalitarian regimen can maintain its powerthrough the control of language.