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Oppression in Oceania vs Sedation in BNW

When asked in class whether we would prefer to live in either BNW or Oceania the majority said they would prefer to live in BNW. I find this preference not surprising because in BNW its citizens are not under the constant threat of violence and execution that exists in Oceania.   However, I believe that if I didn’t have to live in either of the dystopias but had to choose one to exist in the world I would prefer that Oceania exist. My rational behind this decision is that even though it is harder to live in Oceania it might be an easier target to overthrow for the future of the next generation because the Inner Party simply has not mastered what the BNW has: the creation of a self-perpetuating totalitarian state through addictive self-gratifying sedation. BNW is brilliant in how it uses human desires to maintain a happy complacent population. Instead of trying to restrict an individual’s behavior BNW encourages its people to pursue their base human desires by conditioning everyon
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Is Winston a hero?

Is Winston a heroic character in 1984, he definitely isn't the obvious hero whose goal in life was to tear down big brother and make life fair for everyone, but he did rebel and try to bring down big brother. He was, up until we start reading about his story, someone who was very complacent in the oppressive society of big brother. In fact, it could be argued that he is more of a villain because of his help in the ministry changing history to reflect the parties views. Whether or not he wants to actually end the parties power or simply just be allowed to have sex shamelessly is also a question to be asked. In the beginning of the book Winston writes over and over in his notebook down with big brother, was this symbolic of his future heroic actions to try and take down the party? Perhaps simply buying the book illegally from the proles marked the start of his journey as a hero rebelling against big brother. Or does none of it really matter because he didn't make an impact? Thro
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Handmaid's Tale and Alias Grace

The Handmaid’s Tale is written by Margert Atwood, a prominent feminist and Canadian writer. She has also written other very influential and critical successful books such as Oryx and Crake, The Blind Assassin, and Alias Grace. I read Alias Grace last year (when I forgot to bring a book for independent reading in English last year). It’s a book about Grace Marks’ life, a Canadian servant living in the 1840s. The book chronicles Grace Mark’s life and her eventual time in prison for the murder of her employer Thomas Kinnear (this may not sound super interesting, but plot is very layered, and it ends up as more of a murder-mystery towards the end. There is also a Netflix series you don’t want to commit to reading the book). Both of these books deal with feminism and the power of men over women. In the Handmaid’s Tale, Offred is very obviously stripped of her power and made to serve men with power. She is even raped under the supervision of her government. In Alias Grace, G
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Stressors Project

My blogpost for today is not going to be about the book instead it is going to be about the stressors project (just wanted to form some thoughts on it). I think this project is a really interesting idea and I like the anonymity of it all. Thinking of stressors in general the first thing that pops to my mind is school, so a lot came to mind when thinking more in depth about what gives me anxiety in school. The first thing I thought of was the constant homework assignments that Uni teachers give, and a lot of the time it is just busy work. Teachers probably think the more homework we get the more we will understand the subject, which turns into teachers giving random busy work assignments. Often I procrastinate these assignments and they start to add up. Having so much work to do after school makes it hard to participate in other activities. The 30 minute rule for homework needs to be enforced so Uni students can have a life outside of school. Another big stressor that I think of
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Handmaid’s Tale Movie vs. Hulu Series

     Before we started reading the Handmaid’s Tale in class, I watched the Hulu Series, which I thought was very good and portrayed the book very well. I found that th older movie didn’t match up with the book as well, and I thought it was cheesier and the acting not as good.      In the movie, the Handmaid’s uniforms were portrayed differently than described in the book. The book described their hats as white with large wings on either side so that they couldn’t see out. In the movie, they worse red veils which completely ruins their purpose. I think the Hulu series portrays their outfits very accurately. In the Hulu Series, Serena Joy and the Commander look like they are both in their thirties. In the book, I think they are portrayed as being much older, which helps the reader to understand that Serena Joy is infertile and portrays their status in society much higher. In the movie, Serena Joy and the Commander are both older, probably in their fifties or so. This matches up much
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The Handmaiden’s Tale: Impossible or too close for comfort?

When we were asked to make historical or real-world connections to the Handmaiden’s Tale, my initial reaction was to draw a blank. Did the world ever have a post-nuclear war religiously fanatic society, where declining birthrates required women to become little more than baby machines? No, yet despite the circumstances that led to the rise of the Republic of Gilead there are many similar authoritarian states today. At their core these states abuse the power of religion to control their population while using the idea of an enemy or war to unite its people against. In addition, these states make certain to have a carefully cultivated image to the rest of the world to hide the lack of basic individual rights of their citizens. Suddenly the Republic of Gilead which felt so ludicrous at first didn’t seem so far off from the Saudi Arabias and North Koreas of the world to me. Saudi Arabia is a religious state famous for its lack of human rights, especially for women. Women are effect
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Can we all be happy in the same society?

When asked if there is a possibility of a Utopian society that satisfies everyone my gut reaction is to say no, just because of the different way everyone sees the world as well as their values. A quintessential part of life for us in this world is experiencing challenges and learning how to adapt and overcome them. Whether this is a small thing when we are young, like learning how to share, or a bigger thing when we are older, like working with difficult people at a job these experiences help us grow as people. Although in the moment these obstacles are unpleasant and we wish to just always be happy there is a gratification we get from overcoming things and learning how to handle situations. In theory, in a utopian society we would always get what we want, this would mean when we are 3 and want ice cream for breakfast we would get it, we would never have to learn how to deal with the emotions of not getting that ice cream. Therefore, we wouldn’t emotionally mature in the same way we a
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