Contemporary Handmaid's Tale: Socio - Cultural Dystopia In our modern era, contemporary society has displayed troubling situations and scenarios revolving around America's socio - cultural state. There has been a disturbance within the combining social and cultural factors within the United States in response to the polarizing political ideologies represented by this country. For individuals with radical principles and ideals have gathered a greater following within these past couple of years; in which protest that exhibit radical philosophies which have become more frequent and violent. In The Handmaid’s Tale, author Margaret Atwoodwrites a story overwhelmed with ruinous events about a world stripped from freedoms and rights; a skewed world ruled by radical ideals. Ideals that are revealing within contemporary society America. Atwood depicts a socio - cultural dystopia dominated by an alt - right religious ideology, in which the government is ruled by a form of theocracy. The beliefs expressed within The Handmaid’s Tale provides a profound correlation to contemporary events that have ignited in 2017 America. Ideals which are based on a alt - right governmental/ religious rule that ultimately demonstrates an insight on a socio - cultural dystopia. Foremost, the literature presented by Atwood distinguishes a controversial look toward a dark twisted future for America. Thus, the imperative nature of Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale elucidates the connections among current real world events and the ideology presented within the literature to produce a manner of a sociocultural dystopia. The governmental ideals represented within the Handmaid’s Tale portrays similarities to that of contemporary alt - right ideologies. For example, on August 12, 2017 there was a rally at Charlottesville Virginia, in which the protestors consisted of Neo - Nazis and members of the Ku Klux Klan. At the initiation of the rally, members of the protest were chanting, “Jews will not replace us!” (ViceNews). Furthermore, many other racial slurs/chants disregarding African Americans and homosexuals were yelled as well. These chants represent some of the foundational roots of the Neo - Nazis and KKK members philosophy; a society predominantly ruled by white judeo christian individuals, in which all other races and religions are deemed as a threat to society. Foremost, a similar situation arises within Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale, for a scene illustrates the hanging of unwanted individuals who possess a different belief than the government of Gilead, "The body is marked with a J, in red. It doesn't mean Jewish those would be yellow stars. There haven't been many of them. Because they were declared sons of Jacob and therefore special, they were given a choice. They could convert, or emigrate to Israel (200)”. “You don't get hung for being a Jew though. You get hanged for being a noisy one who doesn't make the choice. Or refuses to convert” (201). Furthermore, Atwood implies the hatred and disdain for Jewish individuals within her novel; which is eerily similar to the ideology represented by the individuals in the Charlottesville rally. Numerous scenes within the documentary elucidate radical philosophies that conspire toward the loathing of Jewish individuals; the malicious intent for Jewish people did not stop with racial slurs or chants, but escalated to violent actions. The spokesperson for the “Unite the Right” Christopher Cantwell said during the Charlottesville rally , “I am trying to become more violent… We will kill these people if we have to” (Vice News). These people refer again primarily refer to Jews, homosexuals, and African Americans; furthermore, the killing of people who possess a divergent set of philosophies correlates directly to that of The Handmaid’s Tale. In the novel, Atwood describes individuals being executed for containing different ideologies than the government of Gilead. The narrator or Offred (main character) entails a multitude of times her life may be in danger if she does not obey the laws and regulations set forth by the government; a government that is relatively based off contemporary alt - right/ neo - nazi philosophies. The rise of alt - right hate groups corresponds to the climb of the armed militia that overthrew the United States Government in Atwood's Handmaid's Tale, in which the topple of the government leads to radical philosophies that initiated a sociocultural dystopia . According to an article by BBC news, there has been an increase in radical hate groups that personify alt - right ideologies, “The manipulation of the mainstream media is attributed to a rise the far-right neo-Nazi movement, according to the Data and Society Research Institute. Links between US and European neo-Nazis are also said to be growing stronger, according to the SPLC” (BBC News). Thus, many of these radical members are well armed and possess catastrophic capabilities to society. As captured from the documentary presented by Vice News, a man affiliated with Neo - Nazis wearing fatigues can be heard stating, “ I have 200 guys with guns ready to get them out” (Vice News). Correlating to the Handmaid’s Tale, "It was after the catastrophe, when they shot the president and machine-gunned the Congress and the army declared a state of emergency. They blamed it on the Islamic fanatics, at the time” (174). At this point in the novel, the rights of individuals are being threatened and abolished by the new radical form of government based off of a form of theocracy. The initiation of the sociocultural dystopia ignites within the killing of the government officials. Later within the novel Atwood hints toward the slaughter of people of different ethnic backgrounds and political beliefs who do not represent a form of radical white religious individuals . An upheaval of societies natural way of combining social and cultural factors is defined as a sociocultural dystopia. Ergo, CNN released a study conducted by SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center) indicates that majority of the hate groups within America correspond to KKK, Neo - Nazis, White Nationalist, Racist Skinhead, and Neo - Confederate (Struyk, CNN). These hate groups generally estimated to comprise more than 60 percent of the hate groups within America; furthermore, “ the total number of hate groups has risen up 17 percent from 2014”(Struyk, CNN). Hate groups represent a general dystopia, for these groups envision a state or situation in which everything is vexatious or malicious toward individuals who do not identify with their race, religion, or political ideologies; ergo, a totalitarian society. Any totalitarian society contains some form of socio - cultural dysfunction, which is exactly Atwood depicts in her novel. A world where society is based off of a radical ideology that has strong correlation to contemporary alt - right beliefs. The Handmaid’s Tale produces countless scenarios that embodies a government ruled by radical philosophies that demonstrates racist views towards certain individuals; furthermore associating with present - day alt - right ideals. Atwood delineates many troubling settings in her novel where the narrator comes across a particular wall. Often, there are individuals hanging dead from the wall, in which Atwood provides indicators to the types of people among the wall. These people are instrumental in identifying how society is ordained by the government. For example, “"There are three new bodies on the wall. One is a priest, still wearing the black cassock... The two others have purple place cards hung around their neck: Gender Treachery” (43). Gender Treachery can be interpreted through the present - day context of homosexuality. Thus, one can deduce that the society in which the narrator resides does not accept homosexuals, for if caught the punishment results in death. Distinguishing the correlation among the ideologies of Neo - Nazis to beliefs of the governmental statute within The Handmaid's Tale is evident through the hatred for homosexuals. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is is an American nonprofit legal organization which specializing in public interest litigation and civil rights. Regarding the topic of Neo - Nazis, the SPLC states, “a Neo-Nazi groups share a hatred for Jews and a love for Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. While they also hate other minorities, gays and lesbians”(SPLC). Foremost, there is a strong parallel between the governmental structure of the society of Gilead and the ideology of Neo - Nazis. The forewarning signs expressed through Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale provides a cautionary perspective to the possible outcomes of America, for a dystopian society can only exist if people do not take precautionary actions against rising ideological threats that are contrary to the way of a society's natural order. The ideological attributes of Neo - Nazis and other alt - right hate groups display concerning similarities to The Handmaid's Tale, in which people should be aware of the increasing number of hate groups within America; for the advancement of these groups will only lead to societal destruction and chaos. In conclusion, the sociocultural dystopia of Handmaid’s Tale elucidates an imperative connection among contemporaneous events and the radical governmental ideology depicted within Atwood’s literature. Margaret Atwood wrote the the Handmaid's Tale at a time of political reversal within the United States. For the decade of the 1980’s was deemed the conservative/ religious revival; contrary to the decades of the 60’s and 70’s. The years representative of the 60’s - 70’s are related as a liberal or progressive upbringing. Many women’s rights stemmed from these decades along with many other rights associated with progressive thinking. Thus, Atwood’s socio - dystopia depicted through the Handmaid's Tale could be a reflection of her fear of a alt - right religious form of government; an exaggerated dark perspective of the current political position of the United States in the decade of the 1980’s. Furthermore, many individuals made conjectures that freedoms and laws from the progressive era would be dismantled due to the opposing reign of governmental ideals of the 1980’s. Examining the documentary presented by Vice News, one can clearly ascertain the indistinguishable connections among the ideals of the governing powers of Gilead to that of contemporary Neo - Nazis and alt - right philosophies. As well, the growth of hate groups that correlate to alt - right philosophies has risen by 17 percent since 2014 (Struyk, CNN). In which out of the 917 hate groups currently identified in the United States, a staggering 603 of those groups possess almost identical ideals represented within the society of the Handmaid's Tale (Struyk, CNN). Foremost, the development of hate groups incidental to the ideologies depicted within Atwood’s literature will only lead to our current society’s devastation.
Works Cited
Struyk, Ryan. “By the Numbers: 7 Charts That Explain Hate Groups in the United States." CNN, Cable News Network, 15 Aug.2017,www.cnn.com/2017/08/14/politics/charts -explain -us-hate-groups/index.html.
Viceews, director. Charlottesville: Race and Terror – VICE News Tonight (HBO). YouTube, YouTube, 14 Aug. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=P54sP0Nlngg.
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017.