Handmaid’s are not allowed any form of relationship’s be it friendship or a loving relationship with another person. The Handmaid’s are there to be used for procreational use not to be loved. They are not allowed to feel love. Handmaid’s are not even allowed friendships with each other or Martha’s. Both characters have previously felt a love which the government want to control and eliminate. Winston has a love for a mother which he can erase and can not hate her like most children in 1984 do. Offred and her husband Luke had the kind of male-female relationship which she is no longer allowed.

Offred’s memories of Luke contrast with the regimented, passionless state of male-female relations in the new society. The governments control over relationship’s can be shown by Offred when she states that “forgotten how to love”. The Gileadian government wishes this to happen and is just as the Aunts at the Red Centre told her it would eventually become the norm to be isolated from society. Homosexuality is also outlawed just like marriage with a divorci?? e is, this which emphasizes the governments control over who you can and cannot love in both totalitarianism states.

Uniform is used in both of the books to cancel out any individuality which allows the society to control the people by their group. The uniform is plain and practical. The uniform helps distinguish between the Party members and the proles. It shows the society who the Party has control over and who they don’t. It also helps the Party keep control as everybody looks the same therefore everyone is the same. They all think and look the same. Nobody is different in anyway. The same is true of Gilead; different groups wear different uniforms to show where they belong.

The Uniforms of Gilead also place control over the handmaids as the winged visors mean they can not be seen by anyone, they are anonymous. The government is taking away further from their identity as an individual like in 1984. This shows further examples of controlling an idea to gain total power. Both governments in the books have complete control and have forms of punishment for anyone who tries to go against their control. In 1984 there are no written laws, although several crimes are punishable. “Crimes” such as Doublethink, facecrime and sexcrime are punishable by death and impose a certain amount of fear into the Party member’s lives.

They comply to Big brother’s idea and values to escape death. The routine that the members live by, are also at the control of Big Brother. Anyone who does not follow the routine is vaporized. The workers must perform morning exercises everyday and participate in community activities such as Hate Week. All these add to the love the people have for Big Brother, Big Brother makes them perform thier workouts as he loves them and wants them to stay fit. The members of 1984 also work a lot of the time for the ironic ministries. Failure to do so again results in death.

Big Brother rules by a mixture of fear and love. People fear for their lives yet care a great deal about Big Brother and by suing this mix the Party ensures it will stay in power. In The Handmaid’s Tale it is a different scenario. The Gileadian government like to think they have a strict regime which everyone is following but as we read the text it is clear to see that not everyone is strongly devoted to the new way of life. Every major character in the books breaks a rule without being punished. Even the characters high up in the hierarchy who are supposed to be the major players of the cause break the rules.

This can be shown through the commander who plays scrabble with Offred and Serena Joy who arranges Offred to have sex with Nick. The rules are there they are just broken. All the rules are backed up by bible quotes. The idea of handmaids is base don the biblical story of Jacob and Rachel. The bible is major source of rules and because the government believes everyone believes in the book they think everyone will conform to the rules. No one can question the bible either as they are not allowed to read it. Through the bible the leaders can keep their control on the people.

The characters are also expected to, like in 1984, to follow certain routines. The routines are hard to break as it draws suspicion to you and you may be sent to the colonies and become an Unwomen. The idea of ruling by fear, like in 1984, is used to control people. The handmaids have a structured timetable just like Winston does in 1984. This allows the governments to know who is doing and when they are doing it. Just like in 1984 the Handmaids have a lack of freedom of movement. They are closely monitored by the angels and like in Orwell’s book if they become suspects of not complying to the regime they will be killed.

The two governments of Oceania and Gilead both use different forms of control to stay in power. 1984 appears to be the most successful at its method of using control to keep in power. By rewriting the having people follow the same routines, dress the same and use the same language it makes everyone one kind of person. This one person is easier to control as everybody is the same. In Gilead however there are lots of different groups who all think different and have different roles. It is harder to control the people of Gilead for this reason. Both totalitarianism governments use propaganda as the main point of trying to stay in control.

They paint a picture of themselves that they know the people will like and be more likely to follow and it appears to work in both novels especially 1984 where people just accept any changes that happen and seem to forget anything they have been told that contradicts it. Overall both societies, in both books, achieve a dystopian totalinarism state where theyhave complete control but they achieve this in different ways. In 1984, Big Brother has made everyone the same as in Atwood’s book people are split up into a hierarchy. Orwell removes individuality completely. It is due to this that 1984 is more successful in it’s quest for total control.