Theme Of Manipulation In The Handmaid's Tale

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Language is constantly being manipulated to disguise the grave reality of certain matters.A great example of this is seen in The Handmaid's Tale. This story takes place in a futuristic society where a new regime overthrew the United States government and is now known as the Republic of Gilead. The most powerful force that the republic uses to maintain control over its people is the manipulation of language. Sadly this tactic is also seen in our own society specifically in the political realm. This is generally done to gain power and to make something seem less evil. Manipulation of language is extremely dangerous and has been used throughout history by many famous Tyrants the most infamous being Adolf Hitler. One of the most common ways to manipulate language today is saying things in the name of political correctness …show more content…
They are able to achieve this through changing terms of certain people or event to make things that are clearly intrinsically evil seem less evil. In order to bring forth new life into this society so that it may continue to move forward fertile women must try to conceive with a married man. In a perfect society this would be called adultery, but instead it is known as “the ceremony” which would automatically be categorized as something good.(Atwood, p.93) A very common misuse of language in our society is the use of the term reproductive rights instead of abortion. This is about the most watered down term possible a person for such a grave matter. Furthermore it doesn't even make sense as there is nothing reproductive about killing a child. Just as there is nothing to celebrate about the ceremony as it is not enjoyed by any of the
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