Power and Control

Power and Control

"Once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission" (V, "V for Vendetta"). Throughout history there has been struggle of power and control between a governing body and it's people. In the movie "V for Vendetta," the government has ultimate control over it's people in a dystopian future, created by a series of strategic events that could be in the near future for the United States.

Good morning/afternoon Mr Williams an fellow students. Today I am going to present to you the three texts that I chose and show how Power and Control is evident in each. My first text is V for Vendetta directed by James McTeigue, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and Animal Farm by George Orwell.

It is necessary for the government to impose a certain amount of power and control on its citizens in order for a society to function properly. However, too much power and control in a society eliminates the freedom of the residents, forbidding them to live an ordinary life. In the dystopic futuristic novel, The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood demonstrates the theme of power and control through an oppressive society called the Republic of Gilead.

The government establishes power and control through the use of the Wall, military control, the Salvaging, and the Particicution. The Aunts indoctrinate the Handmaids and control them by using fear and intimidation. The Patriarchal society allows the Commanders to hold immense power over the citizens, while the Commander's Wives hold the power in the household. Generally, the Handmaids do not hold very much power because they are of a lower class in the Patriarchal society. The Republic of Gilead institutes power and control in society, therefore forcing its residents into submission and leaving them completely helpless in a totalitarian regime.

The dead bodies of those who have committed acts against the government hang on a structure called the Wall. The Wall is a method to implement fear on the citizens. Offred describes the purpose of the Wall when she states, "We stop, together as if on