Mrs. Derdiger Novel 6n1s/17 ‘The Role of Women in Dystopias ‘Throughout much of history, the male perspective and the male character have dominated ‘our views in our many forms of entertainment, one such example being in novels. Recently, there have been a rise in a strong female presence in these novels. Novels such as On Such a Full Sea, ‘The Handmaid's Tale and The Hunger Games revolve around a single female character's joumey through their respective stories, As more women are appearing in these types of dystopian novels, their roles in these novels become more apparent. Three such reasons being that they move the story forward, they are an indication of feminist ideals and that they show the story from a woman's perspective. One of the roles that women have in dystopian novels is that they act as the force that pushes the story and character development forward. Bach of the novels that will be discussed have plots that revolve around the decisions and actions of the main female characters. In certain, situations, these female characters are put in situations that male characters normally woulda’t have to go through which is what furthers the story. For example, in On Such a Full Sea, the reader follows Fan on her journey to find Reg. One of the obstacles that she encounters is Mister Leo, Mister Leo tries to sexually abuse Fan, as he has done to the countless other girls before hr, but is stopped by his wife, Miss Cathy. In doing 50, the story further progresses to show Fan's discovery of the other young girls Miss Cethy has “protected” and her eventual escape, ‘Through this occurrence, the reader is also able to get a glimpse of how Fan perceives herself and how she is perceived by others. Chang-Rae Lee writes, “We would like to think that .. . Fan ‘would have somehow repelled the assault and immediately ended any further terror... Instea‘was Mister Leo who was trapped in a dark equation” (Lee 227). The reader can assume that people like the narrator see Fan as some sort of strong heroine who is able to overcome anything. In the beginning of the novel, she is even celebrated as someone brave enough to leave the comforts of B-Mor. However, Fan truly sees herself as, not someone strong, but someone who is. trapped by her circumstances, Similarly, in The Handmaid's Tale, Offred acts as the driving force for the plot aad her own character development. While Offred doesn’t have much say in what she does or why she does it, the few times she is given a choice, she chooses the choice that ‘quenches her curiosity. For example, the first time the Commander invites her to his room, she doesn't hesitate to accept the offer even though itis against the rules. Her initial choice to visit him further prompts her to visit him time after time again, eventually becoming moze comfortable with the situation she has made for herself. This leads to further points in the story such as her trip to Jezebels’s and her meeting with Moira. In addition, her initial visitation with the Commander builds her sense of power and fearlessness. She says, “But there must be something be wants, from me. To want is to have a weakness, t's this wealmess, whatever itis, that entices me” (Atwood 136). She interprets her time with the Commander as his weakness. ‘This makes her feel more invincible because she feels she has something that she can hold over him Another role of women in dystopian novels is that they are used as an indication of feminist ideals, In recent dystopian novels, strong, independent women have been the main characters which aligns with the feminine mindset, For example, in On Such a Full Sea, Fan uses her bravery and independence to leave the safety of her home to find Reg. She chooses to leave behind everything she has known to pursue someone she is dedicated to, Fan has also shown that she is able to take care of herself. For example, when the Nickelmans take Quig and Loreenhostage, Fan takes action, She is able to think on the spot and eventually set Quig end Loreen free, Lee writes, “But Mr. Nickelman couldn’t do a thing. The boys stood down, Fan ordered that Loreen and Quig be cute from the pole..." (Lee 180). This situation sets up Fan as an intelligent, strong woman. Not only is she able to think of a solution on the spot instead of cowering in fear, but she is also able to remain calm when giving orders. Another indication of feminist ideals within this novel is the gender-role switch between Fan and Reg, Usually, itis the ‘woman who acts as the “damsel in distress” while the man. does all the saving and heroics. However, in this case, Reg seems to be the one in trouble while Fan is the character that goos after him and tries to save him, This kind of situation can also be seen in The Hunger Games. In ‘The Hunger Games, Katniss is portrayed as the strong, independent one while Peeta is portrayed as the somewhat weaker one that needs saving. In the novel, Katniss is always there to support and help Pecta, In addition, Katniss is a feminist icon, She is strong, intelligent and independent, From the very beginning of the novel, Katniss is portrayed as the head of the house, normally a ‘man’s role. Katniss feeds her family, makes money for her family and even sacrifices herself to ‘The Games for her family. Katniss also isn’t quiet about her opinion, When she believes something is wrong, she will say it. For example, when Peeta confesses his love for ker on live television, she openly voices how this was a bad idea. Even though she was wrong in the end, she wasn't afraid to stand up for herself, ‘Women in dystopian novels also indicate how women view the world. This is most relevant in The Handmaid's Tale. in this novel, men and women lead two very different lives. ‘Women have less power than men. They can’t own property, banking accounts and they can’t make decisions for the household. On the other hand, men hold all the power. They are the ones who have jobs, money and property. They own the household; whatever they say goes. Indepicting the novel from a handmaid’s point of view, the reader is able to see how tortured a woman is in this society. Oftied says, “There is supposed to be nothing entertaining about us... We are two-legged wombs, that’s ell: sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices” (Atwood 136). Offted thinks very little of herself because society hs told her how she should be, Ifthe story was told from a man's perspective, the reader would not be able to see the true tortures of women in that society. Instead, the reader would get a glimpse at a man living a pretty good life. This is a reflection of today’s current society. Even though the novel was published in the 1980s, itis still relevant to how women ere treated today. While not as drastic as the novel, there are certain restrictions that only women have to deal with that is touched upon within the novel. For ‘example, women get paid less than men and a woman’s value is heavily placed upon whether she acts and looks a certain way, Much like how the women in The Handmaid's Tale are judged by their fertility ‘Novels such as On Such a Full Sea, The Handmaid's Tale and The Hunger Games revolve around a single female character's joumey. On Such a Full Sea shows Fan as the force ideals. The Handmaid's Tale shows that pushes the story forward and a symbol of feminis Ofired as another force that pushes her story forward and gives the reader a view of life from a woman's perspective. The Hunger Games shows Katniss as another feminist symbol because of the way she is able to take care of herself and others. In dystopian literature, women are used to move the story forward, are an indication of feminist ideals and are used to show the story from & ‘woman's perspective,Dystopian Literature Mrs, Derdiger 2017/6115 ‘The Role of Women in a Dystopia ‘Women’s roles in dystopian literature have been very different all along the way. Some ‘women play the irrelevant roles, while some take the important ones. Most of the women in. dystopian literature have shown some negative images in one way ot another, while few of them contain outstanding characteristic. In the following paragraphs, I am going to be discussing how I ‘think women’s roles in dystopian literature are becoming more positive as they actually become the ‘main characters in the novels and at the same time break some gender norms. ‘At the beginning of the year, the women characters in the first couple of novels that we read take very limited parts in the novels, Both of the wives of the protagonists in the book Do Androlds Dream of Electric Sheep, and Fahrenheit 451 both barely appear in the novels. They play the minor roles and are pretty negligible, On the other hand, for the rest of the novels that we read, four of the novels actualy have a female as the main character, Specifically, 1am addressing to Vfor Vendeta, The Hunger Games, The Handmaids Tale, ond On Such a Full Sea, All of the novels above have ‘women as the main characters and for some of them, the whole novel is even told from a female's perspective, From these examples provided, we see a big difference in women’s attentions and presence in dystopian literature. With rogards to women’s image in dystopian literature, a significant amount of women is portrayed poorly in one way or another. I have put them under two main negative images, weakness and sexuality. Considering weakness, most women in dystopian literature are simply weak, both ‘mentally and physically. In Do Androids Dream of Blectric Sheep, the protagonist's wife Iran Deckard is melancholy and taciturn, She is weale because most of the time she is at home, doesn’thave a job and is only interested in things like buying expensive animals and watching television. She is especially weak mentally because she uses the mood organ all the time. Sometimes she just doesn't care when life is depressing or hopeless. “My schedule for today lists a six-hour self accusatory depression,” Iran said to Rick, (Dick 4 jIran Deckard gives in easily and is overall portrayed as a week and careless woman. Another example of a weak woman is Mildred Montag from Fahrenheit 451 She is also the ‘wife of the protagonist ofthe novel. She is very similar to Iran because she also suffers from her own emotions. She drowns her unhappiness with pills and she spends most of her time in the television room. Which shows how weak she is to constantly use fast media and mindless television shows to distract herself from issues in reality. Mildred is shown as a hollow person who doesn’t have any real connection to anyone, not even her husband Rosemary Almond from V for Vendetta isthe last example pf weak woman. Rosemary is a quiet and timid woman in the novel. Before when her husband, Derek Almond is alive, she is very ‘weak, Her relationship with her husband is very weak, too. She doesn’t talk back when Derek ‘Almond yells at her, She is also too weak to stand up for herself even when Derek gets physically and slaps her. She tries to please her husband by having sex but gets rejected cruelly and she does nothing but to cry. Things become worse after her husband is murdered. She is denied a pension from the government aad falls into poverty. She has no chance of getting a job, and she's stuck with ‘paying off bills. She has to resign herself to having sex with Dascombe, who is obviously taking advantage of her sexually after her husband’s death. “It was an offer, Derek. And yes, it makes me suck and yes, [hate him, But when you're a widow, the world looks different. You step through a curtain and you're in a place where people treat you differently. A bleak place.” said Rosemary. (Moore Lloyd 101) Desperate to survive, she has to force herself to use her beauty and sexuality and work as a showgisl in the Kitty Kat Killer Club, Is clear that in the world of Norsefire, 8 ‘woman without a man is dismal, hopeless and powerless. The example of Rosemary showsperfectly how women are weak in dystopian literature and have to pretty much depenc. on their sexualities to gain some sort of power, which loads to the second main negative image that is usually portrayed in dystopian literature, Rachael Rosen is an intelligent and independent woman in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. However, she is mostly portrayed sexually inthe novel. She seduces Rick and ends up having sex with him, She reveals that she has had sex with many other bounty hunters so they slowly become incapable of murdering another android. While Racheal os obviously intelligent cenough to play with men’s feelings, like how she says, “T love you,” (Dick 194) to Rick, she is mostly focused on her appearance instead of her intelligence, “But her great eyes, with their elaborate lashes, could only be those of a grown woman; there the resemblance to adolescence led.” (Dick 187) She is overall powerful for being capable of playing with men’s feelings and controlling their emotions, yet she uses her sexuality to gain that sort of power. As well as Evey from V for Vendetta, she uses her sexuality to survive under the control of Norsefire. At the very beginning of the novel, she asks a man if he'd like to sleep with her for money. Being a prostitute is her way of making money. Along the story, she constantly needs and looks for a man to protect het. From the cases of Rosemary and Evey, we see how women are helpless and needed to be protected overall in the novel. The above are examples of how women are usually characterised negatively for being weal and sexual. ‘Now, to change the topic to how I see women’s roles in dystopian literatures are becoming ‘more positive with some women in the novels breaking gender norms drastically. I would like to start off by talking about Katniss Everdeen ftom The Hunger Games. Katniss is a sixteen-year-old (ame age as Evey) protagonist of the novel, and she is the complete opposite of weak. Katniss is strong physically and mentally, She is powerful in District 12 and she is also forceful when put into the Hunger Games. Back home in District 12, Katniss is fiercely protective of her mother and sister She is physically strong in District 12 for being skilful to hunt illegally to eam money for herbeloved family. She is also mentally strong for not letting the misery of her father’s death beating her down, She is impressively powerful, when she volunteers to go to the Hunger Games for her sister. When in the game, she is tough, independent, resourceful, and skilled with only a bow and arrow. She is even capable of taking care of # male character, Peeta in the game, Gender roles are broken with Katniss and Peeta. Katniss is so powerful that her spirits eventually inspire and serve as ‘catalyst that creates bonds among people, “AC first one, then another, then almost every member of the crowds touches the three middle fingers of their left hand to their lips and holds it out to me, Itis an old and rarely used the gesture of our district, occasionally seen at funerals, It means thanks, it means admiration, it means goodbye to someone you love.” ‘The other woman that breaks the gender norm is Moira from The Handmaids Tale, Moira is not the protagonist inthis novel, however, she is the best friend and the hero to the protagonist, fied. In a world of Gilead, women ere nothing compared to the man, There is a social hierarchy among the women, and most of them do not have freedom, All they do is to follow their duties and behave themselves, Nevertheless, Moira is someone different. She is brave, opinionated feminist and a lesbian, She attempts to escape the Center more than one time. The frst time she has failed tragically, and punished severely. However, that does not stop her from doing what she wants to, ‘escaping the Center. She successes her second attempt at the beginning but gives up eventually ‘when the Eyes capture and torture her, “IfT were Moira, I'd know how to take it apart, reduce it to its cutting edges. Ihave no screwdrivers, but if I were Moira I could do it without a screwdriver I'm not Moira.” (Atwood 171) Throughout the story, Moira is who Offred always thinks of when she wishes herself to be more confident, adventurous, and fearless. From this, we can see that Moira is not only strong herself, her powerful spirits also have an effect on others. ‘The other hero who breaks the gender norms in The Handmaids Tale is Ofglen, Ofglen is also not the protagonist inthis novel, but she has shown her powerful courage through her actions. Being one of the Resistance is very risky, but she seems to be willing to risk her life for somethingthat is valuable to her, At the end of the novel, she hangs herself when she sees the Eyes’ van approaching for her. This action shows how tough, and fearless she isto be willing to sacrifice herself for freedom. In conclusion, women roles are becoming more and mote positive while more and more dystopian literature have females as the main characters in the books and having them illustrated very differently from the gender norms.