Comparing the Rights of the Individual in Handmaids Tale and Invisible Man :: comparison compare contrast essays

Rights of the case-by-case in Handmaids Taleand covert reality The Handmaids Tale, by Margaret Atwood, and Invisible human, by Ralph Ellison, are two novels which use an essenti all(prenominal)y invisible central fiber to comment on the manipulative power society holds over people, destroying the individual. Offred, the suspensor of The Handmaids Tale, and the narrator of Invisible Man are both invisible as individuals and are manipulated by society to become a dehumanized infixed resource. The authors of these two works use the protagonist to criticize societys use of accredited groups of people only as resources to reach a goal, ignoring the individuality of these people.The very names, or lack thereof, of the main characters indicate their invisibility in the look of society. Offred is named after her commander she is Freds possession and therefore of Fred. Her original name is neer menti adeptd. Likewise, the name of the narrator of Invisible Man is never menti one(a) d. When he joins the Brotherhood, he is given a new name. Both Offred and the narrator of Invisible Man see their real names as a source of self-identification, nonetheless society refuses to use their real names.Offred is a natural resource to Gilead because she is one of few women who still have viable ovaries. She describes the existence of the handmaids We are two-legged wombs, thats all sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices. We are containers, its only the insides of our bodies that are important. What we prayed for was emptiness, so we would be worthy to be filled with grace, with love, with self-denial, with semen and babies. (pg. 176, 124, 251) The narrator of Invisible Man is a resource is a similar way. The Brotherhood uses him as a speaker to advance their efforts to take power over the blacks. He saysWhat was 1, a man or a natural resource? (pg. 303)Offred is seen not as an individual, but as one of a group of women who must distribute the Republic of Gilead. When Offred asks the Commander for skin lotion, she says, Our hands get very dry. For roughly reason I said our instead of my. (pg. 203) Here she sees herself as one of many handmaids, as she was taught to see at the Red Center. The narrator of Invisible Man, like Offred, finds himself identifying with a group and not with himself. He says, they usually deem in terms of we while I have always tended to take in terms of me.