Essay On Power In Handmaid's Tale And Fury Road

Studying texts in tandem brings ideas about power to the fore by highlighting that despite varying contextual influences, this universal idea of power prevails in our texts. Both Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Handmaid’s) and George Miller’s 2015 action film “Mad Max: Fury Road” (Fury Road), explore shifting power dynamics in gender roles as society changes and the ever-present nature of rebellion in society as humans fight for power. Atwood’s “Handmaid’s” reflects the suppression of the feminist movement in the 1960s and 1970s due to the revival of religious conservatism. Meanwhile, Miller’s “Fury Road” is reflective of a more modern context driven by a struggle for power in the Middle East region and the growing power of women in 2010s.
This is illustrated through rapid cross cutting between Max and Furiosa’s fights scenes, placing equal value on both fights and hence demonstrating Furiosa’s equal strength and capability. This reflects the changed values of 21st century societies where women such as Julia Gillard and Helen Clark can take up the same leadership roles as men. However, Miller portrays the “wives” as child-bearers for the warlords through a close up of the engorged belly of a dying pregnant wife in which Immortan Joe’s concerned tone as he exclaims “What about the child?” reveals how he only cares for the child. This reduction of women’s role in society is comparable to the situation of Offred in “Handmaid’s tale” reflecting the oppression of women by outdated value systems in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. Hence, the comparative study of “Mad Max” and “Handmaid’s tale” highlights the shift of power towards women in modern society through the contrasting gender roles of their respective