When in crisis, sacrifices often need to be made. In The Handmaids Tale by Margret Atwood and The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline, minority groups are sacrificed and taken advantage of to benefit society.
Point: The Handmaids were treated like reproductive objects which were required to continuously have sex with different men to continue reproduction.
Proof: "One of them is vastly pregnant [...] There is a shifting in the room, a murmur, an escape of breath; despite ourselves we turn our heads, blatantly, to see better; our fingers itch to touch her. She's a magic presence to us, an object of envy and desire, we covet her. She's a flag on a hilltop, showing us what can still be done: we too can be saved." (29)
Explanation: In the novel, pregnancy has become so rare that it was celebrated and seen as an accomplishment. For the Handmaids, this pregnant woman not only represents the future of humanity, but the idea that "they too can be saved." In this dystopic novel, becoming pregnant is the one thing the Handmaids can do to save themselves from death.
Point: The Handmaids had to keep their mouth shut around the men because they were seen as less than that of a human and felt intimidated by their presence.
Proof: "Aunt Lydia said it was best not to speak unless they asked you a direct question. Try to think of it from their point of view she said, her hands clasped and wrung together, her nervous pleading smile. It isn't easy for them." (15)
Explanation: In this quotation, Offred is explaining how Aunt Lydia advised the Handmaids to not speak unless they were asked a direct question. Not only are the Handmaids forced to give up their rights, but they are encouraged to pity the abusers and "try to think of it from their point of view". Aunt Lydia is encouraging the Handmaids to be doormats.
Point: Since the women in the novel were stripped of their rights, the handmaids struggle to remember what it was like to have freedom as a woman.
Proof: "It's strange to remember how we used to think, as if everything were available to us, as if there were no contingencies, no boundaries; as if we were free to shape and reshape forever the ever-expanding perimeters of our lives. I was like that too, I did that too." (262)
Explanation: The narrator, Offred, feels separated from her life before she became a handmaid, when freedom and bodily autonomy were rights, not privileges. The women in the novel are dehumanized because they no longer have basic rights. The women realize how precious those rights were and how little they were appreciated when people had them.
Point: The Americans display evil behaviour towards the Natives by taking them away from their loved ones and robbing them of their bone marrow.
Proof: “anything is better than living in a maze of hallways and sterile rooms, not knowing if the person you care most for in the world is alive or dead or hurting. Knowing only that is close by, but is possibly out of reach. Knowing only that your people could be strapped into some kind of machine that chews them up and spits out bone mush and sticky sap.” (140)
Explanation: In this quotation, Miig is talking to Frenchie about the schools and his lover. He tells Frenchie how the worst thing to possibly happen would be to get taken to the schools. He is also mentioning how it feels to be taken from someone you love and not knowing if they are dead or alive. Miig also mentions that only Native people are getting strapped up and are getting their bone marrow taken which is unfair and displays the theme of dehumanization of minority groups.
Point: The American's dehumanize the Natives and do not treat them as humans, causing the Natives to feel insignificant.
Proof: “And you remember they don’t think of us as humans, just commodities.” (203)
Explanation:
The Natives are seen as "commodities" which are only useful for their bone marrow. They treat the Natives as if they are objects only used to cure the medical crisis they were facing, which is the inability to dream. This demonstrates how dehumanization is constantly occurring throughout the novel.
Point: The Natives feel as if they must continue to run and hide from the Recruiters because if they do not do so they will be captured and taken to the camps.
Proof: “It’s stupid is what it is. Time's a-wasting. You either run or you find other ways to fit in and get by. Ain’t no use in holding onto ways that are dead. It just brings death closer.” (126)
Explanation: This quotation shows how dehumanization occurs in the novel because the Natives must either run from the Americans or try to fit in with the Americans to avoid getting caught. The Natives should not have to hide from everything to protect themselves. They should not have to try to fit in and pretend to be white to survive.
In both The Marrow Thieves and The Handmaid's Tale, the authors create a dystopic world where a medical crisis, such as fertility issues and the inability to dream, is used to justify dehumanizing a minority group. This shows how fear is used to rationalize evil behaviour. This is important to readers because this relates to modern day crisis' where minority groups, such as immigrants, and Islamic people are taken advantage of and face dehumanization. An example of this would be the ongoing issue of Islamophobia. Islamophobia is the close-minded hatred, fear, and prejudice towards Islamic people and Muslims. The fear of this minority group has caused humans to act evil towards these people and act violently towards their culture. An act that occurred due to Islamophobia would be the mosque shooting in New Zealand, which killed many innocent Muslim people. The kind of Islamophobia that appears to have driven these killings goes far beyond some radicalised individual. It’s a thread that runs throughout North America and needs to be stopped. Another way we see fear being used to rationalize evil behaviour is in the conflict and hate immigrants are facing in the United States. After Trump finished the worst aspects of his family separation policy, hundreds of children are still coping with the trauma of having their families being ripped apart. As well, thousands of migrant children are forced into detention centres where these children must live in a tent with thousands of other migrant children. Trumps actions are taking dehumanization to extremes and shows how people take hateful action when in fear. Overall, dystopias are important novels to read in modern day to point out and recognize bad human behaviour including our tendency to justify bad behaviour due to fear.