ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

The aim of this paper is to study the rationality of communication in Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Handmaid’s Tale, two works that are about characters struggling to survive in a dystopia controlled by totalitarian regimes. The most essential strategies for the characters to survive in isolated situations are communicating and bonding with other people through rational communication. Winston Smith writes a diary and tries to pass it on to ‘you.’ His diary is a one-sided means of communication, so self-centered Winston cannot be a rational speaker in communication. On the other hand, the narrator of The Handmaid’s Tale tries to convey her story for ‘you’ to share the painful story she went through. She does not try to confirm “I am” but rather to insist “we are” by telling her story and promising to listen to ‘your story’ someday. Eventually, the speaker succeeds in bonding with ‘you’ through her story, and it is communicated to the future world that has recovered from destruction.

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