The two novels, The Handmaid's Tale and Anthem, are both haunting, first person tales of personal hardship in a closed and controlled society. In this essay I will point out many important similarities and differences between the two books, mainly the setting and the similarities between the two societies in which the stories take place, as well as more important differences between the main characters.

To start I would like to compare the settings of the two books. In Anthem the story takes place sometime in the future after some catastrophic event. Apparently society as we know it was destroyed and the leaders that were left decided that the problem was the individual, that all men are equal in all things and that anything that is created by one person is evil. This train of thought is carried to such and extreme that the very word "I" is removed from their vocabulary. An example of this is found when the main character, Equality-1329, re-invents the electric light. He shows his invention to the scientist and although this invention could improve the quality of life of the people

In Anthem the main character is pro-active, he sees that there are problems with the society that he lives in and he tries to change it. He discovers a secret place where he can go and do scientific research and he re-invents the electric light. He shows his invention at a convention of scientists, and when his ideas are rejected he is strong enough to realize that it is he, the individual that is right, and not society, he then runs away into the wilderness in hopes of starting his own new society. The main character in The Handmaid's Tale is less of a pro-active person she knows that her society is flawed, and she tells the reader that she does not like her life yet she does nothing about it. The high ranking general that she is "handmaid" for takes her into a position of confidence, and rather than use her position to affect positive change she squanders it on cheap pleasures such as asking for a magazine to read, and playing bored games.

In ending I would like to say that although both characters live in similar controlling societies, I like the one in Anthem the best because he was pro-active and he did something about his surroundings rather tha

Some common words found in the essay are:
Handmaid's Tale, Tale Anthem, main character, handmaid's tale, anthem main character, Handmaids Tale, anthem main, main characters, handmaid's tale anthem, story takes sometime, electric light invention, re-invents electric light, story takes, electric light, light invention, tale anthem, takes sometime, re-invents electric,
Approximate Word count = 781
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)