Psychological Conditioning and Emotional Manipulation in Orwell’s 1984 and Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale

Abstract

It explores how psychological conditioning and emotional manipulation help totalitarian regimes maintain control in George Orwell’s 1984 and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. While surveillance and physical force play a role, both novels show that fear, language control, indoctrination and emotional repression are more powerful in shaping obedience. In 1984, the Party uses Newspeak, Doublethink and constant surveillance to control thought, while Gilead in The Handmaid’s Tale relies on religion, gender oppression and social pressure to enforce submission. It compares these methods and connects them to real-world issues like media influence, digital surveillance and political propaganda.