Freedom and Security Dilemma in Margaret Atwood’s The Heart Goes Last

Abstract

The Heart Goes Last is a dystopic novel set in the United States of America. The book portrays a society in which the whole system is broken, from banking to manufacturing; unemployment, homelessness, and violence have accelerated in such a way that they constitute norms rather than the exception. The story is about a young couple, Charmaine and Stan, who lost their homes and jobs and live in their cars. Their lives are now organized around their bare lives, and they are at the point where they exchange their freedom for security. Dystopias reflect the fear of the era in which they are written, and the society portrayed in the novel is a late capitalist society. Late capitalist societies are characterized by uncertainty, insecurity, and vulnerability. Late capitalist societies exploit the fears and anxieties derived from uncertainty and insecurity, and The Heart Goes Last projects this exploitation, resulting in the loss of freedom. The first part of the study gives the relationship between dystopia and social theory. In the second part, the context of the novel is given. The third part analyzes the late capitalist societies through liquid modernity thesis. Finally, the renunciation of freedom for the sake of security and stability is analyzed. An emphasis on the contradiction between freedom and security and the co-occurrence of freedom and domination will be given. It is argued that the social structure that exploits fear triggers the need for security, which results in the loss of freedom. Key Words: Dystopia, liquid modernity, late capitalism, freedom-security dilemma JEL Classification: P1, Y92, Y80, F59