Betrayal: How It affects The Narrator in "The Space Merchants" and "The Handmaid's Tald"

Betrayal by those we love is a scenario that has long been found in stories of our culture. Eve betrayed Adam by eating of the forbidden tree, Delilah betrayed Sampson by cutting off his hair, Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, and the list goes on. In both The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl the narrators were betrayed by those they loved. The focus of betrayal by one's loved ones, …

…long as the human population survives. The differences in the sex of the narrators of both of these novels shows that betrayal can be done by man or woman and for a variety of reasons, sometimes for the betterment of the human race as a whole, and sometimes to the detriment of the human race as a whole. The role of betrayer and betrayed will be around for as long as the human race survives.