Volume V Special Issue V November 2025

Name of Author : S.Kalai Selva Nalla Kumari, Dr. Mohammed Shuaib PA

Title of the paper : The Humanities and a Sustainable Future: Interconnected Lives and Technology in Atwoods The Handmaids Tale

Abstract: This paper explores the role of the humanities in shaping a sustainable future with particular focus on the theme of interconnected lives in Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale 1985. In an age increasingly dominated by technology, artificial intelligence and datacentric thinking, the humanities remind us of the ethical, social and human dimensions that must guide progress. A sustainable future involves three inseparable pillars environmental balanceprotecting ecosystems, conserving resources and reducing pollution social wellbeing ensuring justice, equality and human dignity for all and economic stabilitysupporting growth that is responsible, longlasting and nonexploitative. Atwoods dystopian narrative illustrates how political and technological power, when divorced from empathy and responsibility leads to systemic injustice and dehumanization. By foregrounding the interconnectedness of individual and collective lives, the novel emphasizes the necessity of humanistic values in sustaining democracy and ethical development. Literature and the arts therefore, provide imaginative frameworks for justice, empathy and sustainable social cohesion.

Keywords : Humanities, Sustainability, Environmental balance, Interconnectedness, Ethical Development

DOI :

Page Number : 140-144