“Is it better for a man to have chosen evil than to have good imposed upon him?” – Anthony Burgess
To me, this quote is asking if it is better for a man to be forced to be good than it is for him to choose to be evil. In my opinion, it would be better for a man to choose evil rather than be forced to be good. This is because if the man is forced to be good, he is being masked by something that he truly is not; however, if the man chooses to be evil, then others are able to see who he really is.
If a man is forced to be good but is still evil at heart, then he is no better than a man who chose to be evil in the first place. If he pretends to be good while still evil, then he is still dangerous in a way because he is not sincere to the people around him. On the other hand, if a man who is forced to be good ends up changing and being genuinely good, then in this situation, it would be better that he was forced to be good in the first place.
This quote relates to The Handmaid’s Tale because most of the men in the novel pretend to be good, even if they are not so that they do not have to participate in the Men’s Salvagings. They force themselves to be good even if they are not as a way of survival. In my opinion, the men forcing themselves to be good in the novel is acceptable so that they can stay alive and aren’t killed only because they are evil and go against scripture.
And That's the Tea, Sis 