There Is A Dystopian Society

The definition of a dystopia is “a society characterized by human misery, squalor, oppression, and disease and overcrowding”. (Dictionary.com) According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the noun ‘dystopia’ first appeared in 1952. The first citation for the word ‘dystopian’, which wasn’t seen until a decade later, was mentioned in a speech written in the House of Commons by John Stuart Mill, a Victorian philosopher, in 1868. Mill’s speech lead to ‘Dystopian’ becoming a Victorian term. (The Curious Origin of the Word ‘Dystopia’, 2017) As opposed to a utopia, a society that seems like a perfect place where there are no flaws or inconveniences, a dystopia is the exact opposite. A dystopia is a society where the citizens are miserable and the conditions

When a society decides as a whole to dehumanize people, it’s citizens become much less important than the well being of the dystopia. (Blog…Violence) Not only people with ideas, but also the ideas themselves are dangerous to the existence of a dystopia. This leads us to the next ingredient of a dystopia, fear of the outside world. This fear of the outside world goes along with the dehumanization of citizens, as it further brainwashes people into the illusion of a perfect world. If people never see the real world, they will never know how terrible their own world is. (“What are examples... Fahreheit 451?” Enotes.com.) The next ingredient of a dystopian society is the destruction of individuality. Individuality in dystopian society is considered a thought-crime. (Gerhard, 2012) The destruction of individuality leads to those in power telling citizens what to do, who they will marry, or forcing them to kill each other for the sake of entertainment on TV. Even clothes show no individuality. Everyone dresses in some variation of black or grey or beige. Individual achievements are removed from a lot of dystopias. Having an original thought or thinking with your own mind is usually enough to get you killed. Citizens usually find their lives planned out, in some cases before they’re even born. Living in a dystopia is a mind-prison. (Erbland, 2014) In most dystopias, there’s usually an idea or a person that is worshiped. This is the last and perhaps

Books were not allowed because they offered ideas to the citizens. (Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury | Plot Summary, Youtube.com, CourseHero Video, Sept. 2017, www.youtube.com) According to Bradbury, “his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history” (3). The central idea of this book is about the same as The Giver, written by Lois Lowry, which tells the story of a dystopian society that seeks to make everyone equal. Divergent, by Veronica Roth, is about a teenage girl named Tris who also lives in a futuristic society, but lives in the remains of Chicago after a great war. All of the people are forced into a certain faction at age 16 after passing a physical test. According to the Divergent wiki, the factions are: Abnegation/Selfless, Erudite/Intelligent, Dauntless/Brave, Amity/Peace, and Candor/Honest. The authority of their society is a council of 50 people, all from Abnegation (least corruptible). (Factions,