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Dystopia vs Reality Dystopian novels. They are completely fictional and very far away from today’s ideologies, which makes them easy to enjoy. But are they that far off? Well, dystopias often include real-world issues but are highly exaggerated and warped. In our world, we have immense opportunities, unlike dystopian novels, where the protagonists are forced to defy conformity for liberation.
Man Can Never Be Equal “Life is about family and technology” (Mark Goddard). This quote was chosen because family and technology both play a vital part in both stories Anthem and Harrison Bergeron. A dystopia is the opposite of a utopia and is usually characterized by a totalitarian society. Totalitarian society is a society in which nearly every aspect of public and private behavior is regulated by the state.
Dystopia is defined as an imaginary place or state in which every single thing in society is based around human oppression. In both “The Pedestrian” and “Harrison Bergeron”, people are given a handicap or are disabled in society one way or another. This form of dystopia is one of the most literal forms because humans and society are actually being oppressed from a higher level of power. American society is nothing like that of a dystopian society. Yeah, people will argue about how much the government does to us, how much they’ve ruined our economy, and all sorts of other negative perspectives.
Since the age of Thomas Moore, intellectuals have been fascinated by the idea of an ideal society where all is well and total happiness is readily available to all of its members. Such ideals of a ‘utopia’ continued throughout the centuries until it reached a major pivoting point in the nineteenth century. Historical events such as the Second World War, the Cold War, the emergence of McCarthyism, and the creation of a nuclear bomb left people with a heavily misanthropic view of the world. People started to question the practicality or realistic possibility of a utopian society, thus creating the genre of dystopian literature. (Gerhard, 2012)
A dystopian society is dehumanizing, unpleasant, and completely unlike modern American society. Or is it? There are many similarities and differences between dystopian societies and modern American society. Three examples are in the book Fahrenheit 451, the film “2081”/”Harrison Bergeron”, and the novel The Selection. These similarities and differences can be represented in first responders, handicaps, and jobs.
Dystopia is a popular genre in which authors write about a fictional society that is perceived to be perfect and ideal by the vast majority of the people in it. Authors must intrigue the reader, and this is difficult because they have to somehow illustrate a future that is vaguely similar to ours. However, it has to be completely fictional, which makes it tough to formulate realistic storylines. Nevertheless, these authors use literary elements to counter these difficulties and produce realistic characters and you can see this when Ray Bradbury, Ayn Rand, and James Dashner use symbolism in their respected novels, Fahrenheit 451, Anthem, and The Maze Runner. This literary technique gives Dystopian Literature the uniqueness and adds the key elements to make the story flow.
“Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until they have rebelled they will not become conscious” (Orwell 84). This quote is From the book 1984 by George Orwell and it talking about how dystopian society is kept together and why they citizens don’t rebel. They are many differences and similarities between literature versions dystopian society and modern day society such as, books in Fahrenheit 451, individual rights 2081, and law enforcement in Tom Clancy’s: The Division: Collapse of New York.
Wes Moore’s A Utopian society is a world that is considered perfect. Unfortunately , a society that is seeking perfection usually becomes a dystopian society . A dystopian society that is dehumanizing and as unpleasing a possible. Harrison Bergeron ‘ s world and N. korea both shared these traits.
According to the website dictionary.com a Dystopia can be defined as, “a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding” (Random House). Throughout the world there are thousands upon thousands of dystopian novels. People all around the world are attracted to these types of novels, especially modern day teenagers. These teens are attracted to them because they can easily relate to the novel itself and the characters in the novel. Teens can relate to these books easily because they often feel oppressed and overcrowded.
“Utopian novels, portraying imagined, idealized societies began with more, and out of them grew dystopian novels in which, typically, societies more corrupt, diabolical, and inhummane”(Obler 124). An instance of dystopian fiction would be in Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut in which the society only values equality across the board. In this society, two individuals, Harrison Bergeron–a 14-year-old who rebels against the government, and George Bergeron–the father of Harrison are conflicted with society. Harrison Bergeron conveys the conflict between the values/ideals of society and the realities of Harrison Bergeron and George Bergeron by emphasizing Harrison’s strength and rebelliousness and George’s intelligence and the fact that he
Of Mice and Men might be an old story but it stays true to its theme of friendship and conflict. In Of Mice and Men it's really about two men, Lennie and George who are faced with lots of obstacles because of their outside appearances but internally they are very opposite to their body shapes from first glance. Lennies this big tough guy but on the inside he struggles from day to day life because of his mental disability. George is vice versa just because he is small doesn't account to anything George tends to want things his way and has more of a restricted personality but Lennie and George have something in common they both have each others backs like a true friendship. Steinbeck's “ Lennie, who had been watching, imitated George exactly.
The books, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and Feed by M.T. Anderson, each describes a dystopian future where technology is dominant, and literature is close to extinction. In these futures, technology causes humans to dumb down. While societies strict social standards creates each person to be similar to one another, allowing groups to be manipulated easier. The books have a similar theme; don 't let technology get out of control. In Fahrenheit 451 's future, technology overtakes literature and human interaction, and people rely on their TV for entertainment and daily news.
A dystopian society is a dysfunctional society that is marketed to its citizens as a utopian society. It includes elements such as a lack/ downplay of religion or one government sanctioned religion that everyone must follow. The government either uses force and or fear to control its population. There is a suppression of freedom of speech and a suppression of intellectualism. In this society, there is a protagonist who rebels against the status quo.
Dystopian stories are usually set in an unfavorable society in which to live, where the antagonist is the society itself, and the protagonist is the person who is looking towards changing this society and fixing its flaws, who believes that they can make a difference by overthrowing the government or escaping from it. The conflict is often not solved, or the hero fails to solve it, and the dystopian society continues as it was before. Harrison Bergeron is an example of a dystopian story where society has intensely controlled the population’s unique qualities to make everyone exactly equal. People’s talent, beauty, intelligence, and any other quality that makes them different is brought down and destroyed by forcing them to wear handicaps, masks, and weights. Harrison Bergeron is the protagonist of the story.
This gives the illusion of a dystopian society. George Orwell’s novel 1984 conforms to the conventions of dystopia by using propaganda, depicting people who are dehumanized, and the citizens conform to uniform expectations in order to showcase the complete control of the Party. The