Power And Control In Minority Report

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Power and control are universal themes in literature. Steven Spielberg in Minority Report and Tom Rob Smith in Child 44 explore a different interpretation of these themes to attempt to explain their role in society. The authors display this by contrasting societies; one set in 2054 while the other in 1953. Free will and Fear; are the two key ideas which are expressed through the texts. Spielberg sets Minority Report in a dystopian universe, where freewill is at a minimum and control over society is at an all time high, while Tom Rob Smith uses the Soviet Union, another dystopian society to investigate the relationship between fear and it’s use to gain power and control.

Spielberg presents the reader with a world, which is idealistic, and a utopian society, with factors such as a 0% murder rate. The city is under constant surveillance, with each and every moment tracked through cameras placed within the city, which entices concepts such as consumerism and also limiting freewill of the citizens. Tom Rob Smith portrays Russia within Child 44 in a similar way, except he aspires for the readers to acknowledge the restrictions that are placed upon the citizens. As Child 44 uses the historic setting of Soviet Union Russia, the Soviet Union itself becomes a surveillance system. It is a government that refuses to acknowledge murder; it has the foundations of an idealistic society. Throughout the novel Tom Rob …show more content…

Spielberg and Tom Rob Smith use different interpretations of these themes to explain the role, which they held within society. Through contrasting two societies both authors are able to express key ideas relating to the ideas of freewill and fear. Spielberg successfully explores how the use of fear is used to control masses of citizens while Tom Rob Smith uses the lack of freewill within Minority Report to investigate how control may affect society and individual’s behavior and

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