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Dystopian literature
The giver novel analysis
Dystopian literature
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Recommended: Dystopian literature
Daniel de Jong
The Giver and 1984
Throughout the history of time, we just have to fear a dictatorship or authoritarian system. We watch in complicated the possibly of dictatorships. Systems of government where they government control all, most of them set in a post-apocalypse future, after a world war , most of the time the society was destroyed, if not all the time, with only pieces of the truth of our history perverted by the government. Dystopian is a popular genre throughout our culture now it plays on our fears and makes us fear our future. Throughout English for the last book of the year, we are reading 1984 by George Orwell. “Big brother is watching”, this shows the idea of the government watching you controlling what you do, who you marry, how you live. This idea of the dystopia of government manipulation and control has reminded the giver and the society in it.
Both this society uses control. By perverting the past and making their society seem like the best. In the Giver by Lois Lowry, they completely eliminating. Their history completely eliminated any history at all making no society before the society. They have the receiver of memory keep all memories good and evil to preserve the society. They take all freedom and watch everyone, also take away emotions and even speaking of emotions. “ watches your language”. As receivers say this society lives “The life where nothing was ever unexpected. Or inconvenient. Or unusual. The life without color, pain or the past. ” Taking away any choice and freedom for the good of society. Controlling marriages, not letting mothers birth and raise their own children taking away the feelings of family and love. Like in 1984 the society of the Giver did not have rules it just thought of ...
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...ver, it is the same ones, but the government doesn’t fix you if you rebel, but controlling you all your life and uses science and daily medicines to control your emotions and feeling. In the giver, as a normal person in society, rebellion is unthought-of and impossible, but Jonas can rebel as the receiver only because he stores all the truths and emotions the society keeps from the people. In the end, 1984 persuades you to a deeper level than the givers mostly because it is more truthful, in that it doesn’t give the positive or hopeful ending. Nevertheless, also, this idea of controlling people and reworking them with torture is a matter that could be possible. This book shows the idea of the body and the mind more deeply, a does not have the idea of drugs and science being able to withdraw all feelings, emotions and even the ability to see colors or hear the music.
Do you feel like your government is watching you? Do you believe the word Dystopia applies to your society? If you answered yes you could be living in Nazi Germany or you are a citizen of Oceania in the book 1984. The reign of a totalitarian government usually leads to a society with a description exactly like that of a dystopia. Throughout history there have been many powerful governments that have forced citizens to conform to certain standards. Even today we have governments with a power over its citizens so strong it's almost like a prison. Yet probably the most notable of these totalitarian regimes was Nazi Germany. The dystopian book 1984 by George Orwell centers around Winston, a skittish and rebellious comrade. Who has constant thoughts of insurgents against his country's totalitarian government known as “Big Brother”. Nazi Germany and the fictional
Things to know: 1984 was a book written about life under a totalitarian regime from an average citizen’s point of view. This book envisions the theme of an all knowing government with strong control over its citizens. This book tells the story of Winston Smith, a worker of the Ministry of Truth, who is in charge of editing the truth to fit the government’s policies and claims. It shows the future of a government bleeding with brute force and propaganda. This story begins and ends in the continent of Oceania one of the three supercontinents of the world. Oceania has three classes the Inner Party, the Outer Party and the lowest of all, the Proles (proletarian). Oceania’s government is the Party or Ingsoc (English Socialism
The novel, 1984, written by George Orwell, gives readers an insight to a possible frightening future where one government has complete and definite control of the people. But “control” might not be the term to describe such a rule. The Party dominates every aspect of life. There is not a single thing that is not under the Party’s rule. Feelings, history, language, statistics, and even human nature are submissive to the Party. They corrupt the mind so much that there is no longer a line that separates truth from a lie. Slogans are repeated through telescreens on a daily basis so the people are gradually forced to believe in illogical statements. Upon first glance, it may seem that a 1984 society is not even imaginable in the world we live in currently. But is it really logical to make such an assumption so quickly? Do we know that what we see on the news and read in our history textbooks is completely accurate? The Internet is one of the most powerful technologies our world has, consisting of an insurmountable amount of information, which is not always what it seems. Ultimately, there are so many things that we do not know, some of which is being held a secret from us. Modern day society shockingly has evidence of a transformation into a menacing 1984 society because of similar government actions and abuse of advanced technology.
Isolation refers to the “state of separation between persons or groups.” In 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, George Orwell and Ray Bradbury explore the idea of isolation in the futuristic world in which the novels are set as a warning to modern day society. The Inner Party uses several methods to assume almost complete control over their people. They want people to be cold and indifferent towards others, all while having fear slowly drilled into their minds. Isolation is something that the Inner Party wants to see. They want people to be isolated from one another so that the concept of “we” is completely eliminated. If everyone keeps to themselves, they cannot come together as one and possibly overthrow Big Brother, which is something that the Inner Party is afraid of.
Before World War I, the literary term known as the Utopia emerged. Many people believed that society would be happier if the individual made sacrifices for the “common good”. However, the war changed all of that. Society began to fear governments in which everyone was the same and was ruled by a dictator. Thus, the genre of the dystopian novel emerged. “Dystopian novels show that any attempt at establishing utopia will only make matters much worse.” (Dietz, 1996) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and 1984 by George Orwell are considered classic examples of this genre by such critics as Frank Dietz, Beaird Glover, and Donald Watt. These distinct novels both warn against utopia through the portrayal of the protagonist begins as part of a society in which the individual is non-existent, come into contact with influences that cause their rebellions, and eventually come into contact with some upper hand of the government.
Since the beginning of time man has tried to build vast empires to control the globe. Manifest Destiny has been sown into our human nature creating in us the desire to conquer. In the United States, we are accustomed to a safe democratic government where everyone has a voice and freedoms, but what if it all changed? What would it even look like for America to be stripped of all our freedoms, rights, and liberties? We think this is crazy and could never happen, but George Orwell illustrates, throughout his novel 1984, the possible dangers of complete government control. Even though this exaggerated society seems farfetched, many of his fictional governmental qualities are starting to line up with our government today.
1984 is a powerful work of George Orwell, but one of the key components to the book is the dream of Winston and how that dream relates to the book overall. Winston dreams of the deaths of his mother and sister. They were sinking in water, sacrificing their lives in some tragic, loving way to keep Winston alive. The dream then changes to the "Golden Country," an idyllic setting. A girl runs towards him, carelessly tearing off her clothes in defiance of the Party. Winston wakens with "Shakespeare" upon his lips.
Throughout history, people had made numerous futile attempts to create an Utopian society. The term "Utopia" depicts on an imaginary ideal state. Such a state is describe in The Giver. In The Giver, Jonas's community believes in the renunciation of personal properties, rights, one's unique characteristics and of binding personal relationships (such as marriage). This society is believed to be perfect, free of pain and sorrow; everything is under control and "same". This serene society greatly contradict with the one we live in. Our society is furnished with hatred and warfare, yet in return, we are given freedom and the privilege of having distinctive characters. Given the nature of human beings, our society is more idealistic to live in.
In 1984, George Orwell explores the many facets of a negative utopia. Orwell seems to focus on the measures that the government takes to maintain a public of plebeians who have no personality or identity and believe that they are not unique individuals, but instead are part of a greater senseless mob of people who constantly work for a hostile and oppressive government which is involved in incessant wars. These people are taught to love. They then learn to fear their government because they believe all of the propaganda that is constantly instilled into their minds. They willing follow their government without contest for the duration of their meaningless lives. The government controls all forms of the media (thus denying the people the basic right of free speech) and use it to personify the government (known as “big brother”) .The government therefore seems omnipotent, or all knowing and always correct. Forecasts are changed from one week to the next always proving the government was correct. As was mentioned before, many of the rights that present day Westerners take for gran...
Lowry writes The Giver in the dystopian genre to convey a worst-case scenario as to how modern society functions. A dystopia is an “illusion of a perfect society” under some form of control which makes criticism about a “societal norm” (Wright). Characteristics of a dystopian include restricted freedoms, society is under constant surveillance, and the citizens live in a dehumanized state and conform to uniform expectations (Wright). In The Giver, the community functions as a dystopian because everyone in the community conforms to the same rules and expectations. One would think that a community living with set rules and expectations would be better off, but in reality, it only limits what life has to offer. Instead, the community in the novel is a dystopian disguised as a utopian, and this is proven to the audience by the protagonist, Jonas. Jonas is just a norma...
Imagine living under a complete totalitarianism government, where everything is controlled by the government, all political, social and economic activities. The movements by the people in the society will be monitored by telescreens, people who have thoughts against or who are speaking out against the party or government will be prosecuted by the thought police. In George Orwell’s book 1984, the party has multiple methods of how to control the people using big brother to create fear, the telescreens to watch the movement of the people in the society and lastly the thought police to prosecute anyone who is against/speaking out against Big brother and the party. In the book 1984, the author uses the futuristic setting to craft the theme that
Dystopian novels are written to reflect the fears a population has about its government and they are successful because they capture that fright and display what can happen if it is ignored. George Orwell wrote 1984 with this fear of government in mind and used it to portray his opinion of the current government discretely. Along with fear, dystopian novels have many other elements that make them characteristic of their genre. The dystopian society in Orwell’s novel became an achievement because he utilized a large devastated city, a shattered family system, life in fear, a theme of oppression, and a lone hero.
The novel 1984 is a futuristic portrayal of the world in the year 1984. The main characters Winston and Julia fall in love with each other but are caught and purified of all their wrong doings. In the end they betray each other because of the pressure of the party. The party is a group that controls society in these ways: Manipulation of Reality, Invasion of Privacy, and Desensitization.
A dystopian society can be defined as “a society characterized by human misery”. 1984 by George Orwell and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury both demonstrate dystopian societies. However, that does not mean they do not their differences. In each society the government has different ways of controlling and limiting its citizens for doing only what they want them to do. In 1984, violators are brainwashed into loving and following Big Brother as if they never knew the truth and return back to their everyday lives. Fahrenheit 451 also punishes violators in a way that makes them regret and scared to ever do it again instead of making them forget.
The Giver provides a chance that readers can compare the real world with the society described in this book through some words, such as release, Birthmothers, and so on. Therefore, readers could be able to see what is happening right now in the real society in which they live by reading her fiction. The author, Lowry, might build the real world in this fiction by her unique point of view.