Satire in Dystopian Literature

Dystopian literature highlights social flaws perceived by the composer and questions the basis for contemporary social practice. Unlike utopian fiction, which is rarely more than speculation regarding a self-perceived ideal, dystopian works call upon their audience to consider inadequacies present in their own society. Works such as Ursula LeGuin’s short story The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, Eoin Colfer’s children’s novel The Supernaturalist and the 2006 film V for Vendetta directed by James McTeigue address such issues as human rights abuse, totalitarianism and mass consumerism through the medium of the dystopian genre, and in doing so embody the principal components of dystopian literature: The enforced acceptance of an imperfection as an ideal, the questioning of social practice, and the revelation of the imperfection and the consequences thereof.

The first distinguishing characteristic of dystopian literature is the enforced acceptance of an imperfect or flawed state as an ideal by the population of the state in question. James McTeigue’s 2006 film V for Vendetta (based upon a series of graphic novels by the same title) is the prime example of this trait. Set in Britain in the year 2020, the film portrays a totalitarian regime reminiscent of Nazi Germany. The extremist policies of “The Party”, such as the vilification of Muslims, homosexuals and “foreigners” (anyone not of English heritage) are accepted by a population force-fed propaganda by the state-owned television network BTN, and any dissidence is quickly and ruthlessly suppressed by the secret police force known as “the fingermen”.

The use of propaganda to gain support for the flawed state is common throughout many dystopian works, and directly parallels its use...

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...mic practice throughout the dystopian narrative.

Thus the Dystopian genre is highly effective in conveying the social commentary of its composers, and McTeigue’s V for Vendetta, Colfer’s The Supernaturalist and LeGuin’s The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas are prime examples of this capacity, with through their allegorical criticisms of human rights abuses, totalitarianism and mass consumerism represented through the medium of the structural characteristics of the dystopian genre.

Works Cited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Quantum_Thief

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_terms_in_The_Quantum_Thief

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Supernaturalist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta_(film)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434409/