I have decided to write two dystopian fiction extracts, one aimed at adults (Great Leap Forward), and one aimed at teenagers (exitSim). Both of which have the purpose of entertaining the audience, however the adult extract is also designed to provide a political message and to provoke thought, a common feature of adult dystopian fiction. In terms of style models, for teenagers I have used The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Divergent, Life as we Knew It, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. For adults, I have used 1984, Station Eleven, The Giver, Animal Farm, and Wither. Whilst both my stories are dystopian fiction, they are made clearly different by the fact the target audience is different for each.
One of such differences we can find by examining the semantics and pragmatics of my two stories. As with Orwell’s 1984, Great Leap Forward contains many connotations, culture-bound references and underlying meanings which are adult in nature.
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Teen novels have shorter, snappy and simple sentences, smaller paragraphs, and its descriptions are limited mostly to characters’ appearances. The story is also generally driven through dialogue, such as in Divergent: ““What rank were you?” Peter asks Four. I don’t expect Four to answer, but he looks levelly at Peter and says, “I was first.” This is because teen dystopian novels tend to examine how a group and relationships change, rather than the individual characters - and a good way for the writer to show this is through dialogue and character interaction. Hence I have included this in exitSim, ““Could be the white light of death - come back.” Cloud shouted, an obvious sense of urgency in his voice. “Alex, come back!” Destiny called.” Additionally, sentences are shorter and paragraphs are smaller because there is less descriptive content in teen dystopian novels; teenagers appreciate and enjoy action more, and can get bored reading long, descriptive
The authors both making sweeping statements about the political nature of the United States, but Ames addresses a more concentrated demographic of American society than Hedges. The latter points the finger at the venal egotism of celebrity culture for entrancing the public into complacency, and at America’s political leaders for orchestrating the fact, but he also places substantial blame on the people at-large for allowing themselves to be captivated by the entertainment industry. Ames discusses an issue in which the Millennial generation stands as the focal point, but she speaks directly to the teachers of these adolescents due to their position of influence. Although today’s youth are proven to possess a spark of political energy through their own volition—displayed through their generation-wide interest in dystopian literature—an environment of learning and in-depth analysis provides the best opportunity for the novels’ underlying calls-to-action to strike a chord with their young
“Remember when we had to actually do things back in 2015, when people barely had technology and everyday life was so difficult and different? When people read and thought and had passions, dreams, loves, and happiness?” This is what the people of the book Fahrenheit 451 were thinking, well that is if they thought at all or even remembered what life used to be like before society was changed.
At what point can a society be described as dystopian? Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, tells the story of a man named Guy Montag who lives in a dystopian society where life isn’t as great as the government makes it out to be. Our society is slowly becoming more and more similar to the dystopian society found in Fahrenheit 451 in the fact that many families aren’t as stable as most might desire them to be, the government mostly ignores the country’s ideals and only focuses on its own for the sake of its own benefit, and many of society’s ideas are being disrespected or noted as activities that people shouldn’t be allowed to indulge in while in this country through censorship.
It is commonplace for individuals to envision a perfect world; a utopian reality in which the world is a paradise, with equality, happiness and ideal perfection. Unfortunately, we live in a dystopian society and our world today is far from perfection. John Savage, from Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, V, from V for Vendetta by James McTeigue and Offred, from The Handmaid’s Tale by Margret Attwood, are all characters in a dystopian society. A dystopia is the vision of a society in which conditions of life are miserable and are characterized by oppression, corruption of government, and abridgement of human rights.
Nineteen Eighty-Four describes a world where the most obvious paradox is seen as a commonplace. At least it appears so to the people living in Airstrip One (the former United Kingdom). Winston Smith is one of these citizens who survive on shortages of food and rations of Victory Gin. He believes that his life is being improved day by day even though the reality is the absolute opposite. He is a diligent worker on the Ministry of Truth where he enjoys his job of rewriting the past. One day, however, he decides to start writing a journal. This simple act is already considered as a death crime – the so called “thoughtcrime”. By just thinking against the Party that rules the society, he conspires against it and is considered as a criminal who should be converted to accept the truth that only the Party is right. He should truly love only the Big Brother – an icon and the dictator of the totalitarian Oceania. He finds a place where he believes he can secretly commit his crime of independent creative thinking. He needs to take this precaution because everyone is under a complete surveillance by the authorities through “telescreens” in their households. The phrase “Big Brother is watching you” constantly reminds the people of this through the propaganda system in this state.
Fahrenheit 451 depicts a dystopian society created by its government. The main characters are Montag, Mildred, Clarisse, and Beatty. The people in the society don’t pay attention to meaningful activities. For example, when they are on the highway they have to make the billboards 200 feet long instead of 20 so the people could actually see them. Even when they live together they do not interact with one another. Every person has been censored by the government. The government has taken away all of the freedom from the people. The firemen now burn books and start fires instead of putting them out. Fahrenheit 451 emphasizes that a government's attempt to create a utopia can lead to dystopia because in the novel people are uneducated, careless
The dream of a utopian society is a common one, but unfortunately, all utopias are destined to contain dystopian elements. Although, some dystopias are more sustainable than others, as within the society citizens may believe it to be a utopia. Ray Bradbury 's Fahrenheit 451, focuses on a dystopia in which all literature and outside communication is completely banned from apocalyptic America. The society’s focus to keep all their citizens “happy” through fulfilling careers and a lot of time for leisure. In an attempt to prevent pain and doubt, no time is left for thought or reflection. Without pain, the citizens can never truly be happy. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, revolves around the apocalyptic world in which humans are genetically
Dystopian literature is a genre of fictional writing used to explore social and political structures in a dark world or setting. Ray Bradbury used this genre in his book “Fahrenheit 451”. Dystopian literature consists of dystopian societies. A dystopian society is an imaginary society that is dehumanizing and unpleasant. The author of “Fahrenheit 451”, Ray Bradbury, used this genre to create his own dystopian society and expressed himself through the words of some of the characters he created and showed his concerns for the future of society.
Ray Bradbury once said, “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” One of Bradbury’s novels, Fahrenheit 451, has many dystopian elements that impact the quote and make it more significant. Also, it can be said that Ray Bradbury’s quote still pertains to today’s society.
Consider how the natural development of narrative techniques in George Orwell’s 1984 creates a theme of individualism verses state. What was the point in writing such an obvious theme, since a dystopia is the prime example of an imperfect world? He uses extremely well-developed techniques to demonstrate the dystopian society. Specifically, Orwell uses symbols as well as the setting to thoroughly contribute to the idea of a totalitarian state in his dystopian society; the ideas are in symbolic objects, themes, and characters. Orwell clearly suggests that are flaws in the world that he has created, and, more importantly, Orwell the possibility of the characteristics becoming reality.
A dystopian text is a fictional society which must have reverberations of today’s world and society and has many elements and rules that authors use to convey their message or concern. Dystopian texts are systematically written as warnings use to convey a message about a future time that authors are concerned will come about if our ways as humans continue, such as in the short stories called The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury. Dystopias are also written to put a satiric view on prevailing trends of society that are extrapolated in a ghoulish denouement, as in the case of the dystopian film Never Let Me Go directed by Mark Romanek. Dystopian texts use a variety of literary devices and filming techniques to convey their message, but in all three texts there is a main protagonist who questions the rules of society, and all citizens carry a fear of the outside world who adhere to homogenous rules of society.
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.
Dystopia, a word that inflicts feelings of malcontent, fear, a place where abysmal conditions are the new normal, this genre describes a society where everything has and continues to go wrong. This genre has gripped the hearts of many readers and is compelling for people of all ages. The dystopian book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a thrilling book that introduces the reader to a world where the society tries to force everything to be perfect, and danger lurks around every twist and turn. The meaning of dystopia, the characteristics of the genre, and how it is presented in Fahrenheit 451, contributes to how one could understand the dystopian style of literature.
Teenagers nowadays are getting fond of watching and reading dystopian books/films. A More commonly watched ones is the famous Hunger Games. Teenagers today like that particular movie because; It is controlled by one person named Snow. Most teenagers believe that teachers and parents control their lives. They also like dystopian movies because they normally have a rebel who goes against the rules. The two main Dystopian novels or movies I am going to talk about are: Anthem and The Maze Runner.
The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand and the movie The Hunger Games directed by Francis Lawrence and Gary Ross are popular among teens because they can relate to them by the high expectations put upon them. In a dystopian novel or movie, there is a dystopian protagonist. A dystopian protagonist is someone who often feels trapped, struggles to escape, questions existing systems, believes or feels as if something is wrong in the place they live in, and then helps the audience realize the effects of dystopian worlds. These are both good examples because it takes us on a walk through the protagonist's life and only then do we see what dystopian really is.