Utopian Literature
The history of western civilization has been the story of the class struggle.1 In opposition to the class struggle, many have offered to restrict or even totally eliminate class distinctions and replace them with the panacea of utopia. Utopia was made popular by the theologian and philosopher, Thomas More. Whereas Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto and others preached the idea of a utopian society, several individuals crafted timeless works of literature to elucidate --or in most cases dispute-- the ideals of any type of utopia. Of the vast number of works that reference, condone, or refute utopian ideals, several have been fairly recent and very relevant to our lives. For example, Aldous Huxley wrote his Brave New World in 1932, a book which depicts the dehumanizing factor associated with utopian culture. George Orwell, the infamous lexicographer of satire, published many works in the same era as Huxley, including Animal Farmand 1984. The former is a satire aimed at defaming communism.2 The latter is a warning against superpowers and abuses of scientific technology. Most recently, Lois Lowry crafted her riveting book The Giver. The Giver concentrates on refuting a society where everything from professions to climate is controlled. Marx clearly indicates that a revolution resulting in a classless society is inevitable, but many of his points can be seen as valid. These four authors argue that any sort of utopianism from socialism to big government will only result in corruption and loss of originality. In these "perfect" societies, the people are bereft of their faith and reasoning is nonexistent. All aspects of life become predetermined and unfeeling, and basic human feelings are compromised. The four...
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... Publishers, Inc., 1995), 197-199.
4. David Pearce, "Brave New World?--A Defence of Paradise-Engineering," 1998,
http://www.huxley.net/> (3 April 2000).
5. Pearce, <http://www.huxley.net/>.
6. Pearce, <http://www.huxley.net/>.
7. Pearce, <http://www.huxley.net/>.
8. Sheldon, 371.
9. Sheldon, 369.
10. Miriam Gross, The World of George Orwell, (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1971),
136-142.
11. Sheldon, 364-365.
12. Gross, 136-142.
13. Sheldon, 416, 430.
14. Nigel Flynn, George Orwell-- Life and Works, (Sussex, England: Wayland
Publishers, Ltd., 1989), 91.
15. Random House, "The Giver, a Review," Teacher's Guides, 1997,
http://www.randomhouse.com/teachersbdd/give.html>, (7 April 2000).
16. Wegemer, 126-127.
The authors therefor saw the ‘utopian’ societies to be a trap for weak minded publics, and that once in place, such systems would be able to perpetuate indefinitely due to the efficiency at which they protect and propagate themselves. Through fear, diversion and sedation the utopia can maintain a strong grip on the people it encompasses before anyone realizes the sacrifices made. The popularity of these books does rule out the possibility of such a society coming into existence in the future, however. The state of people is not about to change, and their ignorance will continue regardless of the harshness of the wake up calls issued.
The book, 1984, is a classic example of an utopian scenario. There are also other societies that are similar to
Life is a very valuable asset, but when lived on someone else’s terms its nothing but a compromise. The seemingly perfect image of Utopia which combines happiness and honesty with purity, very often leads in forming a dystopian environment. The shrewd discrepancy of Utopia is presented in both the novel ‘The Giver’ by Lois Lowry and the film ‘The Truman Show’ directed by Peter Weir. Both stories depict a perfect community, perfect people, perfect life, perfect world, and a perfect lie. These perfect worlds may appear to shield its inhabitants from evil and on the other hand appear to give individuals no rights of their own. By comparing and contrasting the novel ‘The Giver’ and the film ‘The Truman Show’, it can be derived that both the main characters become anti-utopian to expose the seedy underbelly of their Utopian environment which constructs a delusional image of reality, seizes the pleasures in their lives and portrays a loss of freedom.
“There is always soma, delicious soma, half a gramme for a half-holiday, a gramme for a week-end, two grammes for a trip to the gorgeous East, three for a dark eternity on the moon, returning whence they find themselves on the other side of the crevice, safe on the solid ground of daily labour and distraction, scampering from feely to feely, from girl to pneumatic girl, from Electromagnetic Golf course to …"
A “utopia is that which is in contradiction with reality,” said the famous French novelist Albert Camus in his collection of essays, Between Hell and Reason. History shows us that seemingly exemplary ideals in practice have led to the collapse of societies. Just examine the two most prominent attempts at a utopia: Hitler’s attempt to socialize all of Europe and create the “perfect” Aryan race coupled with Karl Marx’s beliefs to instate communism into society. The final result was the destruction of their perspective visionary worlds. There was one major facet that prevented these two from creating their paradigms: utopias take away individual freedom and identity and therefore society cannot exist. Aldous Huxley’s science fiction novel Brave New World examines the large disconnect between the future and present day societies, showing how several aspects of this dystopian world lead to the downfall of the individual identity, most prominently exemplified by the death of John Savage.
Searching for the Perfect World in Literature Literature often explores the questions raised in life: Who are we? What does it mean to die? What kind of world do we live in? Throughout this course, there seems to have been an underlying theme in most of the works that have been read, concerning human misery. It seems that most of those who experience tremendous suffering, actually allow it to happen to themselves.
Ben Franklin himself said, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
A utopia is a society that is characterized by being one in which everything is perfect or ideal. The opposite of a utopia is a dystopia, a society where everyday life is less than perfect. These concepts are widely subjective for varying parties, as some may view the utopian society they live in as a dystopia and choose to leave to find true happiness for themselves. This is demonstrated in the novels, Into the Wild, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, and The Warmth of Other Suns. These three novels each demonstrate the same underlying themes. The main protagonists in each novel must deal with a realization that they are unhappy with the current state of their lives, they had to leave in search of a better life, and they must deal with the changes brought by there actions as it affects the state of the society they left. These various accounts serve to form a concept for the most ideal utopia within the three texts.
Human sacrifice killings is a horrific but devastatingly true reality for some that come too close to the jaws of the Matamoros cult. People usually think of a utopia as an amusement park or just an amazing dream. The dictionary version is often defined as “any visionary system of political or social perfection” (“Utopia”). A dystopia is quite the opposite though. Think of your worst nightmare and that is exactly what a dystopia is. The professional definition is “a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding” (“Dystopia”). As it goes in 1984, the whole book is based on a dystopian society. Citizens have horrible lives which leave them dehumanized by the central government. They are also being under
Society has always been divided into social classes. Each class has a valuable aspect that contributes and makes our society run smooth. As much as we try to make our society reflect a Utopian world, there will always be a struggle within the caste system as Karl Marx mentions in his philosophy Marxism. In the book Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley in 1946, Huxley portrays a Utopian world but one that show a lot of problems even in a so called “perfect world”. Each social class will eventually have to struggle no what, in a Utopian world or not.
Should everyone be equal? All people have a different idea and meaning of a dystopian society, as many people think that living in a dystopian society would be great in real life it really isn’t so great. The novel The Giver by Ayn Rand is a fictional novel, this novel shows how living in a dystopian society is not what people think it should be. Jonas a 12 year old boy is given the job of a receiver, after Jonas receives memory’s he realizes that his ideal world isn’t what it should be.
Howard Roark, the protagonist in the classical novel “The Fountainhead”, embodies the perfect man which the author Ayn Rand deemed the world lacked. Howard Roark is a self generated, independently thinking man who under no circumstances genuflected to the demands of society. Dominique Francon believes the world to be based upon collectivization, where the altruistic minds are praised to be the most appealing trait, which often leaves the self satisfying independent people such as Roark unsalaried. Francon has faith that Roark is a creator in the purest sense, never has he let the demands of society and the pressures of the speculators influence his beliefs. Dominique’s love for Howard, but hatred for the world is what drives her to destroy him. Dominique believes that the type of power that she and Howard possess is vital to society and by withholding it she is depriving the world what it needs to survive.
Ayn Rand destroys any ideal claiming Communism is a ‘noble’ theory. She demonstrates its complete failure in practice, reveals the impossibility of a steadfast conviction to Communism, and embodies her very beliefs within her main character. Rand, with the very essence of her being, opposes Communist ideals.
Thomas More’s Utopia and Aldus Huxley’s Brave New World , are novels about societies that differ from our own. Though the two authors have chosen different approaches to create an alternate society, both books have similarities which represent the visions of men who were moved to great indignation by the societies in which they lived. Both novels have transcended contemporary problems in society , they both have a structured, work based civilization and both have separated themselves from the ways of past society. It is important when reading these novels to focus on the differences as well as the similarities. The two novels differ in their views of love, religion, and the way to eliminate social classes. These differences seem to suggest that if we do not come closer to More’s goal in Utopia, we will end up in a society much like that of Huxley’s Brave New World.
Manuel, Frank E. and Fritzie P. Manuel. Utopian Thought in the Western World. Cambridge, MA: Belknap-Harvard Press, 1979.