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/
Through their use of allusion, symbolism and representation they portray many of societies flaws and imperfections. Such an imperfection includes the illustration of how totalitarian governments abuse the power they have acquired for their own gain, harming the people they are sworn to serve and protect. Through this abusive self-gaining government, we all are liable to become victims of consumer culture caused by the blind obedience to advertising and propaganda, being unable to form or voice an opinion of our own. But this lack of opinion can be at fault because of our own apathy, the ignorance and slothfulness that is contributed to the role we play in our society and the importance of that roles ability to motivate and inspire change. Whether you’ve read or viewed the novels or feature films I’ve discussed I have no hesitation in saying any text or film you have seen has been used in some way, shape or form to convey the criticisms of our ‘perfect’
Dystopia represents an artificially created society to where a human population is administered to various types of oppressions, or a human population lives under the order of an oppressive government. The novel Fahrenheit 451 and the film V for Vendetta both effectively display this dystopian concept in their works. The nature of the society, the protagonist who questions the society, and the political power that runs the society are examples of how the novel and the film efficiently capture the main points of a dystopian society. The authors of the novel and the film use their visions of a dystopian future to remark on our present by identifying how today’s society is immensely addicted to technology and how our government has changed over the past decades. Furthermore, the authors use our modern day society to illustrate their view of a dystopia in our
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While the society in Brave New World refrains from lethal methods of repression, the government in George Orwell’s 1984 build their power off of fear. Throughout the novel, the government holds daily gatherings in which citizens are shown the enemies of state and is always ended with the phrase “Big Brother is watching you” (Orwell et al). This alone demonstrates the government’s implementation of fear on its own people. The notion that the government is monitoring your every move creates an atmosphere of anxiety and oppression. Not only by displaying their ability to monitor their citizens, the government uses aggressive and almost always lethal methods to rid society of nonconformists. For “criminals”, or enemies of the state, ...
Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World, showcases a world alternate from ours, a dystopian setting. Where human morals are drastically altered, families, love, history, and art are removed by the government. They used multiple methods to control the people, but no method in the world state is more highly used and more effective than propaganda. The world state heavily implemented the use of propaganda to control, to set morals, and to condition the minds of every citizen in their world. However such uses of propaganda have already been used in our world and even at this very moment. The way the media sways us how to think or how we should feel about a given situation. Often covering the truth and hiding the facts. One of the goals in propaganda is to set the mindset of the people to align with the goal of a current power, such as a
A dystopian novel is a literary genre that satirically criticizes existing societies and taken for granted beliefs. The word dystopia has Greek origin and is made up of two morphemes “dys” meaning “bad” and “topia” meaning “place”. The word describes a harsh environment, namely society . The dystopian fiction presents a society which despite its antagonism, is not challenged by citizens. On the contrary, it is viewed as the best of all possible worlds. Indeed, even though individuals are constantly controlled by an oppressive political or religious ideology and dehumanized, they still abide by the imposed rules and never question them. The protagonist of the dystopian novel tries throughout the plot to question the utility and fairness of the established socio-political
Hummel, William and Huntress, Keith. The Analysis of Propaganda. New York: William Sloane Associates, 1949
1984, a book by George Orwell, offers an alternate reality for what the future could have been. The concept of a totalitarian society is but a far off, if not long dead, ideal. In the past totalitarianism was not just an ideal but an actual living, breathing menace to people of the late 1940s. Totalitarian governments would go to horrific lengths in order to sustain and increase their power. In the novels 1984, by George Orwell, and Anthem, by Ayn Rand, propaganda, class distinction, and naivety are explored in fictional societies. Orwell’s and Rand’s stories are based on dystopias and the individuals of those societies who dare to stand out. George Orwell uses Winston Smith, the timidly rebellious protagonist; The Party, the ruling government; and Big Brother, the face of The Party; and Ayn Rand utilizes Martyrdom, the sacrificing of oneself; Naming, a process using words and numbers as a means of identification; and Collectivism, everyone is the same and refers to themselves as we, to illustrate how dangerous a naïve working class, spin and propaganda, and an unacknowledged class distinction can be in a society.
“"Propaganda is as powerful as heroin, it surreptitiously dissolves all capacity to think” by Gil Courtemanche connects to the sad fact of using propaganda as a deadly weapon to feed people with false information and stop them from thinking. George Orwell’s novel, 1984 describes a totalitarian dystopia society where the Party is constantly brainwashing its citizens with information that is beneficial to its own rights. On the opposite side people are working for the party just like dominated slaves for their masters without knowing of what’s going on. But, in order for the party to achieve this goal they have to use different techniques of propaganda in Oceania to create fear for people so that they can obey the rules. The use of propaganda
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.
Movies such as the Hunger Games and Divergent gain popular acclaim for their presentation of a dystopic world. To citizens in democratic countries, a dystopian society such as those in the movies above may seem far from reality and similar to George Orwell’s fictitious society in 1984. On the contrary, dystopian societies are far from fiction and are prevalent in various autocratic countries around the world. The daunting societies present in George Orwell’s 1984 as well as Veronica Ma’s depiction of communist China in “Propaganda and censorship: adapting to the modern age” are the consequences of abusing language’s power. The Party and the Chinese government’s use of censorship solely for political success reflects Orwell’s belief of language being power. The political usage of censorship by both, the Party and communist China, destroys individuality by the suppression of one’s mind, expression and actions in order to prevent rebellion amongst its citizens.
Conclusively, dystopian texts are written to provide a warning about future times. Authors and directors use a variety of techniques to put their idea forward and have an impact of the audience. Rules that the chosen texts exhibit include that citizens have a fear of the outside world and all citizens adhere to a strict set of rules, but there is a main protagonist who scrutinises the governments or society’s nature. The rules that authors and directors use to put forward their messages of the moral issues human cloning and relying too much on technology and instinctively perusing traditions are evident throughout all three texts.
Although set in the near future, James McTeique’s V for Vendetta (2005) serves as an allegory of historical and contemporary political climates. The film depicts an autocratic government that rules over an oppressed society through means such as mass media mediation and corrupt state-sanctioned police. The negative political environment in the film draws parallels to past dystopian regimes, highlighting the negative environment that society is living in today.
Set in the near future, James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta (2005) serves as an allegory of historical and contemporary political climates while glorifying violence and the idea of an armed revolution to fight fascism and injustice in a dystopian political environment. The film depicts an autocratic government that rules over an oppressed society through means such as mass media mediation and corrupt state-sanctioned police. V for Vendetta presents contentious messages as it highlights the negative effects of several past dystopian regimes such as Nazi Germany as well as current social unrest caused by events such as 9/11 while portraying a terrorist, V, as a freedom fighter who condones violence for both his personal vendetta and to overthrow
In the short story “Serenade of the arts”, I have attempted to construct a narrative which subverts many of the common dystopian elements, while expanding and focusing on certain narrative conventions to create a cohesive and engaging plot and conflict.