The Alienation of Battered Souls by Sadman Kazi “The world is ugly and cruel, but it is only by adding to that ugliness and cruelty that we sin most gravely.” (Camus, 1947)
Dystopian novels can act as a mirror, reflecting our world and exaggerating aspects of it to create their horrific realities. However, dystopian fiction does not intend to simply add to the ugliness and cruelty present in the world. As a matter of fact its actual aim is entirely opposite- to warn against the grave “sin” Arthur Camus describes in his novel The Plague. By exploring a fictional universe, we are shown what could become of our own existence if these warnings are not heeded. The bleak desolation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and the utter horror of Richard Matheson’s
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It comes with survival and forces the characters to undergo change in order to adapt to a hostile and unforgiving environment. There are no rules in these post-apocalyptical times and moral conflict is what keeps our heroes sane, yet savage. During a flashback sequence, the now deceased wife of The Man exclaims, “No, I'm speaking the truth. Sooner or later they will catch us and they will kill us. They will rape me. They'll rape him. They are going to rape us and kill us and eat us and you won’t face it. “We used to talk about death, she said. We don’t anymore. Why is that? It’s because it’s here. There’s nothing left to talk about” (McCarthy, 93). The Boy's mother states the habits of the "blood cults" roaming the roads. They are cannibals who steal, rape, and murder without any remorse. The new world has become undeniably violent, meaning that The Woman is able to say with absolute certainty what these "blood cults" will do, given the chance. While the acts of violence are generally avoided by The Man and his son unless it was for protection, this act is reversed in I Am Legend. Neville early on realised that killing or curing the vampires were the only way of possibly restarting civilization. The new society of vampires fear Robert as if he were a boogeyman figure, a legend perhaps. After capturing and experimenting on a female vampire, Neville debates, “Shall I kill her now? Shall I not even investigate, but kill her and burn her? His throat moved. Such thoughts were a hideous testimony to the world he had accepted; a world in which murder was easier than hope” (Matheson, 95). Once a man not accustomed to killing, it has now become a second nature to him from living in this new world for so long, so it brings moral conflict when he realises what the perspectives of the other society see
“In every age it has been the tyrant, the oppressor and the exploiter who has wrapped himself in the cloak of patriotism, or religion, or both to deceive and overawe the People.” A quote by Eugene V Debs in his speech in Canton, Ohio, on June 16, 1918. Enter dystopia. In a universe already tarnished by future time and changing, pessimistic ideals or unconventional social standards, tyrants have the tendency to act as the main antagonist who enforce the moral laws of their worlds upon the innocent. And in George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, the authors explore the ideas of dystopic tyrants though antagonists O’Brien and Mustapha Mond, who portray their ability to control through their individual societies’ extreme ideals
Very few people could fit in a whole different society without a challenge. Dystopias or anti-utopias, which use a whole different type of society in their themes, are characterized by a range of features such as harsh rules of moral and irritating patterns of behaviour. A theme of a dystopia, which is usually frightening, could be anything from a social stratification to the extreme technological advances. Dystopias voice criticism about the current trends, social norms or politics, and they often includes an oppressive societal control. Ray Bradbury’s 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 and Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel A Brave New World are the
Dystopian fiction is a type of fiction that is often described as a “nightmare” world, where society is mainly considered by domination and cruelty. In the novel “Blindness”, written by Joe Saramago and the movie “Elysium” directed by Neill Blomkamp, there were important and common characteristics that they both demonstrated of the dystopian societies. Both protagonist in the movie and novel show many similarities and as well as differences. In both the novel and the movie, the citizens live in a dehumanized state and the natural world has been banished and distrusted. These similarities and differences will be discussed in relation to today’s society.
Modern society is different from a Dystopia because knowledge that is being withheld is turning the protagonists’ community into a dystopian approach, while our modern
All he does is drink blood,” is something Neville asks himself, and this also raises many other questions regarding the natural prejudice against vampires, which is an essential issue since it indirectly displays one of the main messages of the book, which is that unfamiliar or smaller groups are mostly alienated. Moreover, this quote also shows how Neville’s thoughts are now sane and contrast with his thoughts of when he was depressed. His logic and reasoning when wondering about the prejudice against vampires are not that expected, since he is alone and his main focus is to save himself. In this manner Matheson portrays Neville as a character who later develops sanity in his actions and inspite of his situation still displays intelligence and curiosity, which is essential to further analyze his character and
“It has to go”, cried his sister. “That’s the only answer, Father. You just have to try to get rid of the idea that it’s Gregor. Believing it for so long, that is our real misfortune. But how can it be Gregor? If it were Gregor, he would have realized long ago that it isn’t possible for human beings to live with such a creature, and would have gone away of his own free will” (Kafka 52). The relationship between family member’s in Kafka’s Metamorphosis is an interesting theme addressed, and somewhat distressing subject. Why is it so hard to accept that this monstrous bug is Gregor? Is it so bad for him to want to stay and be near his family- the only thing he’s ever had and known? For the sister to even come out and say these words seems somewhat selfish. Why can’t it be turned around to a viewpoint through which we have a family loving their son, unconditionally, regardless of what state he’s in? The word love is definitely one which is not seen in close companionship with the Gregor family. And we can see that this lack of affection carries on to be one of the driving forces behind the theme of alienation in the novel.
In the article excerpt, social critic Neil Postman describes two dystopian novels: George Orwell’s 1984, and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Postman compares which novel is more relevant to today’s society, and leans more towards Brave New World. When both novels are compared side by side, it is evident that Huxley’s world is indeed more relative to modern day civilization.
Dystopias in literature and other media serve as impactful warnings about the state of our current life and the possible future. Two examples of this are in the book Fahrenheit 451 and the movie The Truman Show. Both works show the harmful effects of advancing technology and the antisocial tendencies of a growing society. The protagonists of these stories are very similar also. Guy Montag and Truman Burbank are the only observant people in societies where it is the norm to turn a blind eye to the evils surrounding them. Fahrenheit 451 and The Truman Show present like messages in very unlike universes while giving a thought-provoking glimpse into the future of humanity.
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.
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.
Monsters under the bed, drowning, and property damage are topics many people have nightmares about; nightmares about a dystopian future, on the other hand, are less common. Despite this, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and George Orwell’s 1984 display a nightmarish vision about a dystopian society in the near future. Fahrenheit 451 tells of Guy Montag’s experience in a society where books have become illegal and the population has become addicted to television. Meanwhile, 1984 deals with Winston Smith’s affairs in Oceania, a state controlled by the totalitarian regime known as the Party. This regime is supposedly headed by a man named Big Brother. By examining the dehumanized settings, as well as the themes of individuality and manipulation, it becomes clear that novels successfully warn of a nightmarish future.
Throughout history there have been many dystopian societies, societies with major flaws. In these societies actions occurred which caused harm to the citizens such as murder, destruction of property and other unfortunate consequences. These events are often portrayed in novels to point out the consequences of these societies. The novel Legend by Marie Lu contains events and situations based on historical occurrences such as World War II, North Korea and Tiananmen Square in order to point out societal flaws in real dystopian societies.
The cruel nature and intentions of people can either hurt or harm individuals or it can bring about resilience and determination. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee revealed that humans often have other motives in life; some are born to be evil in nature, some are naturally innocent and then there are some that are born to protect the innocent. Lee utilized a variety of symbols and themes that correlated with each other and thus had the ability to create questions in the minds of the readers. Are humans calculatedly cruel or is there some moral good in each of us? The impiety of a few can create a movement, imprison the innocent or reveal the sincerity of others.
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
When anyone thinks of the word “evil” they do not think it is within themselves. In reality, without a structured and well-followed society, people are apt to follow their own corrupt desires and neglect the thought of consequence. In the allegory, Lord of the Flies, William Golding reveals that man’s selfishness and sinful nature will be unmasked when the structure of a society deteriorates.