Compare And Contrast 1984 Utopia And Dystopia Essay

Utopia and Dystopia Essay In society people are very easily swayed into believing that they are living in a

perfect world, when in fact they may just be conforming to someone and living in very

tragic standards. A utopia can be defined as a perfect world of society where people are

living happily whereas a dystopia is the complete opposite, people live poorly and barely

meet living standards. A dystopia twists the utopian traits and turn them into something

horrid, “While utilizing many of the same concepts as utopia—for example, social

stability created by authoritarian regimentation—dystopia reads these ideas

pessimistically”(Sisk). In most cases with a dystopia the citizens are being controlled by

some oppressive cruel leader, which can easily be seen in George Orwell's novel 1984

where Winston struggles with the dictatorship in his world.

Throughout the novel

Winston can be seen trying express his freedom by acting out and doing things such as

writing in a journal which could lead to him being “abolished, annihilated: vaporized was

the usual word” (Orwell 19). Through this it can be easily shown that the people living in

the 1984 society lack freedom to act as they please. Likewise, dystopian and utopian

traits are shown in gang violence and mafias, especially during the time of the

prohibition era where the crime and violence rate had spiked. The idea of a perfect

world of society changes drastically when people are forced to worship some type of

leader or government or have a lack of freedom, just as Winston had struggled with in

the novel and members of the gangs.

In the book 1984, the society is ruled by Big Brother who manages to convince

the citizens that the society they live in is a perfect utopia even though the world is

really
a dystopia. By erasing or changing all records Big Brother is able to convince everyone
that the world is great, nothing bad ever happened and nothing bad ever will happen as
long as the people continue to follow under his rule. The characters in the novel abide
by the laws, wanting to continue living in the perfect world that already exists for them,
where “the chocolate ration was raised to twenty grams” (Orwell 58) when in reality the
ration had actually been lowered yet nobody seems aware of that fact except for the
protagonist. Everyone seems content with their own living standards, even the proles
who live in such horrible conditions don't seem disheartened with the knowledge that
those who work for the party are living in much better standards. A perfect example of
someone who follows all the laws completely in the novel would be Winston's wife
Katharine. She followed all of the laws and traditions completely, no matter how much
she hated some of them just like how she hated the idea of having to try and make a
baby with Winston but she believed it was her duty to the party to do it. Throughout
1984 the citizens had been easily deceived into believing that their world was
immaculate, however due to a controlling leader and little to no freedom it is shown that
the world is actually a dystopian.
The Utopian society of 1984 fell apart, becoming a dystopia when Big Brother
took complete and total control of all the people. Living under the tyrannical leader the
citizens had to follow all of the new unsaid laws, meaning that nobody specifically said it
but everyone knew somethings just weren’t allowed anymore. This also shows the lack
of freedom in this society having to follow every ideal of Big Brother nobody is free to do
as they please in fear of being taken and vaporized. This can be easily seen early on in
the novel when Winston decides to buy the book, “Whether he wrote DOWN WITH BIG
BROTHER, or whether he refrained from writing it, made no difference. Whether he
went on with the diary, or whether he did not go on with it, made no difference. The
Thought Police would get him just the same” (Orwell 19). Through this quote from the
novel it’s shown that even simply buying the notebook was a dangerous act, just simply
opening the book will most likely have him captured in the end. This is simply the
beginning of the protagonists rebellion in the totalitarian world he lives in. Telescreens
and the Thought Police are also ways that the citizens of 1984 are deprived of freedom,
the telescreens cause a constant surveillance while the Thought Police won't even allow
people to have freedom in their own minds. Through these traits it is shown how utopias
will most definitely become a dystopia over time. Dystopian and utopian societies not
only exist in just literature, they can be seen in the real world as well.
In a real life society an example of something that could be seen as a utopia from
certain perspectives is organized violence or mafias. Specifically, during the prohibition
era mafias and gangs became fairly common and violence was breaking out constantly.
Al Capone was very well known during this time, as leader of the Chicago outfit he had
a vast majority of followers or members of the gang. Being in the gang could be seen as
a utopia or perfect society in the sense that the members for the most part had the
freedom to act as they pleased, going around harming and murdering people so long as
they did not get caught. Al Capone and the members of his gang were very malicious
and seemed to have no problem harming others if they really wanted to, “He gained
national recognition for his ruthless business skills and casual use of violence to build
his criminal empire” (Baughman). Also, the mafia was good for people who needed
relations since being in a gang or mafia meant that all the people around were basically
close family. For those who needed to have that feeling of usefulness, being in a gang
was helpful since every members had specific roles or played important parts in one
way or another which gave those few a sense of accomplishment. Being in these
organized violence groups was perfect for many people, but in reality everyone was
living oppressed and controlled lives just being in these gangs.
In both literature and reality utopias exist however both also tend to become a
dystopia, or an oppressive bad world after some time. Where organized violence is
concerned there are so many ways it could go from a great thing, to something difficult
or overbearing. In the case of Al Capone and the Chicago outfit it could easily be seen
considering the fact that Al Capone is the leader of the gang, he could be seen as an
oppressive leader. The members of the gang have to follow his word without question,
in short anything he says goes any arguing or rebelling would most likely result in
threats or severe beating/lesson. The gang living in an oppressive society is also shown
in the sense that the group lacks freedom. It could be argued that being in a gang would
give them more freedom to act as they please and murder or harm others, but there’s
also a downside to freedom in a gang. Members of a gang are free only as far as the
leader allows them, meaning that they aren’t actually free to act. Everyone has to follow
the higher ups, in this case being Al Capone and any others that work close to him like
Torrio, have to follow his every order. Capone had complete control over the members
of the gang, “Anyone dissatisfied with their share met a bloody end” (Bukowski).
Through these ways it can easily be seen that being in a mafia or gang may seem like a
perfect world in the beginning, but things can quickly fall apart becoming cruel and
dictatorial.
In many cases people aim to live in some type of utopian society that will
inevitably fall apart therefore becoming a dystopia Due to everyones different ideals and
opinions on perfection it would be basically impossible to have a utopian society. One
person's idea of a utopia may be horrid to someone else and likewise, therefore it would
be doomed to fail if said people were to rise up and rebel just as Winston had in the
novel. When there is little to no freedom and when some oppressive leader takes
control, like in 1984 with Winston, that's when something truly becomes a dystopia.
Similarly, in gang violence of mafias the members try to live in what they perceive as a
perfect civilization, but in reality these dystopian traits are forced upon them as well.
Through these different societies everyone should take away that it’s virtually
impossible to create an ideal society that will last, in the end things will fall apart and
people will find themselves living in a dystopian world