A dystopian society is an imaginative place where everything must be equal ande uniform. People who want to break out of the uniform are miserable because they cannot be themselves. All dystopian literature, whether it's a video game, short story, novel, or movie, share similar characteristics. For example, in the novel 1984 by George Orwell, everyone has to hide from the telescreen. If they are caught doing something else, they will be brainwashed to do right. In the short story "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, you have to wear a handicap whether it's for beauty, talent, or being too intelligent. Let's also not forget the movie Divergent by Veronica Roth. Everyone must choose a specific form of society by choosing one of the five factions. …show more content…
Society is an organized group of people associated together for religious, cultural, scientific, political patriots, and many other purposes.
Society in the novel 1984, the short story "Harrison Bergeron", and the movie Divergent, are similar due to how they don't live in a society but in a dystopia. Everything and everyone is dehumanized. For example, in 1984 you can tell that the streets are bare and nobody can read, write, talk amongst one another or let alone think for oneself. "Instead of being... now about to do" (George Orwell 9). This quote is showing that in this society they're not able to do something they love. They always have to sneak around their own house just to write in a book about their own thoughts. In "Harrison Bergeron" everyone in society has to wear handicaps for either thinking too much, being too beautiful or being too talented. "While his intelligence was way... advantage of their …show more content…
brains" (Kurt Vonnegut 1). Dehumanization in the society George lives in is not allowing him and others to remember things that happened five minutes ago. The handicap George and many others have is to just keep their minds blank at all times. Nevertheless society in Divergent you have to be tested to see what faction (society) you belong in. "Tris and every other adolescent that turns eighteen has to sit in this chair to take a test to see how they react. Then the test tells them what faction (society) they would fit best into."However, once they choose their faction they have to leave all of their friends and family behind and follow what their faction does. These are just some examples on how the society in these dystopian literatures are similar. These are all different because of the setting and how the society is dehumanized.
They each have to follow society, be put out to fend for oneself or be killed. In 1984 their society is different because they have to obey the telescreen or they they will be brainwashed. "In its second minute... the structure of civilization" (George Orwell 15-16). The brainwashing controls most except those who don't want to follow. In "Harrison Bergeron" their society keeps everyone down, not happy, and average. "That was a nice dance... two out of the eight ballerinas" (Kurt Vonnegut 1). George cannot even remember the girls dancing on stage due to the handicap and it makes him depressed. He would like to take the handicap off but could be killed if he did. In Divergent, the society you choose makes you different. However, you must do as the faction (society) tells you or you will go back to living on the streets. "Tris has to be able to fight in this faction she chose and if she cannot fight she gets booted out of the faction and onto the streets to fend for herself." So the societies in these dystopian literatures can be similar but very different. However, some of these societies seem to have some big controlling factors to
them. Control; controlling; controlled; are all exercises of restraint or direction over; dominate; command; takeover. Not being able to do something, but being told to do so. Control in 1984, "Harrison Bergeron", and Divergent are similar due to how they control each of their societies. Just as in 1984 society is controlled by telescreens, propaganda, and brainwashers. "The next moment... in Ociania itself" (George Orwell 13-14). Showing how when hate week starts everyone becomes controlled by this high pitched noise. Control in "Harrison Bergeron" was used by controlling people's thoughts and capabilities just to keep everyone at the same pace... slow. "George winced... in honor of religion" (Kurt Vonnegut 1). So the handicaps are to control everyone and how they think, by making them not think. In Divergent control is used by the government to make everyone act the same. "Mid-way through the movie of Divergent the heads of each faction start giving out these shots that make the people work as one and act as one." So basically everyone gets this chip inserted in their necks and become one giant army controlled by the government. Nevertheless control is used differently in each of these literatures as well. Control can be used in many different ways for many different reasons. Control is used differently in 1984 than in "Harrison Bergeron" and Divergent because it's controlling the whole town by brainwashing them. "Within thirty seconds... structure of civilization" (George Orwell 16). By brainwashing them they must do as they are told. In "Harrison Bergeron" control is used when the little noise sounds in their minds. "George winced... they think up" (Kurt Vonnegut 1). The high pitched noise control everyone by not allowing them to think. Divergent uses control by these chips put into their necks making them all work as a unit to kill. "When they put the chip into their necks they say it's a vaccine nevertheless, if it didn't work they would kill them because they were one of the few that could break free from it." Making everyone under the mindset that they must kill. However, there's always a rebel of the group the one who wants to be different and change the control... known as the protagonist. Protagonists are the leading character, hero, or heroine of a drama, also known as a proponent for or advocate of a political cause or social program. The protagonists in these stories are all similar because they're trying to get this horrible dystopia back to a normal society. In 1984 Winston is trying to get everything back to normal whether he has to break the law or not. Allowing Winston to be the hero. Harrison in "Harrison Bergeron" is the hero because he's trying to show others they can break free from their handicaps. "Harrison tore the... was blindingly beautiful" (Kurt Vonnegut 4). When Harrison broke free of all of his handicaps he had shown society what it felt like to have no handicaps. Tris in the movie Divergent is the main heroine who has help with Four, the man she's madly in love with. "Tris and Four were not affected by the shot allowing them to realize what the shot was doing to the people so they went up to the head government and beat them, allowing Tris to turn off all of the other chips." Making Tris the heroine because she beat the leader and set everyone free. Showing how similar yet different all of these protagonists can be. So in conclusion, a dystopia is a horrible place where people are chipped, brainwashed, or just so miserable the do not care anymore. However if it was not for the protagonists they would not be able to get back to a normal society. Showing that all dystopian literature whether it's a novel, video game, movie, or short story they all share similar but very different characteristics.
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.
Authors in the 1900s created short stories by writing short books that they could sell for quick cash. This is how the genre of short stories came about. As more and more stories were published, shorts became very popular because they were so short. Many people loved the idea that they could finish an entire story in one sitting. As the stories became more popular, Kurt Vonnegut, a short story writer, developed a list of 8 rules that make a perfect short story. He executes his rules in his short stories giving many examples of what the standard for short story writing should be.
You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty (Gandhi). The power society has over citizens is explored in the two texts Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut. The story Fahrenheit 451 depicts firemen who start fires instead of stop them. In this society censorship is valued and books are a main reason firemen burn. Books give you knowledge and knowledge is power which is what this society tries to prevent. In the short story “Harrison Bergeron” the topic similarly is about censorship in a more extreme way. People must wear masks and handicaps to prevent them from being different or unique. Intelligent people get a sharp noise in their ear every twenty seconds to prevent people from taking unfair advantage of their brains.
The book Fahrenheit 451 and the movie Hunger Games both display a dystopian fiction setting. A dystopian setting is when it is a futuristic, made up universe, and the illusion of a perfect society is maintained through corporate, technological, moral, or totalitarian control. In dystopias the characters make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system. At the beginning of each of these the main characters follow through with what their government wants them to do however toward the end of each they start to do what they want or what they believe is better than what the government recommends..
1. Define 'satire' and provide one example of personal or social satire that yoou have encountered. You may use any source for your example:TV, media, news editorials, movies, comedy, etc.
Harrison Bergeron is a short story that creates many images and feelings while using symbols and themes to critique aspects of our lives. In the story, the future US government implements a mandatory handicap for any citizens who is over their standards of normal. The goal of the program is to make everyone equal in physical capabilities, mental aptitude and even outward appearance. The story is focused around a husband and wife whose son, Harrison, was taken by the government because he is very strong and smart, and therefore too above normal not to be locked up. But, Harrison’s will is too great. He ends up breaking out of prison, and into a TV studio where he appears on TV. There, he removes the government’s equipment off of himself, and a dancer, before beginning to dance beautifully until they are both killed by the authorities. The author uses this story to satire
……………Most of the numerous and very disparate urban utopias imagined since antiquity, claim more or less a social justice combining equality, fairness, and freedom. However the methods invented to reach this social justice often lead to more binding law, sometimes up to the absurd, that limited the abilities and capacities of the citizens. Thus, behind the mask of an ideal equality, is concealed in fact, a tremendous social injustice. In “Harrison Bergeron”, Kurt Vonnegut’s shows us the consequences of sacrificing freedom for perfect equality by using the story of an excessive utopia to demonstrate that a society in which total equality exists, is not only oppressive, but also static and inefficient. Vonnegut exemplifies the image of fairness
Imagine a society where not a single person competes with another. It has been like this for years, yet nothing has changed since the start of this new world. No new technology, no new occupations, no new discoveries. Absolutely nothing is different. Without competition no one will push themselves to be better or to achieve any goals, and without new achievements society cannot survive, let alone thrive. The short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. discusses this topic. Set in a society where anyone above average in any way is handicapped, therefore everyone is completely and totally equal. One handicapped man, George’s, son is taken away by the government at the mere age of fourteen under suspicion of rebellious intentions. Another
Being unique is a necessary part of life. People are told starting as children that they need to be themselves. They are told to do what they love and love what they do. What if the world didn’t allow this? Kurt Vonnegut ponders the idea of a life in which the government enforces complete equality. “Harrison Bergeron” takes place in a future society that hinders people with skills to make everyone equal. This society makes everyone worse instead of better. Complete equality has too many issues for it to be viable. Equality should be for all in the eyes of the law. However, complete equality should not be pursued because taking away the differences between people is a clear mistake.
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.
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.
Imagine a chaotic society of people who are so entangled by ignorance and inequity that they do not realize it; this would be called a dystopian society. Dystopian societies are very popular among many fictional stories. In fact, in the stories Fahrenheit 451 and “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, dystopian societies are represented. In many of these stories, the people in the fictional societies are violence-loving, irrational people who always seem to do what people of the U.S. society would consider "immoral." These stories are not a representation of how the U.S. society is now, but how it could be in the future. Unlike the society of Fahrenheit 451, the U.S. allows people
Kurt Vonnegut’s dystopian fiction, or a type of fiction in which the society’s attempt to create a perfect world goes very wrong, “Harrison Bergeron” was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1961. This story is about Harrison Bergeron, who is forced to diminish his abilities because they are more enhanced than everyone else’s. This short story is an allusion of a perfect society and it is maintained through totalitarian. The author expresses his theme of the dysfunctional government of utopia through his effective use of simile, irony, and symbolism. Kurt Vonnegut was one of the most influential American writers and novelists, and his writings have left a deep influence on the American Literature of the 20th century. Vonnegut is also famous for his humanist beliefs and was the honoree of the American Humanist Association. “Harrison Bergeron” is about a fictional time in the future where everyone is forced to wear handicapping devices to ensure that everyone is equal. So can true equality ever be achieved through strict governmental control?
A dystopian society can be defined as “a society characterized by human misery”. 1984 by George Orwell and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury both demonstrate dystopian societies. However, that does not mean they do not their differences. In each society the government has different ways of controlling and limiting its citizens for doing only what they want them to do. In 1984, violators are brainwashed into loving and following Big Brother as if they never knew the truth and return back to their everyday lives. Fahrenheit 451 also punishes violators in a way that makes them regret and scared to ever do it again instead of making them forget.
When a person or group of people join a distinct opposition towards someone or something, it is discrimination. People are inadequately affected through hate and criticism because of the unique differences we each hold as human beings. In the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, he presents us with the mental vision of Tall Poppy Syndrome. These circumstances could negatively attribute to our government being detrimental to our future society by indoctrinating equality within the nation.