Dystopian Society Essay

In any circumstance, whether it be a fictional or a real one, there is always the strain to be perfect. Most often, the pressure to be perfect causes the means of becoming it to be tainted. Dystopian texts relate this idea to societies as these societies strive to be perfect, but in the means of doing so leave their people oppressed and manipulated. Through the eyes of characters that see dystopian societies as they really are, the key issues of these texts are revealed to be the detrimental effects of government manipulation, conformity, and technology.

The primary way that dystopian societies are able to function is through the manipulation of the governing body. A main form of government manipulation is through the fabrication of news

to lead the public to become ignorant and unable to question the government. At the end of the search for Montag, the news outlets reveal that “Montag is dead” (Bradbury 142) and the video “scrambled [the capture] just enough to let the imagination take over” (Bradbury 143). While this initially gives the public a sense of relief, it also gives them a false sense of comfort, leading them to become ignorant. The public, being conditioned to believe that what is broadcasted is true, is unable to question what is being told to them. The broadcasting of fake news can also cause the public to put themselves in a state of distress. After the plane crashed the “official word [was] that there were no survivors” (Bray 34), despite the survival of over a dozen girls. The falsification of the news leads the public to become ignorant because they truly believe what is being broadcasted, despite it being false. Due to the obsessive amount of government control, the majority of the public does not question the news, leaving them unaware of the truth of world they live in. By the public not questioning the news, it allows for the government to have absolute power over its people, leaving the public oppressed.
Furthermore, governments also manipulate their people with the alteration of the past to benefit the narrative they want to promote and this too causes the people to become ignorant. When questioning Montag about his job, Clarisse reveals that “firemen put fires out instead of going to start them” (Bradbury 6). The government altered the history of the job description to manipulate the public into believing what they wanted them to believe. The alteration of the job description, and the collective agreement of it, leads to public to be ignorant because they are blindly following what the government is telling them and becoming unware of the true history of their society. In Goldstein’s book, it is revealed that the changing of the past “is necessary for [society] to believe that [they are] better off than [their] ancestors” (Orwell 213). The government manipulates the thoughts of its people as they force them to believe false histories to benefit the narrative of having a better life than past societies. The ignorance of the people through the alteration of the past allows for the government to manipulate them in any way that they want because they are unaware of how life was prior and think that how they are getting treated is acceptable.
Dystopian societies typically want all their people to have the same mindset and conform to the norms of a new society and through conformity, the government can obtain total control of its people. After fighting for his freedom, Winston eventually gives into the pressures of society and declares that “he loved Big Brother” (Orwell 298). Winston had fought to remain deviant, but eventually conformed to the norms. His conformity to what is expected of him implies how the government can obtain total control because he has given himself up to become a servant of the public figure. In another dystopian work, the government “conditioned the masses to hate the country” (Huxley 23). While this could be argued to have beneficial qualities like being more resourceful in the workforce, it is actually detrimental because it leaves the people under the control of the government. Through the process of conditioning, individuals are stripped of their individuality and made to conform to the role they have in society. The governing body takes total control of these people and forces them to do what they believe is right to benefit the government.
In many dystopian societies, the technology present causes its people to be unable to truly love themselves.

Current day society is based on the use of technology that promotes the image of the “perfect” person. The promotion of the ideal person harms the ability to love oneself as they are due to the constant comparison to others. After being on the island for a long duration of time, a girl reveals that “they make it so hard for us to love ourselves” (Bray 352). In the absence of technology, the self love was restored, therefore suggesting how technology ultimately leads to the inability to form self love. While the girl found herself in a world without technology, John lost himself in the presence of technology. After coming into a new world, John found it hard to abide by the norms set by the civilized society and ultimately decided to kill himself (Huxley). While the motives for John’s suicide could easily be argued were influenced by his actions of the night before, the overall motive was the inability to find a sense of purpose in the technological advanced society. The formation of relationships coincides with the formation of self love because through other people, the idea of love is instilled and makes an easy transition to the love of oneself. The technology disintegrated the ability to form relationships as it distracts the individual from others, therefore ultimately causing the ability to love oneself to become

impossible.
While the societies in dystopian texts seem bizarre and seemingly distant from the current society, they are actually warnings for current day society. Through the alteration of both the news and past, the conformity to societal norms, and the presence of technology, dystopian works warn future societies that the total control of governments is harmful to society as a whole. The total control leads to the ignorance of its people and the failure to form the ability to love oneself. Despite the extreme circumstance brought up in the dystopian texts, they are good indicators as to know what not to allow in future societies.