Several types of societies exist in today’s world, dystopias - miserable societies of oppression- and utopias - ideal societies of political or social perfection. Dystopias are illustrated in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, which extensively follow the characters, Katniss Everdeen and Guy Montag, and their quests to rebel against government control. The Giver by Lois Lowry, an ostensibly utopian community, succumbs to the typical, corrupt dystopian society, where the government is in total control of every aspect of the community. Although each novel, on the surface, has a diverse plot, they share a comprehensive idea: the effects of the government on society. In The Hunger Games, the government, referred to as the capital, forces each district to select a male and a female to fight to the death, to keep the nation, Panem, in …show more content…
balance.
In Bradbury’s dystopia, books are banned and are to be burned if found, because they cause people to become too intellectual. In The Giver, a supposed utopia, the government tells the members of the community what jobs they will have, and how many children are acceptable in each family. In each of the novels, the main characters, reveal their deep animosity towards the government and its policies. They work to end the prolonged oppression faced. The Hunger Games and Fahrenheit 451 attempt to change for the better; On the contrary The Giver takes a turn for the worst. Contemporary works, such as The Hunger Games, Fahrenheit 451, and The Giver, portray utopic and dystopic societies through the eyes of the narrators, and the properties of these societies are inverted as the government’s of each novel oppress the citizens. The elements of idealistic societies, generally develop into dystopias; Whereas dystopian societies begin to adapt to quixotic ideals as the narrators begin to see the world
they live in. In the Hunger Games, the Capitol craves power, which causes an uprising among the districts of Panem. Katniss Everdeen, the mockingjay, leads the rebellion, seeking freedom from the ruthless leaders of the Capitol. Every year, the Capitol hosts a set of games, to keep order in the nation. Collins describes the rules of the games, “In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena... the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins”(18). Each district must randomly select the boy and the girl who will participate in the games. Those who are chosen, have no choice, and they must do as the Capitol commands. Miller elaborates her description of the games and the mien of the government, “As a tool of practical propaganda, the games don’t make much sense. They lack that essential quality of the totalitarian spectacle: ideological coherence. You don’t demoralize and dehumanize a subject people by turning them into celebrities and coaching them on how to craft an appealing persona for a mass audience”. Miller asserts that the games are baffling, because forcing people to fight each other for one’s pleasure is immoral, and the Capitol is corrupt. The games create a dystopian society, where the government harshly rules each district, which leaves the members impoverished. They must use weapons, and anything in the field that will be useful for their survival. Laura Miller, established contributor to the New Yorker, states, “In the first book of Collins’s trilogy, Katniss explains that the games are a ‘punishment’ for a fueled uprising against the capitol many years earlier, and they’re meant to be ‘humiliating as well as torturous’”. Miller conveys that the games are torture for disobeying the capitol. Katniss and the members of the the districts are irritated by the way they are treated by the Capitol. Katniss exclaims: Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch – this is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion. Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. ‘Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there’s nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. (Collins 18) Katniss is asked to lead the rebellion against the Capitol, and she must successfully unify the districts and receive their full support of her movement. As the power of the rebellion quickly increases, the Capitol’s power slowly decreases. In the end of the final book of the trilogy, Mockingjay, Katniss and the rebels successfully defeat the Capitol, establishing peace in Panem. Although nothing is ever perfect, the uprising leads to a utopian society where life is enjoyable and more freedom is given. The Hunger Games is initially a dystopia because of the Capitol’s approach to govern the districts; However, once the uprising is in progress, the novel transforms to some of the utopia characteristics.
In Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, Guy Montag is a firefighter who burns illegal owned books, but later on begins to question his profession and an in turn, his life causing him to question the government's actions. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins tells the story of Katniss Everdeen, and how her life changes when her little sister is reaped into the games, but she volunteers for her and unknowingly rebels against the government. Even though Katniss and Montag both defy their governments in different ways, they both have a negative view on the higher power.
In both books they share some traits, even though they may not look anything alike they are. both of these novels are dystopian novels and many characters share similarity’s.
The bureaucratically controlled Fahrenheit 451 society and the technologically controlled Gattaca society depict similar, as well as different, aspects of dystopian dehumanization. There are also commonalities shared by Vincent and Montag in their struggles of gaining some control of their life, and staying under the radar while persevering to fulfill a desire that goes against societal conformity, yet they also contrast each other in some aspects.
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..
“Revealing the truth is like lighting a match. It can bring light or it can set your world on fire” (Sydney Rogers). In other words revealing the truth hurts and it can either solve things or it can make them much worse. This quote relates to Fahrenheit 451 because Montag was hiding a huge book stash, and once he revealed it to his wife, Mildred everything went downhill. Our relationships are complete opposites. There are many differences between Fahrenheit 451 and our society, they just have a different way of seeing life.
Another blaring difference between the two societies in Fahrenheit 451 and the Hunger Games is that of their government. The form of government in Fahrenheit 451 consists of a democracy whereas the Hunger Games government is corrupt and resembles nothing of a democracy. Even though we may see the world of Fahrenheit 451 as strange and bad there is still a democracy, which we consider to be fair. A similarity between the two governments systems would be how they both suppress things much like it is today, that each government believes could hurt the stability of society. The Hunger Games government suppresses interaction between districts to instill conformity because they know if there was interaction it could cause unhappiness and take away from the level of cooperation between the people and the government.
Imagine a world of uniformity. All people look the same, act the same, and love the same things. There are no original thoughts and no opposing viewpoints. This sort of world is not far from reality. Uniformity in modern day society is caused by the banning of books. The novel "Fahrenheit 451" illustrates a future in which the banning of books has risen to the extent that no books are allowed. The novel follows the social and moral implications of an over censored society. Even though the plot may seem far-fetched, themes from this book are still relevant today. Although some people believe that banning a book is necessary to defend their religion, the negative effects caused by censorship and the redaction of individual thought are reasons why books such as "Fahrenheit 451" should not be banned.
A Dystopia is a society where something is flipped from our normal society, making everything else different and worse than we can imagine. Harrison Bergeron is a good example of a dystopia because it changes one thing that makes that society worse than ours. In the society of Fahrenheit 451, reading books is illegal. This changes how people retain knowledge and see the past that their society was once in. In our society books are not illegal to read. You can retain information from books and know the history of how our society came to be. This book is titled Fahrenheit 451, and is written by Ray Bradbury. The protagonist in this story is Montag. He is a fireman that burns the books that people can’t read, then he suddenly goes through a change
Fahrenheit 451’s relevance to today can be very detailed and prophetic when we take a deep look into our American society. Although we are not living in a communist setting with extreme war waging on, we have gained technologies similar to the ones Bradbury spoke of in Fahrenheit 451 and a stubborn civilization that holds an absence on the little things we should enjoy. Bradbury sees the future of America as a dystopia, yet we still hold problematic issues without the title of disaster, as it is well hidden under our Democracy today. Fahrenheit 451 is much like our world today which includes television, the loss of free speech, and the loss of the education and use of books.
In dystopian literature, the future of society and humanity is presented in a negative standpoint. Utopian works frequently illustrate a future in which the everyday lives of human beings is often improved by technology to advance civilization, while dystopian works offer an opposite outlook. Examples of dystopian characteristics include an oppressive government, a protagonist, and character nature. Although the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and the film V for Vendetta directed by James McTeigue display different perspectives of a dystopian society, both share similar dystopian characteristics, which include a government who asserts power over citizens, a protagonist who questions society, and characters who are isolated from the natural world.
The Hunger Games and Fahrenheit 451 are both great examples of dystopian fiction. A dystopia is a fictional world that takes place in the future that is supposed to be perceived as a perfect society, but it’s actually the opposite. Other things that a dystopian society might display are citizens both living in a dehumanized state and feeling like they’re constantly watched by a higher power. Dystopias are places where society is backwards or unfair, and they are usually are controlled by the government, technology, or a particular religion. The Hunger Games and Fahrenheit 451 are both in the dystopian fiction genre because the societies within them show the traits of a dystopia. Both of them also have characters that go against the flow of the normal world.
A utopian society represents a perfect, idealistic civilization, while a dystopian society describes an unpleasant environment for the individuals living within it. George Orwell’s 1984 portrays many characteristics of a dystopian society. Very similarly, Veronica Roth’s Divergent tells the story of a government that forcefully separates and controls its citizens. 1984 and Divergent both share the presence of harsh regulation and control from their respective governments. Orwell and Roth’s novels compare Ministries and Factions, conformity and obedience, Proles and the Factionless, and government regulation, in a similar, yet negative way.
Complete governmental control develops as an apparent theme of both 1984 and The Hunger Games. 1984 uses the concept of big brother for the sole purpose of instilling a dependence on the government for every aspect in the citizens’ lives. Similarly, the capitol of Panem in The Hunger Games censors information from the people so that any idea of revolution will be instantaneously
Imagine being in a game where everyone dies except for one victor, and you have to risk your life to save your little sister’s life. Also imagine not being able to speak freely in your own home. These are some examples of how dystopian governments take control of the people in the societies in dystopian novels. The governments of 1984 and The Hunger Games share the dystopian goal of dehumanizing their citizens in order to maintain and win control over the citizens. The Party and the Capitol are after power, and whoever has control of the people in a society has has all the power.
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.