Dystopia is often defined as an imaginary totalitarian world, a post-apocalyptic wasteland where chaos, evil, and fear run rampant amongst the residuum of the human race. In the novel “The Circle”, by Dave Eggers, and the movie “The Minority Report” directed by Steven Spielberg, a dystopian society is clearly depicted through various characters, settings, and themes. Both works take place in a vivid futuristic environment, one where the consequences of living in a world deprived of privacy has indefinitely altered the Earth. “The Circle”, is a company like no other, equipped with the objective to eradicate all privacy and unleash all secrets by recording everything anyone does. In “The Minority Report”, through the use of three people–the PreCogs–who have colossal gifts in which they see future crimes, the police force can prevent felonies before they occur. The objective is to make the world safe and reign with peace and prosperity. The novel “The Circle” and the film “The Minority Report” share many common dystopian characteristics, including the illusion of a perfect utopian world through the deconstruction of privacy and the use of propaganda to control citizens, while also being plausible possibilities for the future of mankind. Utopia is defined as an imaginary place or state of things in which everything is perfect which is precisely what is depicted in the novel “The Circle.” The Circle is a sprawling self-contained campus with non-stop events, tennis courts, medical clinics, and dorm rooms in a fictional suburban California town. It is the largest and most powerful company in the United States; a company that does so much and controls so many things, that is has basically become the underpinning of society itself....
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...opian characteristics of a flawless utopian world that shuns privacy and the use of propaganda to regulate citizens, while being reasonable predictions for the future of modern-day civilizations. Dystopian novels act as excellent indicators of society’s present mistakes. Authors exaggerate certain flawed behaviours to the point at which they have international implications in hopes that someone will realize a change must be made in the real world. Regardless of the often austere appearance of dystopian fiction, the underlying message to remain optimistic in tough times is what truly inspires the audience to study such grim novels or movies. The dystopian author Lauren Oliver once said, “Dystopian novels help people process their fears about what the future might look like; further, they usually show that there is always hope, even in the bleakest future” (Oliver).
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.
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..
Authors of dystopian literature often write in order to teach their audience about issues in the real world. Dystopian
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.
Dystopian Literature is a kind of story that castigates society and the rituals/traditions they partake in. Although some may state that our society is a dystopian world, evidence demonstrates that it is most certainly not. The philosophical control in the "Omelas" and the bureaucratic control in "Harrison Bergeron" depict that our general public is not. Dissimilar to the stories that we have perused our general public has more freedoms and less power inside the different types of controls, demonstrating our society is not a dystopia.
The definition of a dystopia is a futuristic universe where oppressive societal control and creating an illusion of a perfect society (or rather a Utopia) are maintained through either corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control. A lot of popular books and movies we see today are created from this concept, and often have a character who defines the rules within the dystopian setting. The book Fahrenheit 451 and the movie The Hunger Games both contain a dystopian genre which go by the definition of a dystopia.
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.
The definition of Utopia is, “an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.” The rules and controls listed above and the many more that are in the book “Anthem” describe a society trying to become collective but in a utopian way. The purpose of these rules and controls is to keep the society collectivist. Fear is what runs this society. “.
Before World War I, the literary term known as the Utopia emerged. Many people believed that society would be happier if the individual made sacrifices for the “common good”. However, the war changed all of that. Society began to fear governments in which everyone was the same and was ruled by a dictator. Thus, the genre of the dystopian novel emerged. “Dystopian novels show that any attempt at establishing utopia will only make matters much worse.” (Dietz, 1996) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and 1984 by George Orwell are considered classic examples of this genre by such critics as Frank Dietz, Beaird Glover, and Donald Watt. These distinct novels both warn against utopia through the portrayal of the protagonist begins as part of a society in which the individual is non-existent, come into contact with influences that cause their rebellions, and eventually come into contact with some upper hand of the government.
Imagine a place where everything is perfect. There is a place where there is no warfare, where all. All politics, laws, customs, and traditions are respected. A place where there is sameness among all the citizens and everyone is content and happy. This place would be considered a utopia.
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.
"The truth is, dystopian fiction presents a fun house mirror of our collective selves." However, authors tend to take dystopian literature to an extreme. For example when you look at yourself in a fun house mirror, you may look extremely tall, rather short, or your face may expand. Well, that's similar to how authors write about dystopians. A dystopian is a perfect society that has pretty much "fallen apart".
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.
The future holds a different meaning for everyone, for some it holds hope while for others it holds despair. This constant wondering about the future has influenced many works to be written about the future. Some of these works propose a blissful future, but the majority paint the picture of an unfortunate dystopian world. Recently I read Daughters of the North, a novel in which the dystopian future of England is shown. Shortly after reading Daughters of the North, I watched The Road. This film showed a similar view of the future, yet more grim and unappealing that Daughters of the North. In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting these two works to show two different points of view of what a dystopian world is. After watching The Road I realised there was a large amount of books and movies that believe the future will be grim. I believe this is because as humans we fear what may be in our future due to the conflicts that we face today and wish to warm the world.