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Recommended: Dystopian literature
Dystopian literature highlights social flaws perceived by the composer and questions the basis for contemporary social practice. Unlike utopian fiction, which is rarely more than speculation regarding a self-perceived ideal, dystopian works call upon their audience to consider inadequacies present in their own society. Works such as Ursula LeGuin’s short story The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, Eoin Colfer’s children’s novel The Supernaturalist and the 2006 film V for Vendetta directed by James McTeigue address such issues as human rights abuse, totalitarianism and mass consumerism through the medium of the dystopian genre, and in doing so embody the principal components of dystopian literature: The enforced acceptance of an imperfection as an ideal, the questioning of social practice, and the revelation of the imperfection and the consequences thereof.
The first distinguishing characteristic of dystopian literature is the enforced acceptance of an imperfect or flawed state as an ideal by the population of the state in question. James McTeigue’s 2006 film V for Vendetta (based upon a series of graphic novels by the same title) is the prime example of this trait. Set in Britain in the year 2020, the film portrays a totalitarian regime reminiscent of Nazi Germany. The extremist policies of “The Party”, such as the vilification of Muslims, homosexuals and “foreigners” (anyone not of English heritage) are accepted by a population force-fed propaganda by the state-owned television network BTN, and any dissidence is quickly and ruthlessly suppressed by the secret police force known as “the fingermen”.
The use of propaganda to gain support for the flawed state is common throughout many dystopian works, and directly parallels its use...
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...mic practice throughout the dystopian narrative.
Thus the Dystopian genre is highly effective in conveying the social commentary of its composers, and McTeigue’s V for Vendetta, Colfer’s The Supernaturalist and LeGuin’s The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas are prime examples of this capacity, with through their allegorical criticisms of human rights abuses, totalitarianism and mass consumerism represented through the medium of the structural characteristics of the dystopian genre.
Works Cited
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Quantum_Thief
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_terms_in_The_Quantum_Thief
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Supernaturalist
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta_(film)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434409/
Destruction of individuality is an idea both authors explore to expose the broad social wrong of an oppressive society. Both Orwell and Niccol use their protagonists to demonstrate how dictatorial governments that destroy any semblance of individuality are inherently wrong. Orwell uses third person narration, which directly follows his protagonist as he fights to maintain his individuality in a society driven to eliminate the capability of “love, or friendship, or joy of living” by making him “hollow”. By employing the use third person narration Orwell portrays to the reader that even an individual with powerful intent to remain different can be broken down and made to believe that “2+2 = 5”. Similarly, Niccol uses extreme close up shots focusing on Vincent’s cleaning process and the motif of constant DNA checks to reinforce how authoritarian societies can demolish all sense of individuality. Vincent, an “in-valid” must take extreme measures to overcome the prejudices of soc...
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.
The purpose of any text is to convey the criticisms of society, with V for Vendetta and Animal Farm being chief examples of this statement. Through their use of allusion, symbolism and representation, they portray many of society's flaws and imperfections. Such an imperfection includes the illustration of how totalitarian governments abuse the power they have acquired for their own gain, harming the people they are sworn to serve and protect. Through this abusive self-gaining government, we all are liable to become victims of consumer culture caused by the blind obedience to advertising and propaganda, being unable to form or voice an opinion of our own. But this lack of opinion can be at fault because of our own apathy, the ignorance and slothfulness that is contributed to the role we play in our society and the importance of that role's ability to motivate and inspire change.
The dystopian novel “1984” and the movie “V for Vendetta”, share a variety of differences and similarities. Both have a totalitarian government in which they have absolute power over politics, religion and human rights. Extensive speech, critical thinking, thoughtful writing, and voice of opinion has either been restricted or limited in 1984’s Oceania and V for Vendetta’s future London. The protagonists in both novels and films have “resisted” their government. However, the methods used to employ their “rebellion” are quite different.
Dystopia represents an artificially created society to where a human population is administered to various types of oppressions, or a human population lives under the order of an oppressive government. The novel Fahrenheit 451 and the film V for Vendetta both effectively display this dystopian concept in their works. The nature of the society, the protagonist who questions the society, and the political power that runs the society are examples of how the novel and the film efficiently capture the main points of a dystopian society. The authors of the novel and the film use their visions of a dystopian future to remark on our present by identifying how today’s society is immensely addicted to technology and how our government has changed over the past decades. Furthermore, the authors use our modern day society to illustrate their view of a dystopia in our
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.
Hummel, William and Huntress, Keith. The Analysis of Propaganda. New York: William Sloane Associates, 1949
Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World, showcases a world alternate from ours, in a dystopian setting. Where human morals are drastically altered, families, love, history, and art are removed by the government. They used multiple methods to control the people, but no method in the world is more highly used and more effective than propaganda. The world state heavily implemented the use of propaganda to control, to set morals, and to condition the minds of every citizen in their world. However, such uses of propaganda have already been used in our world and even at this very moment.
“"Propaganda is as powerful as heroin, it surreptitiously dissolves all capacity to think” by Gil Courtemanche connects to the sad fact of using propaganda as a deadly weapon to feed people with false information and stop them from thinking. George Orwell’s novel, 1984, describes a totalitarian dystopian society where the Party is constantly brainwashing its citizens with information that is beneficial to its own rights. On the opposite side, people are working for the party just like dominated slaves for their masters without knowing what’s going on. But, in order for the party to achieve this goal, they have to use different techniques of propaganda in Oceania to create fear for people so that they can obey the rules. The use of propaganda in the society of 1984 takes away freedom from individuals because of the absence of privacy, thinking and making decisions.
Both George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World predicted similar futures, with Orwell emphasizing militant suppression, Huxley emphasizing social engineering, and both authors emphasizing totalitarianism. As fictional as the two books are on paper, modern society still has much to fear from those pages. In the shadow of prophecy, America now sees itself stuck in a sorry state caused by digitalization undermining society and law enforcement exploiting the public’s behavior, thus exhibiting horrors of both Oceania and the World State. Age has not softened the implications of these theories on society—it has strengthened them.
Dystopia, a word that inflicts feelings of malcontent, fear, a place where abysmal conditions are the new normal, this genre describes a society where everything has and continues to go wrong. This genre has gripped the hearts of many readers and is compelling for people of all ages. The dystopian book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a thrilling book that introduces the reader to a world where the society tries to force everything to be perfect, and danger lurks around every twist and turn. The meaning of dystopia, the characteristics of the genre, and how it is presented in Fahrenheit 451, contributes to how one could understand the dystopian style of literature.
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.
Although set in the near future, James McTeique’s V for Vendetta (2005) serves as an allegory of historical and contemporary political climates. The film depicts an autocratic government that rules over an oppressed society through means such as mass media mediation and corrupt state-sanctioned police. The negative political environment in the film draws parallels to past dystopian regimes, highlighting the negative environment that society is living in today.
Set in the near future, James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta (2005) serves as an allegory of historical and contemporary political climates while glorifying violence and the idea of an armed revolution to fight fascism and injustice in a dystopian political environment. The film depicts an autocratic government that rules over an oppressed society through means such as mass media mediation and corrupt state-sanctioned police. V for Vendetta presents contentious messages as it highlights the negative effects of several past dystopian regimes such as Nazi Germany as well as current social unrest caused by events such as 9/11 while portraying a terrorist, V, as a freedom fighter who condones violence for both his personal vendetta and to overthrow
In the short story “Serenade of the arts”, I have attempted to construct a narrative which subverts many of the common dystopian elements, while expanding and focusing on certain narrative conventions to create a cohesive and engaging plot and conflict.