Dystopia

Authors: Andres Yunis & Victor Starr

Dystopia
Dystopia: noun (disˈtōpēə/ dis-toh-pee-uh) from the greek δυσ- and τόπος, also anti-utopia) is a society in which there is a "common order" but is human misery. Usually containing no individualization, dystopias are futuristic societies where people follow the "status quo" so strictly that they all are one and rarely have individual traits. These societies usually are ruled with fear. Inversely Utopia is a perfect society that truly remains perfect.

Dystopia vs Utopia
Dystopia, and utopia alike, are mostly seen in correlation with literary work. However, both can not receive assumptions that their sole purpose is to put literary works in a specific genre. Dystopias are usually explained as accounts of bad societies compared to the ones we are in now. There is a flaw here that dystopias and utopias are seen as an imaginary place only found in literature. These flawed utopias are representing aspects of societies future possible path. The issue is that these are both seen as literature and never as form. The modern form of dystopia could be assumed as totalitarianism.

Utopias are usually based around friendship while Dystopias use fear and isolation. The more prevalent form used in todays era is Dystopian literature. With many new video game, movies, books and much more giving a depiction of tales where life is completely overwhelmed with fear such as the movie, The Hunger Games and the game, Destiny ''. ''

Even though they are opposite ideologies both take the form of the same governing. Utopian Envisions are made to spur us to want the perfect society depicted. On the other hand Dystopian thoughts give people a sense for what they don't want. This creates an equilibrium in the middle. These are both examples of extremes and anything in an extremity is not beneficial. People within human nature have a tendency to read and relate so these fictional societies, in turn, allow people to question governments and act upon their thoughts leading us to a proper end.

There is a belief that God picked our world of the many different parallel universes to be the "actual" realm. According to Leibniz, a german mathematician and philosopher, "our world was the best choice." Then comes Dystopian world and Eutopian worlds. Until the nineteenth century there was no need to define each as individuals because both were considered opposites of Utopia. Dystopia has a positive connotation, and inversely Eutopia has a positive connotation. Before the differentiation it was assumed that all Utopias was eutopian. The difference is that Utopia is a genre that comes from the greek ou (meaning not) and topos (meaning place), this simply means not a place. Eutopia is a non existent place that is positively seen while dystopia is a non existent place that is negatively seen.

Cultural Influences
In order for a dystopia to relate to the reader, the writer must draw parallels to contain cultural influences of the present. The future is predicted by present events. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is dystopian novel set in London of 2540 AD or 632 AF (After Ford). In this society, citizens live under a totalitarian regime under The World State government. Children are not born, but “decanted” on an assembly line. In this novel, Henry Ford serves as a deity-like figure as he is worshipped by the citizens of The World State. Henry Ford perfected the assembly line in 1908, which was revolutionary to the manufacturing industry. In order to improve their command economy, citizens are “conditioned to value consumption” (wikipedia). The novel was written in 1931 after Huxley visited the United States’ during the Jazz Age - a post-World War era. Huxley noted the American’s were “encouraged to live for the moment” in the pursuit of consumerism.

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a not too distant future in the United States. In this future, books and reading have been outlawed to keep the population submissive yet satisfied. The protagonist, Guy Montag is firemen who serves as a form of law enforcement. Their job is to burn all sightings of books. The novel draws the on the parallels of the 1950’s Red Scare. This was perpetuated on the irrational fear of  Communism of the Cold War, fueled by American Senator, Andrew McCarthy. Bradbury believed that [science fiction is] “the art of the possible... to look into the future but it’s really looking at a reflection of what is already in front of us.” The 1950’s was the era of science fiction.

The dystopia reaches the opposite end the spectrum of a utopia. It is constructed out of fear instead of collectiveness. Dystopian societies are usually portrayed as more extreme yet realistic of the two.

Examples in Literature
Brave New World (1931)

Nineteen-Eighty Four (1984)

Fahrenheit 451 (1951)

Lord of the Flies (1954)

Examples in Television
Avatar: The Last Airbender

Blake's 7

Cold Lazarus

Dark Angel

Doctor Who

Falling Skies