Other Dystopias Flashcards
Metropolis (1927): context
post WW1 Germany was rife with failed coalitions and financial issues as they had to pay reparations after the war
this created great shame in Germany
Metropolis (1927): dystopian themes
surveillance
advanced technology and industrialisation
uniformity, robotic, lack of individuality
rituals and ceremonial worship
destruction, powerlessness and sacrifice
class divide — upper classes live in high rise towers, while workers power the machine
rebellion — workers planning an uprising in the city catacombs
Black Mirror
beginning with the familiar and gradually becomes unfamiliar, alienates the reader
Nosedive — lack of real human connection, obsession with appearances and status, false appearances, dependence on technology, hierarchy, meaninglessness of life, lack of identity, the need for humans to fit in and be accepted, rebellion (some don’t adhere to the ‘rating’ system, outcast as a result)
dystopian books
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin (1924)
The Machine Stops by E M Forster (1909)
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005)
The Time Machine by H G Wells (1895)
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
lack of individuality
everyone in this world knows their task and understands their part in the great purpose
they shave their heads and use numbers as names to avoid anything even remotely resembling individualism, everyone looks exactly alike
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
a catastrophe leading to the regime
the One State was created after the Two-Hundred Years’ War which destroyed civilization
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
a totalitarian dictatorship presented as a saving force
the One State solved hunger
“True, only about two-tenths of the population of the globe did not die out. But how beautifully shining the face of the earth became when it was cleared of its impurities!”
a totalitarian dictatorship presented as a saving force
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
destruction of love and the meaning of sex
once hunger was vanquished, the State set out to kill love
sex is still necessary, but the people can sleep with anyone they please whenever they want
O-90 is D-503’s state-sanctioned lover (the meaning of sex stripped away), she is too short to be allowed to have children and is unhappy about it
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
complacency, aiding the regime, blind faith in the regime
D-503 is a mathematician and rocket scientist who’s thrilled to be a part of the program
he writes a diary describing his work on the spaceship Integral and trying to convince anyone who reads it of the brilliance of the One State
he is very excited about the prospects of the ship, and enthusiastically explains how the One State is going “to unbend the wild curve, to straighten it out to a tangent - to a straight line!”
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
restriction of individual thought
I-330 offers to have an excuse written up for him by a corrupt doctor and he wants to denounce her to the ‘Guardians’ of the state
but he starts having dreams, also forbidden by the state and considered a form of insanity, which makes him less willing to turn in I-330
“we, people of today, we know all too well that dreaming is a serious mental disease”
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
desensitisation to violence, public executions, silencing of opposition or dissenters
D-503 arrives at the Plaza of the Cube for an execution, which he refers to as a celebration of “the victory of all over one, of the sum over the individual!”
he discusses the Well-Doer, their supreme leader, and the Machine to be used to kill the criminal
the criminal is then placed in the Machine and the Well-Doer essentially atomizes him
D-503 notes how passionate and excited the onlookers are at these executions and feels quite excited and enthusiastic too
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
rebellion
I-330 has alcohol and cigarettes and it is lethally illegal to own such things, she also earlier suggested she could get ahold of a note from a corrupt doctor to allow D-503 time off work
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
isolation and the outsider
D-503 confesses that he can’t actually tell dreams from reality anymore, and goes on about his day feeling fundamentally detached and separated from the people around him
“I felt I lived separately from everybody; I lived by myself separated by a soft wall which absorbed noises; beyond that wall there was my own world”
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
the inability of any regime to quell and destroy love
D-503 is haunted by I-330. He doesn’t know where she’s gone or why she has such a hold on him, but he seems to have developed some kind of love for her
he wanders out to find her, but he cannot and overstays his allotted free time daydreaming about her
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
silencing of opposition, the demand for orthodoxy and absolute conformity
the Day of Unanimity arrives and everyone gathers to listen to hymns and watch as supreme-leader the Well-Doer makes an appearance
a vote is taken, with everyone supposed to be voting for the Well-Doer in unison, but a small percentage of the crowd votes “nay”
the next morning, D-503 reads a report stating that the dissenters were “sick” and needed to be purged
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
the underground resistance movement
D-503 notices a sheet of paper mounted on a wall that reads “MEPHI” and the city is full of similar signs
I-330 reveals that she belongs to MEPHI, the resistance movement, and she takes him through a secret tunnel under the Ancient House to the world outside the wall
in the world outside of the wall, people grow hair, wear cavemen furs and have sex whenever and with whoever they want and other things deemed inappropriate by the One State
I-330 and the other members of MEPHI want to blow up the wall and reunite humanity, she says these people were survivors of the Two Hundred Years War who remained in a primitive state instead of “advancing” like the people in the city
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
plans for revolution
D-503 and I-330 discuss their plans for the Integral (i.e. letting MEPHI take it over)
D-503 maintains that revolution will be impossible since the last revolution has been achieved but I-330 tells him to name the highest number and insists that there can be no final revolution
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
the silencing of oppostion
the newspaper declares that “THE ENEMIES OF HAPPINESS ARE AWAKE!” and that everyone must submit to the Operation or die – the silencing of opposition
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
submission and defeat of the protagonist, advanced technology, betrayal
with I-330 gone for good, D-503 decides to undergo an operation that completely burns all of the emotions out of his brain and cure the love he has for I-330 (the “surgical removal of fancy”)
when they’re done, he cheerfully tells them all about MEPHI and his various undertakings with them
I-330’s death should upset D-503, but the operation seems to work (destruction of human emotion)
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
the use of torture, strength of I-330
after being subjected to the Operation, I-330 is brought before him, along with a large group of prisoners but she refuses to testify in his presence, despite being tortured multiple times
I-330 gets arrested, but not even torture gets her to break and she goes to her death without regrets
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
triumph of the resistance movement, dismantling of the regime, hope for the future
while D-503 has undergone the Operation, the MEPHI has been working tirelessly and even with D-503’s betrayal, their great work is underway
parts of the wall have collapsed, birds are returning to the city, riots are breaking out and those emotions the State is trying so hard to stamp out seem to be reasserting themselves
a hopeful ending for the reader, demonstrates that oppressive regimes will eventually fall
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
complacency of the protagonist, blind follower of the regime, hopes that the State will triumph over resistance
D-503 expresses hope that the State will triumph “for Reason must prevail”, but it doesn’t look promising
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
power and control
the One State controls every aspect of its citizens’ lives – everyone lives in glass apartments, have numbers as names, are assigned lovers, are forbidden from dreaming, have assigned walking times and the state controls who is allowed to have children
the state wants their citizens to act like living machines, devoid of individuality or anything that might get in the way of The Plan
naturally, as in all dystopias, there are points in the book where that power starts to slip and chaos rumbles in, the Green Wall starts to come down and all of that power and control suddenly looks insignificant
power in this world stems solely through collective action, even MEPHI must act together if it wishes to defy the State, but on the other hand, power is ultimately in the hands of individuals, whose choices to act are like pebbles that start an avalanche
the Guardians hunt down enemies of the state
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
dreams, hopes and plans
the state has all kinds of plans, and D-503 is a big part in many of them
they’re building a ship to travel to other worlds and conquer them, which seems to be the central focus of the government’s future
the One State has spent 1,000 years helping everything unfold exactly, precisely the way they want it to, but one of We’s points is that such absolute planning is impossible
chaos creeps in, whether it’s rebels like I-330, or the simple appearance of an unexpected outcome, life isn’t a mathematical equation, no matter how much the rules of humanity try to set it up that way
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
the theme of rebellion
under an oppressive regime, there will always be those who rebel and in this book the resistance movement is called the Mephi
however, the protagonist D-503 does not feel any desire at all to rebel and does not support the resistance, unlike Winston Smith in 1984 or most heroes in these kinds of stories, he seems to like the state the way it is
he definitely prefers what the state is offering to the rebels’ plans
the reader is relieved to see the Mephi beginning to grow in influence but D-503 is not, a reminder to demonstrate what a government as horrible as this can do to people
it’s not that state that makes him unhappy, it’s people’s rebellion against it, he can’t understand why people want to fight against the state, and he’s troubled when they suggest that life under it can be anything but ideal
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
identity
in We, identity is an extension of the state’s control; people don’t have names, they have numbers, they are defined by mathematical constants and their lives don’t extend beyond whatever totalitarian drudgery the state serves up for them
but as the novel goes on, we start to see flashes of something more: individual identity peeking through that blank, boring façade
I-330 is the best example—she gets to drink and smoke, after all—but other members of this society start showing it as well
the point seems to be that human individuality can never be totally stamped out, even after thousands of years of trying, we’ll never be cogs in a machine, no matter how much we want to be
people lack individuality – they are prevented from thinking freely as dreams are forbidden and have become a mindless drone, all accepting of their roles within the State and never questioning it
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
happiness
like in Brave New World, happiness is artificial
in We, it exists only as a sort of mathematical harmony, and in attaining that harmony, we lose everything that makes us human because humans are inherently imperfect, perfection like this is artificial
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
sex
like everything else, sex is controlled by the state
the people have to get permission to have it, and it almost acts as a mechanical service rather than anything affectionate or caring
the One State believes that sexuality can be reduced to a meaningless biological function, like urination or eating, the state must also recognise that sexuality is a powerful means of expressing individuality, and must therefore be heavily controlled
sometimes in the book sex a mere physical act, but sometimes it is an expression of love, like that between D-503 and I-330
the times when sex becomes more than a biological function reminds us that there are some things the state can’t completely stamp out, we’ll always need sex and the connection it brings
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
D-503
a kind of microcosm of the greater society that created him, he embodies their philosophy of complete submission to the State: of individuals proudly and happily serving as cogs in a giant machine
he is the chief architect of the Integral and constantly praises the State whenever he can
the story covers his transition away from obedient automaton and into full-bore humanity, it’s a frightening process, and one he’s not sure he wants: he often refers to his emerging emotion in terms we normally associate with a contagious disease: “I continue to believe that I shall recover” – rebellion being associated with illness and disease
he doesn’t see anything wrong with having no emotions, or functioning as a little piece of a big engine, we see no love or passion in him, we see nothing that he fears or hates, nothing that inspires him beyond the State itself
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
D-503’s downfall
by the end he willingly undergoes an operation to get rid of his emotions, which perhaps shows the ability of the state to beat the ‘individual’, and after the operation, he reverts back to his former state of “purity” and cannot fathom why anyone would oppose the state
“I hope we will win. More than that: I know we will win. Because reason should win”
the sad tragedy of the book is that after everything, he has slipped back into the same state of mindless automation that he started at – similarity to Winston being defeated in 1984
The Machine Stops by E M Forster
a catastrophe leading to the current regime
the characters live in a world that is ruled by “the Machine” and have been living underground due to the unsuitable conditions at the Earth’s surface
The Machine Stops by E M Forster
isolation and lack of human connection
most of the human population has lost the ability to live on the surface of the Earth, so each individual now lives in isolation below ground in a standard room, with all bodily and spiritual needs met by the omnipotent, global Machine
travel is permitted, but is unpopular and rarely necessary, while communication is made via a kind of instant messaging/video conferencing machine
real human interaction rarely takes place
The Machine Stops by E M Forster
worship of a higher power, blind faith
over many years the people below the surface began to change and worship the Machine
Technopoly, a kind of religion, is re-established, in which the Machine is the object of worship, people forget that humans created the Machine, and treat it as a mystical entity whose needs supersede their own
the Mending Apparatus—the system charged with repairing defects that appear in the Machine proper—eventually fails, but concerns about this are dismissed in the context of the supposed omnipotence of the Machine itself
The Machine Stops by E M Forster
lack of individual thought
with all thoughts on the machine, new ideas and thoughts are shunned and so is human interaction
Vashti is content with her life, which, like most inhabitants of the world, she spends producing and endlessly discussing second-hand ‘ideas’
the life support apparatus required to visit the outer world is abolished, most welcome this development, as they are sceptical and fearful of first-hand experience and of those who desire it
The Machine Stops by E M Forster
rebellion and resistance
Kuno is a sensualist and a rebel
he persuades a reluctant Vashti to endure the journey (and the resultant unwelcome personal interaction) to his room, he then tells her of his disenchantment with the sanitised, mechanical world
he confides to her that he has visited the surface of the Earth without permission, and that he saw other humans living outside the world of the Machine
The Machine Stops by E M Forster
silencing and punishment of those who resist and refuse to conform
the Machine recaptures Kuno, and he is threatened with ‘Homelessness’: expulsion from the underground environment and presumed death
those who do not accept the deity of the Machine are viewed as ‘unmechanical’ and threatened with Homelessness
The Machine Stops by E M Forster
overreliance on technology
defects begin to appear in the Machine and at first, humans accept the deteriorations as the whim of the Machine, to which they are now wholly subservient, but the situation continues to deteriorate, as the knowledge of how to repair the Machine has been lost
the Machine apocalyptically collapses, bringing ‘civilization’ down with it
before they perish, they realise that humanity and its connection to the natural world are what truly matter, and that it will fall to the surface-dwellers who still exist to rebuild the human race and to prevent the mistake of the Machine from being repeated
E.M. Foster’s The Machine Stops argues that a world controlled by technology will eventually turn catastrophic for the human race
The Machine Stops by E M Forster
loss of human connection and the destruction of human relationships
the machine in theory is an excellent idea and had saved the human race but under the surface there are many things wrong with the new underground society
the main issue seems to be isolation and little to no human contact — “The clumsy system of public gatherings had been long since abandoned; neither Vashti nor her audience stirred from their rooms”
the people who live in the machine no longer communicate face to face but from monitor to monitor
this lack of human interaction has led to a dependency on the machine and has brain washed the people who live within it
The Machine Stops by E M Forster
worship of a higher power
“I want to speak to you not through the wearisome Machine.” “Oh Hush!” said his mother, vaguely shocked. “You mustn’t say anything against the machine”
Vashti and most of the other people inside the Machine fear it and even refuse to speak bad about it in fear of their own lives, or perhaps this is because they genuinely respect and worship the Machine
the people have come to worship the Machine as some sort of diety — the words “Machine”, “Book” and “Committee” are capitalised, symbolising a higher authority figure or God-like diety
the “re-establishment” of religion — this society knows that the Book was made by humans but seems to be referring to it as something that is of a higher power
this shows a form of faith that the society has in the Machine even though humans built with the technology they had obtained
concerns about the failing of the Machine are dismissed in the context of the supposed omnipotence of the Machine itself
The Machine Stops by E M Forster
over reliance on technology
The Machine Stops argues that an over reliance on technology will end up leading to a society that has no chance of survival
throughout the story, isolation because of technology has led to little human interaction and an over reliance on machines
even though humans created the machine, they worship it as a power that is unmatched and invincible — technology ended up replacing any other authority figures for this society including religious figures such as gods or kings
it is clear that when society relies too much on technology, the technology will overtake the people, then collapse, leaving behind the ruins of a civilisation
people will become complacent, and they will not realize that the Machine has taken control of every aspect of life and necessity — this leads the people to believe everything they are told, and by the time they realise that technology is corrupt, it is far too late
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
desensitisation to violence
Alex and his gang assault a scholar walking home from the public library; rob a store, leaving the owner and his wife bloodied and unconscious; beat up a beggar; then scuffle with a rival gang
they then break into an isolated cottage and terrorise the young couple living there, beating the husband and raping his wife
Alex visits a record store, where he meets two pre-teen girls, he invites them back to the flat, where he drugs and rapes them
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
(stripping away of free will, conditioning, destruction of human nature, the need for a perfect society, brainwashing and indoctrination)
Alex is chosen to undergo an experimental behaviour modification treatment called the Ludovico Technique in exchange for having the remainder of his sentence commuted
the technique is a form of aversion therapy, in which Alex is injected with nausea-inducing drugs while watching graphically violent films, eventually conditioning him to become severely ill at the mere thought of violence
as an unintended consequence, the soundtrack to one of the films, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, renders Alex unable to enjoy his beloved classical music as before
the prison chaplain accuses the state of stripping Alex of his free will
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
power of the state to always triumph over the individual
Alex’a old violent impulses have returned, indicating that the hospital doctors have undone the effects of his conditioning
he finds himself half-heartedly preparing for yet another night of crime with a new gang but finds himself taking less and less pleasure in acts of senseless violence and begins contemplating giving up crime himself to become a productive member of society and start a family of his own
his thoughts about giving up crime give hope that deep rooted violence in human beings can be overcome
however, it also demonstrates the power of the state over the individual and seems to demonstrate that the state will always triumph and succeed
it can be argued that the transformation Alex experiences is hard-earned and long overdue; it is also freely chosen and deeply personal for him
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
destruction and loss of free will
Alex is placed into an experimental treatment program called “the Ludovico Technique” where he is brainwashed into feeling deep nausea whenever he is exposed to anything violent
this has the effect of turning a formerly dangerous criminal into a risk-averse shadow of his former self — he’s so physically revolted by the idea of violence that he’d rather suffer himself than put anyone in harm’s way
in other words: he’s lost his free will
the Government believes that the stability of the State trumps the happiness of its citizens, and readily abolishes moral choice (a fundamental human trait) in the name of stability
Alex fights vehemently against the notion that his freedom to choose should be compromised at all, as free will is what makes him human to begin with — a central part of being human is free will
while Alex has freedom of choice, he is as human as possible, but when Alex is rendered unable to choose violence, due to the Ludovico Technique, Burgess sends the message that he is no longer human, but a mere clockwork orange
key questions — is moral depravity better than forced morality? are evil and suffering (freely chosen and caused by people) better than a docile, peaceful state (engineered by the Government)?
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
manipulation and government control
the Government in A Clockwork Orange will do anything to ensure its own survival, as well as the stability of the State
it employs questionable scientific techniques in order to manipulate its citizens into becoming moral exemplars
the manipulation technique used on Alex is, essentially, behavioural modification through associative learning
the Government seeks to suppress individuals and individual choice in favour of the stability of the State, largely to ensure its own survival
so it is prepared to do anything necessary, including distributing propaganda and censorship, employing morally questionable scientific techniques to “reform” criminals, and employing criminals as state patrol to threaten other citizens (and potential political dissidents)
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
the silencing of opposition
the State does not tolerate dissent and anything or anyone that threatens its stability
it has begun to incarcerate dissidents like F Alexander who aim to rouse public opinion against it and thus threaten its stability
demonstrates the silencing of opposition and the state’s need for absolute orthodoxy
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
the state seeks power above all else rather than having benevolent motives
the main idea behind the Ludovico technique is that it makes the population both calm and grateful
it’s less about reducing crime than it is about making sure that the voting public understands who is to thank for the sudden crime reduction
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
the protagonist perpetuating the regime’s absolute control and aiding those in power
the novel presents a future American society where books are outlawed and “firemen” like Guy Montag burn any that are found as well as the possessions of those who read these outlawed books
this is much like Winston in 1984, he is a tool of the state and plays a part in perpetuating the censorship and absolute control of the regime
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
rebellion and resistance
Guy Montag, the protagonist, is a fireman who becomes disillusioned with his role of censoring literature and destroying knowledge
he eventually quits his job and commits himself to the preservation of literary and cultural writings
while at work with the other firemen ransacking the book-filled house of an old woman before the inevitable burning, Montag steals a book before any of his co-workers notice, he later hides this under his pillow when he returns home
Montag reveals to Mildred that, over the last year, he has accumulated a stash of books that he has kept hidden in the air-conditioning duct in their ceiling — he tells her that the two of them are going to read the books to see if they have value
Montag hides his books in the backyard before returning to the firehouse late at night with just the stolen Bible, he hands Beatty the book to cover for the one he believes Beatty knows he stole the night before, but keeps all his other ones — continued resistance, even after being suspected by his superior
Montag obeys the chief, destroying the home piece by piece with a flamethrower, but Beatty discovers Montag’s ear-piece and plans to hunt down Faber so Montag threatens Beatty with the flamethrower and, after Beatty taunts him, burns his boss alive and knocks his co-workers unconscious
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
another character spurring the protagonist’s rebellion
while returning from work, he meets his new neighbour, a teenage girl named Clarisse McClellan
her free-thinking ideals and liberating spirit cause him to question his life and his own perceived happiness
Montag overhears Clarisse and her family talking about the way life is in this hedonistic, illiterate society and his mind is bombarded with Clarisse’s subversive thoughts
would Montag have started down his rebellious path of self-doubt, guilt, and illegalities if it hadn’t been for Clarisse? wasn’t he already “different,” before she came along? or was it her subversive thoughts that sparked his own?
she questions Montag about his job (How long have you been a fireman? Why do you do it?), questions that no one else in his position would ever be willing to answer
her constant questioning and subversive thoughts push Montag, already-doubt-ridden, over the edge, Clarisse never tells Montag what to think; she just shows him that thinking is an option, she invites him to do it for himself, and he walks through the door she opens
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
isolation and the outsider
Clarisse faithfully meets Montag each night as he walks home
she tells him about how her simple pleasures and interests make her an outcast among her peers and how she is forced to go to therapy for her behaviour and thoughts
Montag looks forward to these meetings, and just as he begins to expect them, Clarisse goes missing and he senses something is wrong
Clarisse McClellan is an outsider in this society – she likes nature, she isn’t into violence or TV, and she’s not into vacant socializing, she’s interested in odd things, which is what draws her to Montag – he’s a fireman without the typical fireman qualities
Clarisse dies – perhaps suggesting that in this world, people like Clarisse cannot survive for long, she is incompatible with her surroundings and doesn’t fit in
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
resistance from other characters
the woman refuses to leave her house and her books, choosing to light a match and burn herself alive instead
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
the destruction of knowledge, mindless consumerism, complacency, lack of individual thought
Captain Beatty, Montag’s fire chief, recounts the history of how books lost their value and how the firemen were adapted for their current role
over the course of several decades, people began to embrace new media (in this case, film and television), sports, and an ever-quickening pace of life
books were ruthlessly abridged or degraded to accommodate short attention spans
yet comic books, trade papers, and sex magazines remained, as these fed into the mainstream population’s desire for mindless entertainment
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
firemen and burning books
advances in technology resulted in nearly all buildings being made out of fireproof materials, and the traditional role of firemen in preventing fires was no longer necessary
the government instead turned the firemen into officers of the state: instead of putting out fires they became responsible for starting them, specifically for the purpose of burning books
books were condemned as sources of confusing and depressing thoughts that only complicated people’s lives
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
(the importance of books and literature in giving us knowledge and allowing us to think freely, without them we become mindless and complacent drones)
Montag and Mildred discuss the stolen books, and Mildred refuses to go along with it, questioning why she or anyone else should care about books
Montag goes on a rant about Mildred’s suicide attempt, Clarisse’s disappearance and death, the old woman who burned herself, and the imminent threat of war that goes ignored by the masses
he suggests that perhaps the books of the past have messages that can save society from its own destruction and that the knowledge they contain are crucial
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
mindless entertainment, lack of individual thought, distractions, numbing of the mind, dependence on technology
Mildred’s friends, Mrs. Bowles and Mrs. Phelps, arrive to watch the “parlor walls”
Montag turns off the walls and tries to engage the women in meaningful conversation, only for them to reveal just how indifferent and ignorant they really are
Montag watches as Mildred walks out of their house being burned down, too traumatized about losing her parlor wall family to even acknowledge her husband’s existence or the situation going on around her
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
people not being as the first seem, the state corrupting people and changing them
Beatty tells Montag that he had a dream in which they fought endlessly by quoting books to each other
thus, Beatty reveals that, despite his position as the fire chief, he was once an enthusiastic reader
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
betrayal, mistrust, destruction of family connection and loyalty
a fire alarm sounds and they drive to the destination, which happens to be Montag’s house
Beatty orders Montag to destroy his own house, telling him that his wife and her friends reported him after what happened the other night when he recited the poem Dover Beach
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
silencing of opposition and those who do not adhere to the norm
the exiled book-lovers live in the countryside
Montag meets the exiled drifters, led by a man named Granger — they are all former intellectuals
they have each memorized books should the day arrive that society comes to an end and is forced to rebuild itself anew, with the survivors learning to embrace the literature of the past
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
hope for the future, rebuilding of society
Montag and the group of exiles watch helplessly as bombers fly overhead and annihilate the city with nuclear weapons: the imminent war has begun and ended in the same night
everyone else is immediately killed, while Montag and the group are injured and dirtied, but manage to survive the shockwave
Granger teaches Montag and the others about the legendary phoenix and its endless cycle of long life, death in flames, and rebirth — he adds that the phoenix must have some relationship to mankind, which constantly repeats its mistakes, but explains that man has something the phoenix does not: mankind can remember its mistakes and try never to repeat them
the exiles then return to the city to rebuild society
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
censorship, control and restriction of knowledge
in this world, books are banned? but not only are they banned — if anyone is caught with books in their possession, the fire department burn their house and all their belongings to the ground
arguably, in Fahrenheit 451, the content of books does not matter; the process of reading and thinking does – banning books is a way to curb individual thought and prevent the people possessing any knowledge that could lead them to resist the regime
because books present so many varying perspectives, it’s up to the individual not just to read, but to read and think, therefore books lead to individual thought which is what the regime is trying to suppress, and does so by burning books
Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a world of strict rules and order where books are illegal, free thought is essentially prohibited, and activities are tightly organised
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
complacency and complicity
much of the restrictions on the general populous are self-enforced
the government has taken away the citizens’ ability to dissent and veiled all dissatisfaction with a cheap version of “happiness,” aka television
this means that little external regulation is required, as the citizens conform contentedly to the status quo – the tendency for people to remain complacent and ignorant of their own oppression
Beatty is a villain not for his book burning, but for his philosophy as he is the only character to understand the ramifications of his work and revel in it anyway
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
technology and modernisation
television is responsible for replacing literature, intellectualism, and curiosity
it has also become a substitute for family, friendship, and any sort of real conversation — for example, Mildred calls the TV her “family”
the TV reigns supreme in the future because of the “happiness” it offers, people are happier when they don’t have to think
technology is the government’s means of oppression and control, but also provides the rebel’s opportunity to subvert, by not watching TV – as sex does in 1984 and THT
the novel’s main concern seems to be the perversion of the natural world by man’s use of technology
technology like the Mechanical Hound and advancements like the many-walled TV parlour define the futuristic setting and act as a warning against the dangers and abuse of technology
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
knowledge
in Fahrenheit 451, wisdom and knowledge are gained through both experience and scholarship
most important is critical thinking and challenging ideas rather than accepting them as absolutely correct
mentors and teachers are integral to this process, not only for passing on knowledge but for opening the door to independent thought – Montag receives such guidance from Clarisse, Faber, and Granger, who all pass on their wisdom and knowledge of books to Montag
Fahrenheit 451 proves that books are integral to learning and knowledge, without them we lack the ability to think freely and are limited to the knowledge given to us by those in power
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
violence
undercurrent of violence throughout the book – teenagers kill each other, TV is filled with violence, even driving a car brings on the crazed thirst for speed and destruction and the fires that destroy people’s homes are repeatedly described as “beautiful”
violence is an outlet, and the cravings for such behaviour mark the dissatisfaction of the general populous
this is very similar to how violence in 1984 and THT is sanctioned by the regime in rituals like the Two Minutes Hate and the Particicution, which is designed to allow people to displace their feelings of anger and frustration, so that they are never directed at the regime itself
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
identity
the crisis of identity is at the core of Fahrenheit 451 – as Montag learns from a series of mentors and teachers, he sees his own identity melding with that of his instructors
this is also a means of scapegoating because if your identity is not entirely your own, then you are not entirely responsible for your actions
the people are uniform and lack individual identities, they blindly comply with the regime’s censorship and control and do not think for themselves
when Montag can’t deal with the guilt of being a ‘traitor’, he has an identity crisis which begins when Clarisse asks him if he’s happy and Montag feels “his body divide itself” – he imagines that his new, rebellious half isn’t him at all, but is actually Clarisse and when he speaks, he imagines her talking through his mouth
when Faber ends up inside Montag’s head via the earpiece, we see more confusion of identity, Montag even distances himself from his own hands, which in his mind are the dirty culprits breaking all the rules: his hands act, he doesn’t
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
dissatisfaction
everybody seems to be happy – they watch TV all day, they’re never forced to face anything unpleasant, and they’re never truly bothered by anything
but under the surface, most people are horribly dissatisfied but unwilling to admit it. Why else would Mildred try to overdose on all those pills?
the deep dissatisfaction that runs through the population is subdued by mindless activity and an insistence on happiness, both on the part of the government and the citizens themselves
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
the protagonist as an outsider, engages in rebellious activity
Montag has inklings that all is not right with his world even before he meets Clarisse, and his actions show this
for one, he doesn’t turn in a clearly renegade individual (Faber, whom he met in the park spewing poetry), and he’s been hiding away books behind his ventilator grill for quite some time now
he’s inquisitive, intelligent, and free-thinking
in his world, these traits are all highly illegal and in his mind, he’s a traitor
at times he is not even aware of why he does things, feeling that his hands are acting by themselves - these subconscious actions can be quite horrific, such as when he finds himself setting his supervisor on fire, but they also represent his deepest desires to rebel against the status quo and find a meaningful way to live
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
the protagonist being imperfect
Montag is by no means a perfect hero
the reader can sympathize with Montag’s mission, but the steps he takes toward his goal often seem clumsy and misguided
faced with the enormity and complexity of books for the first time, he is often confused, frustrated, and overwhelmed
as a result, he has difficulty deciding what to do independently of Beatty, Mildred, or Faber – similar to Winston
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
in what ways is Montag rebellious?
he is curious about books, questions the system and takes action by reading
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
complacent characters, representing the average citizen
Mildred Montag helps us understand the status quo so we can appreciate the deviation from it, acting as a foil to highlight the significance of Montag’s actions
she’s bland, vacant, and obsessed with television
attempts suicide, showing her to be deeply unhappy, she’s severely bothered by the fact that her life is empty and filled with hours of mindless television
she represents the average citizen in this future world, so her dissatisfaction suggests that there is widespread dissatisfaction beneath the complacency of the masses, they are just unwilling to, or perhaps lack the capacity to, question the regime
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
a source of hope and knowledge in the book
Granger has made peace with his own rebellious inklings and devised a system to indulge them – all without getting killed (an impressive feat in this novel)
it is Granger who divulges the novel’s lesson about life being cyclic - mankind builds up a body of knowledge and then he destroys it and falls into a dark age
but Granger remains hopeful: “The wonderful thing about man,” says Granger, “he never gets so discouraged… that he gives up”
Granger’s words stay with Montag (and with the reader) even after the city is bombed to the ground, a source of hope and knowledge in the book
the phoenix is a symbol of hope, rebirth and new beginnings – gives us hope at the end of the novel that society can be rebuilt
after the bombing of the city, Granger compares mankind to a phoenix that burns itself up and then rises out of its ashes over and over again
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
the use of technology to control society
Brave New World warns of the dangers of giving the state control over new and powerful technologies
one illustration of this theme is the rigid control of reproduction through technological and medical intervention, including the surgical removal of ovaries, the Bokanovsky Process, and hypnopaedic conditioning
another is the creation of complicated entertainment machines that generate both harmless leisure and the high levels of consumption and production that are the basis of the World State’s stability
soma is a third example of the kind of medical, biological, and psychological technologies that Brave New World criticizes most sharply
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
the incompatibility of happiness and truth, numbing of the mind to avoid facing reality, ignorance and complacency
Brave New World is full of characters who do everything they can to avoid facing the truth about their own situations
the almost universal use of the drug soma is probably the most pervasive example of such wilful self-delusion
soma clouds the realities of the present and replaces them with happy hallucinations, and is thus a tool for promoting social stability
but even Shakespeare can be used to avoid facing the truth, as John demonstrates by his insistence on viewing Lenina through the lens of Shakespeare’s world, first as a Juliet and later as an “impudent strumpet”
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
the prioritisation of happiness and stability over truth and freedom
according to Mustapha Mond, the World State prioritizes happiness at the expense of truth and awareness: he believes that people are better off with happiness than with truth – ignorance is bliss
the World State controls and muffles all efforts by citizens to gain any sort of scientific, or empirical truth
it also attempts to destroy all kinds of “human” truths, such as love, friendship, and personal connection
the search for truth also seems to involve a great deal of individual effort, of striving and fighting against odds, the very will to search for truth is an individual desire that the communal society of Brave New World, based as it is on anonymity and lack of thought, cannot allow to exist
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
the dangers of an all-powerful state
like George Orwell’s 1984, this novel depicts a dystopia in which an all-powerful state controls the behaviours and actions of its people in order to preserve its own stability and power
but a major difference between the two is that, whereas in 1984 control is maintained by constant government surveillance, secret police, and torture, power in Brave New World is maintained through technological interventions that start before birth and last until death, and that actually change what people want
the government of 1984 maintains power through force and intimidation, whereas the government of Brave New World retains control by making its citizens so happy and superficially fulfilled that they don’t care about their personal freedom
in Brave New World the consequences of state control are a loss of dignity, morals, values, and emotions—in short, a loss of humanity
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
examples of total government control and power, lack of free will and autonomy
the Controllers who govern the World State have maximized human happiness by using advanced technology to shape and control society
people are grown in bottles and brainwashed in their sleep during childhood, as a result, the citizens of the World State are physically and psychologically conditioned to be happy with their place in society and the work they are assigned
every citizen belongs to a “caste,” ranging from highly intelligent and physically strong Alphas to Epsilon “semi-morons”
all citizens have instant access to pleasures of all kinds and they are conditioned and socially encouraged to be sexually promiscuous
whenever citizens do experience an unpleasant feeling, they are encouraged to take soma, a drug which provides a “holiday” from negative emotion
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
worship of a higher power
“My Ford,” “Year of Our Ford,” etc
throughout Brave New World, the citizens of the World State substitute the name of Henry Ford, the early twentieth-century industrialist and founder of the Ford Motor Company, for Christ or God
this demonstrates that even at the level of casual conversation and habit, religion has been replaced by reverence for technology—specifically the efficient, mechanized factory production of goods that Henry Ford pioneered
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
alienation and the outsider
the motif of alienation provides a counterpoint to the motif of total conformity that pervades the World State
Bernard Marx, Helmholtz Watson, and John are alienated from the World State, each for his own reasons
Bernard is alienated because he is a misfit, too small and powerless for the position he has been conditioned to enjoy
Helmholtz is alienated for the opposite reason: he is too intelligent even to play the role of an Alpha Plus
John is alienated on multiple levels and at multiple sites: not only does the Indian community reject him, but he is both unwilling and unable to become part of the World State
the motif of alienation is one of the driving forces of the narrative: it provides the main characters with their primary motivations
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
commodification of human beings
Never Let Me Go takes place in a society where the lives of ordinary citizens are prolonged through a state-sanctioned program of human cloning
the clones grow up in special institutions away from the outside world and as young adults, they begin to donate their vital organs
all “donors” receive care from designated “carers,” clones who have not yet begun the donation process
the clones continue to donate organs until they “complete,” which is a euphemism for death after the donation of three or four organs
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
passivity and acceptance of fate
Miss Lucy, one of the guardians, tells the students that they are clones who were created to donate organs to others, and after their donations they will die young
Miss Lucy is removed from the school as a result of her disclosure, but the students passively accept their fate
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
sheltered, isolated and restricted lives
Ruth, Tommy and Kathy move to the Cottages when they are 16 years old and this is the first time they are allowed in the outside world, yet they keep to themselves most of the time
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
power of memory, fixation on the past
the novel ends after Tommy’s “completion”, where Kathy, seeking a quiet life, drives up to Norfolk and briefly fantasizes about everything she remembers
Kathy copes with the losses in her life by turning to memories of the past, she preserves the memory of Hailsham long after it has closed and often reminisces about her time spent there, just as she preserves her memories of Tommy and Ruth long after their deaths
the novel’s title epitomizes this desire to hold on, the phrase “never let me go” is somewhere between a plea and a demand, reflecting a deeply human need to hold onto, and be held by, loved ones - Kathy’s memories are her way of holding onto everyone and everything she has lost
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
unreliable memory
however, Kathy’s memory is also fragmented and somewhat incomplete, her narrative is a process of recovery and an attempt to make sense of her memories – much like Offred
she admits to forgetting and misremembering details, showing that memory is just as fragile as it is powerful
her first-person narration also highlights the absence of other characters’ memories, Ruth and Tommy only appear as reflected through Kathy’s memory, which means that their own thoughts and motivations remain somewhat ambiguous
The Time Machine by H G Wells
weakness and stupidity of people, overreliance on technology, safety
the Time Traveller sits on a hill and looks out at the world, which looks peaceful, like a garden
he starts to come up with a theory about how things came to be the way they are, he believes that strength and smarts are only useful when you have to deal with hardship and danger
so when everything is fine and people live in comfort, there’s no reason to be strong, the safer life is, the less strength you need
the people of the future have made things so safe with technology that they’ve become weak and stupid – similarity to BNW
he looks down on the Eloi, who don’t realize that they are like cattle and becomes upset about the passing of human intelligence, calling it suicide: people were smart enough to make the world a more comfortable place – but as the world got more comfortable, people became less smart
The Time Machine by H G Wells
class divides, hierarchy
the Time Traveller realises that there are two different species of humans in the future
there are the graceful but dumb child-like people who live aboveground, and there are the horrible monster-like people who live underground
he gives these two groups of people their names: the aboveground people are the Eloi; the belowground people are Morlocks (he theorises that the Eloi are the descendants of aristocrats and the Morlocks are the descendants of the working class)
the Time Traveller first thought that the Eloi were kept in idiotic comfort by machines, then he thought the Eloi were the masters of the Morlocks, but ow he thinks the Morlocks are in charge in some way and soon realises that Morlocks eat Eloi
clearly, the Morlocks ran out of food, and so they turned to the obvious replacement: the Eloi
The Time Machine by H G Wells
society and class
when the Time Traveller jumps into the far future, he finds a society where the Eloi play all day and don’t do any work, it looks much better than the Time Traveller’s own time, which is full of conflict and anxiety over the issue of class – who has to do work and who gets to profit from the work of others
however, the future stops looking appealing to the Time Traveller when he realizes that the class conflict and class structure of his time have merely evolved rather than being erased
in both cases, the working class tends to be invisible or hard to find - in the 1890s setting, the working classes are practically invisible, we spend most of our time with the Time Traveller and his professional friends, all of whom seem fairly well off and we hardly see or hear anything about the servants, who are definitely there behind the scenes making this life of leisure possible
in the future, this division of social class comes out in the split between the Eloi and the Morlocks, while the Eloi live easy lives, free from work, the Morlocks live in the dark, underground and work
so, while the future might look like an exaggeration of the 19th century, the novel is making a suggestion about where humans are heading
The Time Machine by H G Wells
dehumanisation
the Time Traveller describes the Eloi as very beautiful and graceful, as having “hectic beauty” and being “pretty little people”, but refers to the Morlocks as “human spiders”, “new vermin” and “nauseatingly inhuman” – similar to how Winston sees the proles as less than
like Winston and his admiration at how the proles have retained their humanity, the Time Traveller grows to admire something about the Morlocks because unlike the Eloi, they are not lazy and idiotic, he says they are “retained…more initiative”
other dystopian texts to compare to
The Long Walk by Stephen King
Black Mirror by Charlie Brooker
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Children of Men by PD James
A Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? By Philip K Dick
The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
