Over the ages, society has evolved from one paradigm to another. A common theme throughout science fiction is a prediction of how the human race would progress as time move forward. Often these futures portray a ruined society that has fallen apart after some key event or development, yet a façade of civility remains to cover the decay, these futures are called dystopias. One of the most obvious and widely recognized comments on the idea of a dystopia comes from George Orwell’s Animal Farm,” No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?” The aspects
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The first of which is the use of propaganda to control the minds of the masses, seen most strikingly in George Orwell’s1984 through the use of the saying “Big Brother Is Watching” (Orwell). The second, being a byproduct of the first, is that knowledge, freedom of thought, and individual liberties are restricted via some means of oppressive control, this is again seen in 1984 when one looks at the how the government has completely oppressed the people so that nothing they do is their own. The third is the idea that there is figurehead set above all else to be worshipped as an idol by the citizens of the dystopia. The “Big Brother” mentioned earlier from 1984 is such an idol, having been set up as an all knowing being that both protects and punishes the citizenry. The fourth is that people are put under, or believe they are under, total scrutiny. Orwell’s 1984 is a great example of this, because his “Big Brother” is indeed always watching through a system of complex monitoring devices that keep track of everything that people do. The fifth is that members of the society have a fear of the outside world and, by effect, anything new or contrary to popular belief. “The Machine Stops” by E.M. Forster is a classic example of this characteristic because he developed a society in which everyone is contently living in an underground world that is regulated by an all-encompassing machine, completely separated from the surface, and that has the belief that anyone who tries to leave of their own will is a blasphemer that must be gotten rid of lest they taint others with a desire to move above. The final, and perhaps most important, characteristic of a dystopia is that it must have the illusion of a utopian world to those that populate it. This is crucial in the creation of a dystopia because without the appearance of
The first of which is the use of propaganda to control the minds of the masses, seen most strikingly in George Orwell’s1984 through the use of the saying “Big Brother Is Watching” (Orwell). The second, being a byproduct of the first, is that knowledge, freedom of thought, and individual liberties are restricted via some means of oppressive control, this is again seen in 1984 when one looks at the how the government has completely oppressed the people so that nothing they do is their own. The third is the idea that there is figurehead set above all else to be worshipped as an idol by the citizens of the dystopia. The “Big Brother” mentioned earlier from 1984 is such an idol, having been set up as an all knowing being that both protects and punishes the citizenry. The fourth is that people are put under, or believe they are under, total scrutiny. Orwell’s 1984 is a great example of this, because his “Big Brother” is indeed always watching through a system of complex monitoring devices that keep track of everything that people do. The fifth is that members of the society have a fear of the outside world and, by effect, anything new or contrary to popular belief. “The Machine Stops” by E.M. Forster is a classic example of this characteristic because he developed a society in which everyone is contently living in an underground world that is regulated by an all-encompassing machine, completely separated from the surface, and that has the belief that anyone who tries to leave of their own will is a blasphemer that must be gotten rid of lest they taint others with a desire to move above. The final, and perhaps most important, characteristic of a dystopia is that it must have the illusion of a utopian world to those that populate it. This is crucial in the creation of a dystopia because without the appearance of