In his stunning book Ready Player One, Kline explores a world with a true alternative reality and takes us on the same ride. The story follows Wade, an 18 year old boy whos only true happiness is the OASIS- the aforementioned alternate reality system. The plot twists and turns unexpectedly as Halliday, creator of the OASIS, dies, leaving a world wide contests in his wake. The rules are as follows: whoever clears the 3 gates set up and obtains all the keys to open these gates, will inherit everything Halliday called his own. The narrative exposes us to an escapist culture-one not much unlike our own.…
Present Dystopia How would society appear if technology did not exist? There is considerably much more to life than just technology. Following a delicious meal, everyone takes their places on the couch in the living room. One by one, the cellphones come out. iPhones, Androids, and various tablets as well.…
Why There is No Need to Worry about Fahrenheit 451 ’s Dystopian Predictions There was one time that I saw a young child, probably 3-4 years old, on (presumably) his mother’s tablet googling something while his aforementioned mother was talking to a store cashier. At first I was pretty flustered, because, honestly, who in their right mind gives a toddler anything worth more than 100$ and then doesn’t supervise them? But then I realized something: The fact that we have so much information so easily accessible that even someone so young as that kid could find anything on the internet shows just how amazingly difficult it would be to brainwash a populace as proposed in Fahrenheit 451.…
Neil Postman, a contemporary critic, contrast George Orwell’s vision of the future with Aldous Huxley vision of the future. In other to do this Postman uses the ideas expressed in 1984 by Orwell and Huxley’s novel Brave New World. Postman believes that Huxley’s vision is more relevant today than Orwell's vision is. Huxley believed that people will love their oppression, and Orwell believes that society will be overcomed by an externally imposed oppression. Huxley displays this through the novel Brave New World which he displays a dystopian society that is only truly understood by some.…
“Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen,” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson. This represents that it may seem to contradict the fact people must make their own decisions for it to become fate. In reality, people make choices first for something to be destined to happen because the universe will do it for the people who truly believe in it. Author, Ernest Cline, has presented both moments where it can be fate or it can be a choice. However, fate seems to weigh out the choices that are made.…
The emergence of the female heroine in young adult dystopian fiction is working to change stereotypical representations of women through texts. Women are often under represented, hyper-sexualised or lack complexity in modern works, with just 23% of films distributed globally from 2010-12 featuring female protagonists according to a report released by the Geena Davis Institute. While it is true that female protagonists have been seen over time, they are all too often represented in manners that focus on appearance, their domestic roles and subservience, or emphasized femininity (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). Cult classics like The Hunger Games and Divergent are working to empower young women through the characters of Katniss and Tris who are…
Imagine a world wanting to go forward, but only going backwards. A world where the government regulates its citizens to make sure that they are “equal” and of average standard, where if anyone dares to be above average, handicaps are forced upon them. This is the world of Harrison Bergeron, a world of dystopia, but in the meantime, will this also be the fate of America? Equality is the state of being equal in status, rights, and opportunities. Although equality is strived for everywhere in society, it does not lead to a utopia.…
The Unwavering Determination of Wade Watts The actions of Wade Watts in Ernest Cline’s “Ready Player One” are perilously close to lunacy. Despite this fine line, the determination of Wade to reach his goal through his own means is very evident throughout the book. Wade demonstrates his determination throughout the whole of the book, pushing through obstacles like overwhelming advantages of competitors, logical and societal doubt of the soundness of his lifestyle, and illicit attempts to persuade Wade to comply with the wishes of a powerful corporation. These events test his determination throughout the novel.…
Throughout our daily lives, equality is becoming an over exaggerated idea. There are constantly articles talking about unequal pay wages, gender and racial inequality. Everyone is striving for equality but nobody truly knows what would happen if it would be achieved. Kurt Vonnegut tries to illustrate what full equality would look like by making it the main focus point of life in a futuristic society. The short story, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, presents a futuristic dystopia in which the long-awaited equality is finally achieved, the author uses setting, symbols and characters to help convey the idea that true equality is misleading and unattainable.…
Since the 1980s the world has seen many major social, political, and technological changes. There has been the explosion of social media and reality television, the evolution of smartphones — leading to an increased access to information and entertainment — and a new wind in feminist movements. Politically in the U.S alone there has been the aftermath of 9/11 and the Iraq and Afghanistan military operations. There has also been increased agitation concerning racial equality and gun control. These changes have an effect on every aspect of life including the literature being written.…
Fahrenheit 451? More like Fahrenheit FUN! In a dystopian future and in the modern world, knowledge is key. The story of Ray Bradbury’s…
Social activist, Marcus Garvey in his essay, “The Future as I See It,” explains how it is essential for the African American race to overcome their struggles to advance in society. He develop his claim by encouraging the African American race. Garvey states, “We are organized for the absolute purpose of bettering our condition, industrially, commercially, socially, religiously, and politically. We are not organized to hate other men, but to lift ourselves, and to demand respect to all humanity” (Garvey 989). Garvey’s purpose was to improve the black race altogether.…
Despite the difference in context, the concerns/anxieties represented in Atwood’s vision of a totalitarian future world: THT, include the loss of social/personal freedom such that women must adhere to puritanical values or the idea of mankind at its peak, an illusion of ‘perfection’. Discriminative society was also explored through the protagonists struggle in the inferior position portrayed in society. These central ideas will be further examined in relation to novel THT by Margaret Atwood and film Gattaca by Andrew niccols. In the society of THT Atwood demonstrated the notion of restraint in social/personal freedom: “A return to traditional values.…
The science fiction film based on a novel by Ernest Cline - Ready Player One, has the American director and producer Steven Spielberg planning to leave himself out of the cutting room floor. Ready Player One is a thriller about a kid on a high-stakes treasure hunt, by going through a virtual reality world made in a society that's been preoccupied with '80s pop culture. And even before Steven Spielberg signed on to helm the film version of the book by Ernest Cline, the director was all over the story. But Steven Spielberg wants one exception.…
A dystopian society is a dehumanized civilization manipulated by the government into thinking life is perfect. Aq dystopia is the exact opposite of a utopia: it 's citizens are forced to conform to uniform expectations by the government, their thoughts and actions are always restricted and under constant surveillance, and propaganda is heavily used to persuade citizens that society is perfect. For example, in the dystopian novel, 1984 by George Orwell, the people all wear the same uniform and everyone’s thoughts are screened by the thought police. In “Harrison Bergeron” the citizens’ thoughts are controlled and maintained by the government as well. In contrast to these two stories, The Purge: Anarchy is a dystopian movie that takes place in…