In science fiction, dystopias are used to depict the possible future of a world or city that has been through conflicts that developed the current world, in the text. Two scholarly journals that examine dystopias are ““Engaging “Apolitical” Adolescents: Analyzing the Popularity and Educational Potential of Dystopian Literature Post-9/11,” by Melissa Ames, and ““It Was the City Killed the Beast:” Nature, Technophobia, and the Cinema of the Urban Future,” by James Clapp. Three short stories that have a dystopian setting incorporated into the text are “Who Can Replace a Man?”, by Brian Aldiss, ““Repent, Harlequin!” Said the Ticktockman,” by Harlan Ellison, and “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” by Ursula Le Guin. According to Ames, “dystopian
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Clapp states, “it is not about the development of technology, but how humans behave while using it. Humans determine the social structure of the world and application of the technologies” (Clapp 16). The radio operator, in “Who Can Replace a Man?”, states, “I am your leader. This is what we will do: we will go to a city and rule it. Since man no longer rules us, we will rule ourselves” (Aldiss 208). In this passage, the radio operator decides, for the group of machines, that they will take over a city and rule it because they are their own masters now, but later in the story, the machines plan to kill a human, as they are about to, he states, “get me food” (Aldiss 211). They follow his orders and go to find food, the technology that was used as a tool became a tool for the man to possibly survive. The machines viewed themselves as free, but when their programming overruled their own wishes, they abided by them. This is similar to the Ticktockman’s rule over his people, the Harlequin caused trouble, but as the narrator states on page 155, “the Harlequin appeared on the communications… and said that he had been wrong, that it was good… to be right on time… and everyone stared up at him… and said to themselves, well, you see, he was just a nut… and if that’s the way the system is run, then let’s do it that way, because it doesn’t pay to fight city hall… or the Ticktockman” (Ellison 155). Through this passage, the people of the city give up the fight before it starts after the Harlequin admits that he was wrong, which causes the townspeople to lose interest in the revolution against the Ticktockman. The tool that helps the people of the dystopian world in “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” is the child, he or she helps the citizens of
Clapp states, “it is not about the development of technology, but how humans behave while using it. Humans determine the social structure of the world and application of the technologies” (Clapp 16). The radio operator, in “Who Can Replace a Man?”, states, “I am your leader. This is what we will do: we will go to a city and rule it. Since man no longer rules us, we will rule ourselves” (Aldiss 208). In this passage, the radio operator decides, for the group of machines, that they will take over a city and rule it because they are their own masters now, but later in the story, the machines plan to kill a human, as they are about to, he states, “get me food” (Aldiss 211). They follow his orders and go to find food, the technology that was used as a tool became a tool for the man to possibly survive. The machines viewed themselves as free, but when their programming overruled their own wishes, they abided by them. This is similar to the Ticktockman’s rule over his people, the Harlequin caused trouble, but as the narrator states on page 155, “the Harlequin appeared on the communications… and said that he had been wrong, that it was good… to be right on time… and everyone stared up at him… and said to themselves, well, you see, he was just a nut… and if that’s the way the system is run, then let’s do it that way, because it doesn’t pay to fight city hall… or the Ticktockman” (Ellison 155). Through this passage, the people of the city give up the fight before it starts after the Harlequin admits that he was wrong, which causes the townspeople to lose interest in the revolution against the Ticktockman. The tool that helps the people of the dystopian world in “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” is the child, he or she helps the citizens of