...YA Dystopian Steffan Larsen’s chief points from the article “Why does dad not want to read ‘The Hunger Games’” Young Adult Dystopian fiction has grown as a genre and continues to evolve. But not every generation follows the new genre. Steffen Larsen is giving his thoughts on, why YA Dystopian has not reached his generation, where as books such as Harry Potter have appealed to several generations, including his own. YA Dystopian is one of the biggest and most popular genres today, which is accomplished by hitting the right target group (the teenagers). Steffen Larsen argues why YA Dystopia has not reached his generation as follows: “But most of all- I think- the books tells about manipulation, newspeak and the limits of reality shows”. Here Steffen Larsen reveals his negative view on ‘The Hunger Games’ but also the genre YA Dystopia by using words as manipulation and limits of reality. Particularly the concept of a “reality show” does not have a good renown, especially not in the older generation, where Steffen Larsen belongs. Steffen Larsen’s criticism of ‘The hunger games’ and the genre, could be reasoned with “times have changed” as he also points out: “In the reddish seventies where you overturn capitalist’s and than every thing went good. That is not how it is anymore”. Furthermore, Steffen ironically praises Suzanne Collins for being the only one who tries to dissimulate a new utopia – a dissimulation from which...
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...bring those who trespass against you to trial by a jury of peers. Basically it means you are a free person, and no one has the right to harm you. In the Book Anthem by Ayn Rand, no one has individual rights. They do not even know what I means, they are all one. I would hate to have this government, and I wouldn't even be able to have an opinion about it. The government should NOT have the right to control the individual. People should have the right to be an individual. People deserve to choose how their life functions. They deserve to have the right to choose if they want a family, friends experiences, etc. Even little things like what they read, write, say, even how they look....
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...In 1949, George Orwell wrote and published his final novel 1984 about a utopian society, Oceania, on the surface and a dystopian society when looked into further into through Winston Smith’s perspective. This character goes against the totalitarianism government ran by the Inner Party and Big Brother. Orwell gave a dramatic utopian and dystopian fiction book that is also political and social science fiction because Orwell often wrote about going against totalitarianism. Utopia is defined as ‘an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.’ which is exactly how George Orwell portrayed Oceania to be for a majority of the citizens or Party members. Oceania’s government or Big Brother can do no wrong, especially in the eyes...
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...According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, human nature is defined as “the nature of humans, especially, the fundamental dispositions and traits of humans” (Dictionary). Efforts to identify the exact nature of humankind date back centuries ago, as numerous thinkers and theologians debate the topic. The issue whether human nature is programmed in humans’ brains or if it is a decision based on beliefs, society, and the culture is very arguable. Philosophers throughout history, such as Thomas Hobbes, have offered their viewpoints of human nature, eventually reaching Sigmund Freud and other modern philosophers. However, in A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess writes a story of a dystopian future version of Britain with the story revolving...
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...literature is a form of exploring various interpretations of a different world. Specifically, a dystopian text explores a domain in which a society and way of life may seem ideal (Utopia), yet within the text it is later revealed that the society remain mentally unprepared and incapable of sustaining order in their world. Most dystopian texts illustrate a world which has been resulted in the consequence of humanity and this is one of the main reasons it is regularly visited. It is a genre in which the dystopian texts frequently challenge the views and values of their current audiences. This is because they are judged and critiqued on their depiction of scenes and events that breach sensitive moral and ethical issues. What makes the genre so fascinating both to read and write is to remind ourselves of the capabilities of humanity and just how much we can impact a hypothetical world. It is also a way in which we can ponder the extremes we as a society can reach and reflect the possibilities of the very future of the human race. Another reason why the concept intrigues us is because dystopian texts are subconsciously thought to be renditions of hell. With Utopia being the impression of heaven or an ideal world, Dystopia corresponds as the opposite. These ideas are explored in Aldous Huxley’s classic dystopian piece “Brave New World” [1932]. “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley is considered a dystopian text due to its conception of a new world that reflects an authoritarian state. The story...
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...He writes “I feel a good deal less optimistic than I did when I was writing Brave New World. [...] The nightmare of total organization…has emerged from the safe, remote future and is now awaiting us, just around the next corner” (Huxley 2). In this novel, Huxley expresses a fear that his hypothesized society could possibly become real in what was at the time, the near future, and in its final chapter he proposes that the only cure for humanity’s disease is a “multiplicity of cooperating remedies”- freedom, with all factors from social organization to birth control included. Today, half a century after Huxley proposed his solution for the predicament, humanity population is overcrowding the planet at more than seven billion and the essential freedoms that he describes are still restricted. Humanity still marches steadily on to the fictional future of Brave New World- and in fact, with the rise of sex-positivity in young culture, today’s society is increasingly similar to the World State. However, today’s society has an essential thing that both the world in 1958 and Aldous Huxley’s World State society: widespread awareness. The young-and-upcoming, freedom-seeking generations are more aware of the social issues Huxley has outlined in both his novels and have greater power than ever to make change. Wielding this power, it is possible that the dystopian future of Brave New World may never come to...
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...Octavia Butler presents a dystopian society in which humans draw little agency. Isolated from Earth, Humans (who are referred to as Terran throughout the story) are stranded animals on a far away world and are used by Tlic as birthing vessels. Despite its very overt science fiction elements, Bloodchild is as much as story about a far off dystopia as it is a story located in present conditions. That is to say, Bloodchild embeds enough elements of current Western civilization within its narrative that the story positions itself as a dystopia of the present day. First, Bloodchild confuses the reader’s notion of space and temporality by gradually revealing its science fiction and dystopian elements. The story opens with the line, “My last night of childhood began with a visit home” (3). Here, Bloodchild positions itself as a coming of age story. This is critical because immediately, at the stories inception, the story posits an exploration of distinctly human themes: rites of passage, coming of age, loss of childhood, etc. This is juxtaposed with the way the gradual revealing of dystopian elements in Bloodchild. For instance, it is not until page 25 (out of 32) that the reader finally learns that the story does not take place on earth. T’Gatoi says, “And your ancestors, feeling from their home world, from the own kind who would have killed or enslaved them – they survived because of us” (25). The overall effect of the gradual development of the dystopian elements is that it...
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...“If they give you lined paper, write the other way” (Juan Ramon Jimenez). In Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451, their society functions very differently than the society we live in. The dissimilarities and similarities between the societies are the views and treatment of books, the obligations and job requirements of firemen and how the youth functions. “All I have learned, I learned from books” (Abraham Lincoln). In our current society, books are valued and are presented as a helpful, educational tool as well as a pleasurable, recreational activity. Books are accessible by not only students with school libraries but by all members of society. In a recent survey, 95% of people said that public libraries provide and promote literacy skills and a love of reading. Books are a crucial part of our society, they inform us, they make us feel and help us understand our world and ourselves. Books in our current society are praised and are a common household item,...
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...Carrigan Raffaele 10/30/2015 Mr. Towne 1984 Summary The book “1984” by George Orwell, is about a dystopian society set in 1984. The main character, Winston Smith, is a low-ranking member of the government in the province known as Oceania, previously known as England. A large benefactor of this life he lives includes a near omniscient figure who watches everyone in said province known as “Big Brother.” This dystopian society, is only labeled due to the well known fact that the government controls everything. This government constantly posts the sentence “WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” everywhere. This sentence in itself, is an oxymoron, so as to tip off the reader about the kind of society Winston lives in....
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...an adult. But what happens if this question is no long applicable or even necessary? Dystopian novels remove this illusion of choice. In each of the novels I will address, all teenagers attend or participate in a ceremony whereby they transition from young adult to adult. The first series I will address is Scott Westerfield’s Uglies series, where youth undergo plastic surgery as their rite of passage. Maturation and growing up require endure body modifications to create same-ness and the perfectly pretty white race. Second, I will analyze Ally Condie’s Matched series, where social order to determined by sorters who decide vocation and spouses. All teenagers attend a ceremony where a person’s perfect match is determined by a computer program. Lastly, I will use Veronica Roth’s Divergent series to explore how the world is constructed by personality type. Youth choose to participate in factions that are determined by a psychological examination that detects a youth’s instinctual predilections when facing their fears. As readers begin to figure out the rules to this new society, they are challenged to make comparisons to their own world. We are forced to wonder whether or not, as educators, we reinforce stereotypical constructs of adolescence despite our interaction with seemingly critical texts. In the last few years, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of dystopian novels marketed to young adults. The story always begins in media res, where some kind...
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...of financial means. The Great Depression was a crucial period in his childhood development; Vonnegut’s literary pieces are a reflection of what he observed the world to be through his own life experiences. The majority of his works are science fiction used to “[help] lend form to the presentation of this world view without imposing a falsifying causality upon it (Reed),” as Peter Reed mentioned in an autobiography about Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut believed that science fiction offers a perception into an everyday society, rather than escaping it. The extraordinary events he experienced throughout his life served as motivation and influenced him to write stories about the world; as a result, Vonnegut showed an immense appreciation about life in his literary pieces. Kurt Vonnegut continued to pursue his goal of demonstrating to the world how wonderful life is through creations in the graphic arts. In 1950, Vonnegut published his first short story, “Report on the Barnhouse Effect” followed by “The Sirens of Titan” (1959), “Cat’s Cradle” (1963), “Slaughterhouse-Five” (1969), and “Breakfast of Champions” (1973). The society in which Kurt Vonnegut was a part of highly valued the ideal of equality; the short story “Harrison Bergeron” was written to foreshadow the oppression that such a society can cause if these ideals are taken too literal. In 1961, this short story was one of the most impactful short stories he has ever written, “Harrison Bergeron” critiqued an authoritarian government...
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...Objects,” Sarah Ahmed explains how “happiness functions as a promise that directs us toward certain objects, which then circulate as social goods” (Ahmed 29). These social goods, in this case books, preserve the connection between ideas, values, and the objects that develop the attributes of our culture. Ahmed’s description of this connection as being “sticky” provides meaning to the positive or negative effects that objects acquire over time. In his novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury uses a dystopian society deprived of books and literature to critique the hypocritical mass media transition and conformist...
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...his profession as a fireman but later on, he starts to question his way of life. The book’s dystopian society is immersed with technology and they avoid having deep or meaningful conversations. Bradbury shows how banning books and removing complex thinking can change society’s views. Censorship is the main theme of Fahrenheit 451 because the government controls how the people think and feel. The first reason why censorship is the main topic of the novel was their reliance on technology. The people spent a huge amount of time on their television that was wall-size sets and also listen to ‘Seashell Radio’ that’s attached to their ears. Bradbury writes, “...his wife stretched on the bed...in her ears, the little seashells, the thimble radios...electronic ocean sound of music and...
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...The Theme of Oppression Since the beginning of time people have been opressed through means such as slavery, prejudice as well as other injustices.The theme of oppression is a theme that has been used in writing ever since books became more popularized after the invention of the printing press. In more current times the theme of oppression is used in fiction to depict dystopian futures . Oppression is a very important theme to both read and understand.There are multiple purposes for both writing and reading about oppression. To begin with, authors write about oppression to describe some of the worst atrocities of history in order to not repeat them. One example of this is Night by Elie Wiesel where the horrors of the holocaust were brought...
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...human society. While discussing both obedience and disobedience, Fromm opens his essay with “For centuries, kings, priests, feudal lords, industrial bosses, and parents have insisted that obedience is a virtue and that disobedience is a vice.” Immediately after this statement, he gives strong points of views opposing the statement of disobedience being a vice. In the “Anthem,” Ayn Rand tells a story about a place in unspecified future period, where people no longer have their own individual rights, and collectivism is leading the entire society. It's a dystopian sci-fi novella set in the future when mankind has entered another dark age as a result of the evils of society. She introduces a boy named Equality 7-2521 who is disobedient to the Council of Vocations and experiences self-growth and freedom. Disobedience is an act of courage, necessary for the individual to fight against the unreasonable demands of authority. Fromm writes, “Human history began with an act of disobedience, and it is not unlikely that it will be, terminated by an act of obedience,” supporting his statement that obedience might as well “cause the end of human history.” He uses religious and mythological figures to demonstrate disobedience being the foundation to human progression. “Human history was ushered in by an act of disobedience according to the Hebrew and Greek myths,” says Fromm. This is relative to Adam and Eve disobeying the order and then being forced to leave the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve’s...
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