Dystopia as a Genre of Fiction - Essay Example

DYSTOPIA Dystopia is a genre of fiction that is also called anti-utopia. "The word comes from dys-Utopia, referring to the ic 'Utopia' which described a perfect world. The word 'Utopia' itself means 'Nowhere' but has come to mean paradise, since that is what the work described" (Eugene Luther, 2004). In other words dys-utopia is just opposite to utopia that means a hell on Earth. This fictional form refers author's vision in a totalitarian state where the characters face cruelty of dictatorship and struggle for political power. In utopian stories the fiction ends in happy note contrary to this is dystopian stories. The fictional stories of dystopia always have a tragic end. A first time dystopian reader who expects regular ending will be surprised by the tragic events in the stories. Writers like Yevgeny Zamyatin, H. G. Wells, Eugene Luther, etc., had written many utopian and dystopian stories. Yevgeny Zamyatin's WE was completed in 1920 and published in English in the year 1924. It's an irony or can be said as totalitarian conditions prevailed in Russia prevented Zamyatin to release his book in his own country until 1952, fifteen years after Zamyatin's death. The book describes how life would be like in a totalitarian state. It also reflects the author's view on Russia, which was governed by communists under the leadership of Stalin. In this dystopian story the world is under a totalitarian state and was called as One State. This One State is controlled under the dictatorship of one who was called as Benefactor. In this world no one has a name, everyone is recognised by his or her identification numbers. Each individual addresses other by his or her number and always work in unison. In One state everything is made of glass including buildings, tools and machinery. There is no privacy for One state's citizens. "Every building is made of this same glass, enabling any behaviour not proscribed by the Table of Hours, the sacred text of the One State, to be easily seen and reported" (Mirra Ginsburg, 1972). In this glass-enclosed city of absolutely straight lines, nameless numbers (individuals are recognised by their designations) - survivors of a devastating war - live out lives devoid of passion and creativity. An individual by the number D-503 also lives the same life as others and is chief builder of the One state's prestigious project called as Integral. Integral is a mega project, which involves in the construction of a spaceship that will be used to explore outer planets and bring them under the leadership of Benefactor. A network of Guardians constantly monitors the activities of One state's citizens. The Guardians responsibility is to check irregular behaviour of an individual. Out of this state is a green jungle where rebels reside and D-503 falls in love with a woman I-330 who works with the rebels. "D-503's rigidly structured life grows in complexity as he meets I-330, a fiercely dominant woman who seduces him, first from his lover O-90, then from his beloved One State" (Mirra Ginsburg, 1972). This new relationship tears his conscience apart and he no longer thinks straight. He becomes so involved with the rebels that he joins them against One state. George Orwell's 1984 is another dystopian story that ends in a tragic note. The story took place in London in the year 1984. The story revolves around the life of Winston who lives in London, which is a part of Oceania. Oceania is one of the three countries that exist in the world; the other two are Eurasia and Eastasia. These three countries are always at war. Oceania is a totalitarian state under the leadership of Big Brother and strict censorship is implemented through out the country. "Winston is disgusted with his oppressed life and secretly longs to join the fabled Brotherhood, a supposed group of underground rebels intent on overthrowing the government" (George Orwell, 1949). Winston falls in love with Julia. Julia hates inner party as much as Winston does. Winston meets a person called O'Brien whom he thinks as a member of Brotherhood that works against the inner party. But in reality O'Brien is undercover agent of inner party who was planning a trap on Winston for the past seven years. When Winston was caught for falling in love, which was considered a crime in Oceania, he was sent to the Ministry of Love. Ministry of Love is a rehabilitation centre for criminals to those who fall in love. Here Winston was tortured and made him to forget all emotional feelings for Julia. "In discussing economic development and poverty alleviation, this philosophy prescribes an orientation toward regional development strategies, which involve primarily local production for local use" (Noah Enelow, 2004). Development in different sectors like Information Technology, Steel industry, etc., has resulted a sharp rise in the usage of harmful substances. Problem of over consumption becomes irrelevant when super- (eco) efficiencies are achieved under a production sphere. Though some mathematical projections may address future consumption scenarios but they are just predictions and may vary with the real scenario. Consumption is bound to increase and conservation and efficiency may not be enough to handle the situation. It has been found that mathematical projections always vary with the real scenarios and therefore production efficiencies should also be increased to delay the complete resource depletion. Not only due to steady increase in population but also due to over consumption the demand for food products may increase sharply and might slowly replenish. According to consumer modernisation the solution to this sort of crisis can be found in more production, more modernity and more industrialisation. Rather than more production consumer modernization purports on different industrialisation and production. This is termed as more -as-different approach. In digital market the production more that result in the increase in economy and thus maintaining overall consumption low and sustainable. Thus we could say that consumption is dematerialised. Though the present world is turning towards e shopping still some of us like to prefer the old ways of purchasing things like jewellery, cars, etc. Some economic theories had greater impact in correcting the production in ecological modernisation by working out on production-consumption cycles. Using the process of co-structuring a producer and consumer can exchange information that might help in increasing the production-consumption efficiency. The production remains out of problems as long as consumption is free of problems. Examples of dystopias are H. G. Wells A Time Machine, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, George Orwells 1984, etc. There are many reasons for a utopian plan to go wrong and utopian leadership being failed. One of the reasons for this is addiction to drugs and alcohol. Drug addicts start taking drugs at 15 or 16, but only come to the rehab centres when the situation becomes grim or out of control. This is because they start taking drugs recreationally and by the time they start having problems and decide to seek help it takes time. Unlike social drinking which doesn't affect one's lifestyle, there is nothing like social drugs because substances like cocaine and heroin are very addictive and illegal. The problem arises because most youngsters believe they won't get addicted not realizing that with drugs like cocaine and heroin it's very easy o get hooked on. There are many reasons for teenagers getting addicted to drugs. One of them is due to the depression and tensions caused due to the domestic problems they face other due to the friends who encourage them to enter into the drug world. Parents who are addicted to drugs regularly are found to be one of the main reasons and indirectly they are encouraging their children to become drug users. Drug rehabilitation or cessation services have been included in health service plan implementation programme by many voluntary organizations. One of the important factors of drug cessation services is effective monitoring. The main objective of drug cessation services was to reduce the mortality rate due to addiction to drugs and increase awareness among people about the negative effects of drugs. It has been planned to make all the drug cessation services are made available at all time and as widely as possible. Treating them at rehab centres can solve these sorts of problems. But criminal activities like genocide; religious and political instability makes the matter worse and causes a government to fall. References H. G. Wells. (2006). A Modern Utopia. Retrieved 8 November 2006, from, http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/w/wells/hg/w45mu/chapter5.html. George Orwell. (2006). 1984. Retrieved 8 November 2006, from, http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/1984/26/. Mirra Ginsburg. (1972). We. Retrieved 8 November 2006, from, http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/book_zamyatin_we.html. Eugene Luther. (2004). Messiah. Retrieved 8 November 2006, from, http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/1634/Distopia.html. Noah Enelow. (2004). Small Is Beautiful: An Introduction to E. F. Schumacher. Retrieved 8 November 2006, from, http://www.fguide.org/Bulletin/Schumacher.htm. Schumacher, E. F. (1973). Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered. New York: Harper and Row. Read More