1984 A Dystopian Society

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The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others, his own good either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant. (Mill) A dystopian society is a society in which it is flawed but the people of power within that society portray it as perfect. All Dystopian literature, whether novel, film or short story contains similar characteristics and themes. Many works of literature depict a dystopian society that is controlled by the government in every aspect. Typically, the government tries to prevent information from being able to spread throughout their population. In the novel 1984, written by George Orwell, the people of Oceania are forced into…show more content…
In this short story written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., the public of a futuristic United States are forced to wear a mask if they are abnormally pretty, or the ones like Harrison’s father George who have above average strength are forced to wear “forty-seven pounds of bird shot in a canvas bag, which was padlocked around George’s neck”. (Vonnegut 2) Anyone who is better than average must wear handicappers to make them more average. In the movie The Hunger Games, the people of different financial classes are broken up into districts. This society much like the one in 1984, the government has cut off the spread of information within the public. When a citizen is in their district they have no way to communicate with another citizen inside of a different district. The government has separated them to prevent an uprising or revolt. Even though all dystopian have similarities, they also have many differences. For example, the citizens of Oceania are forced to wear the same pair of overalls as everyone else to make them equal and eliminate the factor of attraction that triggers the sex…show more content…
The rulers of dystopias usually abuse their power in effort to intimidate the general public. In 1984, Big Brother, the ruler of Oceania and the party, exhibits his power by controlling what is in text books, forcing people to wear the same thing and putting 24/7 surveillance called telescreens all throughout Oceania, including people’s homes. Winston always tries to avoid the telescreen in his home by sitting in a spot that the camera can’t see since it “was in an unusual position. Instead of being placed in the end wall, where it could command the whole room, it was in the longer wall, opposite the window”. (Orwell 9) The telescreens watch people with a video camera and a microphone which relays the footage to the police who will arrest someone for almost anything. The futuristic United States government in Harrison Bergeron, rule the states by a mix of submission and force in a way. The government forces you to wear items that disable or weaken your talents but once you put them on, they are only annoying rather than infuriating; for instance, when George witnessed his son being killed on television, and “George had gone out into the kitchen for a can of beer” and he couldn’t even remember what had happened. In The Hunger Games, the ruler uses his

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