1984 Dystopia Essay

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A dystopia is an unhappy place far from perfect that is controlled by a higher power through a worst-case scenario. Dystopian novels commonly represent the, “typical” citizen, a person who is a resident of a country and unwillingly pledges allegiance to a higher power within the system. From the narrative point of view of a dystopian novel is almost always from the inside, either a member of the society itself or someone who enters and is adopted by the society. The types of Dystopian control are Corporate, Bureaucratic, Technological and Philosophical/religious Control. The Dystopian Protagonist often feels trapped, is struggling to escape, and questions the existing social systems. For example, in the novel 1984, Winston Smith, a citizen…show more content…
Winston’s evolution was cyclic, he is tolerating the system, next rebelling, next he is punished, and then back to believing in the system due to brokenness. The final stage of this cycle can be seen in this quote, “Two gin-scented tears trickled down the side of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved big brother again” (Orwell 245). He essentially is forced to give up the fight. Harrison, on the other hand, does not realize that his need to rebel and be free will have such a high price. It is evident that Harrison was planning a revolution, as his first words of the short story are, “I am the Emperor! Do you hear me? I am the Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once!” (Vonnegut 3). He progressively becomes more rebellious throughout the story. First he is arrested, then he breaks out of jail, taking over the ballet, removing his handicaps, and convincing another to do the same. Harrison’s goal is to rid society of their physical and mental shackles but all he does is was rid society of himself. Finally, in The Hunger Games, Katniss does not have as dramatic of an evolution as the other two characters but she does become tougher as a character because her surroundings were the things that were constantly
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