In the world of literature, authors fabricate many immaculate perfections to satisfy a reader’s thirst for the joy of reading.
Authors create different ideas implementing their thought power and creativity. Ideas that change the way we think or ideas that might create a second-thought questioning and contemplating, readers especially from the younger generation are very much influenced in both ways.
The concept of Dystopia is summoned up in many authors’ works because this idea is Per Se, outrageous.
This idea first originated when Sir Thomas More in his book described a society that would remain separated and follow the rules and regulations of having a happy and harmonious social life, which in a term he coined as ‘Utopia’.
However, what he couldn’t see was that the idea of Utopia was the origin of Dystopia. Dystopia, also termed ‘Anti-Utopia’ or ‘Cacotopia’ was nothing but some concepts merged to form a bad mood.
Dystopia mainly describes a society where nothing good happens, where will and freedom are captured and confined into a maze of madness and solitude.
Different artists have used this concept to express their literary creativity in the form of books, movies and such. Noteworthy books and novels are ‘1984’, ‘Fahrenheit 451, ‘A Clockwork Orange’, ‘Gulliver Travels’ and much more.
Books like these feature different problematic and depressing scenarios where the elements of humanity in society have been totally demolished.
In ‘1984’, a fearful and exhibitionistic totalitarian society controlled by the elite group of people keeping their thumbs on the middle-class people has been shown.
Gulliver travels to multiple places and sees the effect of Dystopian societies in ‘Gulliver Travels’, whereas ‘Fahrenheit 451’ shows a society where it was a crime to read and preach books and the name itself is the temperature at which paper starts to burn.
Movies and fictional cinematic works like ‘V for Vendetta’, ‘Hunger Games’, ‘Blade Runner’, ‘And the Matrix’ and games like ‘Death Stranding’, ‘Half-Life’ and ‘Dead Space’ show apocalyptic scenarios of a dystopian society. Such a society mainly is created due to an imbalance of harmony.
Socio-economic reasons, political disputes, national crises, and other primary obstacles that humankind is facing and fighting today are considered the root reasons of Dystopia.
Fabricated terms like ‘Anti-socialism’, ‘Totalitarianism’, or ‘Corporatism’ are quite noteworthy to the writers having dystopian thoughts in their works.
The idea of a Dystopian society fascinates us till now because of the fact that our current generation is moving in that path.
Whatever authors have predicted the future of their society is turning around to be just that. Not only that, some features are already commonly seen in our society which doesn’t lack the loss of humane elements of our lives.
From having stressful and problematic lives to getting challenged by our own innovations like AI is certainly what makes Dystopia so immaculate and relatable.
Not only that, a dystopian society tries to show us what the end of the human world might look like, where humans will be confined forever in many different ways.
A society without enjoyment, without new additions, and lacking dignity and honor is certainly what humans wouldn’t seek shortly.
Overall, Dystopia really is an interesting topic to ponder for a minute in our lives and rethink what our lives really make it worth living.
It questions the true motive of our lives and what a human being can do to be the most social creature on our planet.
And that’s the wanted aim of a fictional idea, an idea that can truly change our way of thinking.
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Writer
Abrar Bin Naser
Intern, Content Writing Department
YSSE