In a world like this

Distorted image of a post-apocalyptic city

Last year, after having read “Brave new world”, I was shocked and amazed by the book, mainly because I didn’t know this particular genre; and then I became interested in dystopian fiction. Then, this year, when we read “Oryx & Crake” (in my case), “The year of the flood” and “MaddAddam”, I became even more attracted to dystopias.

Since then, I’ve been watching many films which depict dystopian worlds, and I’ve just read the last book of the trilogy “The hunger games” (because the movie has not been released yet). And a loved them! What impresses me the most is how appalling the worlds depicted in these stories are, and how strong the writers’ critics that fall upon human behaviour are. 

According to Wikipedia, a dystopia is “a community or society that is in some important way undesirable or frightening.” Usually, these stories describe grim post-apocalyptic societies that have lasted after a dreadful war, plague or natural disaster. In an extreme way, these stories aim at drawing attention to certain issues that are part of our reality, such as: environment, politics, economic, religion, psychology, ethics, science, and technology. 

In general, dystopian stories have some distinctive characteristics: 

The five factions - "Divergent"

- They portray societies in which there is a strict social stratification that orders people in different castes, mainly, according to different aspects. In “Brave new world”, for instance, this allocation of people in social classes is prenatally determined, being the ones belonging to the lower classes those who have reduced brain-function. In “Divergent”, people are divided into five distinct factions based on human virtues: Abnegation (the selfless), Amity (the peaceful), Candor (the honest), Dauntless (the brave), and Erudite (the intelligent). 

Room in which the staff controls the arena - "The hunger games"

- Ubiquitous technology is one of the most significant characteristic in these stories. A variety of technological devices are present in everyday life, mainly as a form of control and constant surveillance.

- Governments are totalitarian and oppressive, and have the power to control every aspect of the inhabitants’ lives. For example, in “The hunger games”, the government doesn’t only control the food rations that every person in the districts receives, but it also selects twenty four adolescents each year and sends them to the arena so as to fight till death. 

- Poverty, violence, dehumanized living conditions, depleted resources, and environmental disasters are other characteristics generally present in most of dystopias. 

"Elysium" (2013)

The way in which writers satirise and criticise humans’ flaws,  by showing societies involved in drastic and extraordinary situations, makes me think in the hidden messages that are implied in each dystopian tale. From my point of view, authors aim at raising awareness about the possible negative consequences that our current lifestyle may have. We cannot deny the fact that technology and science are becoming the most powerful weapons that human beings have developed in order to control the world. Clearly, this is one of the chief points that dystopian fiction highlights so as to make us reflect about it. Of course, I’m not blaming scientific and technological advances for the possible consequences, but the misuse of them that human beings do. What do you think about this issue?

Do you like dystopian fiction? Which another dystopian movie/novel do you know?

Sources:

- Dystopia. (2014, October 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia

- "What is a dystopian society?". Article retireved from: http://www.explore-science-fiction-movies.com/dystopian-society.html#axzz3GjLOCyWS

- Video retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ6y98meKeU