Dystopian Literature

“The most shocking aspects of the dystopian novel or film is the realisation that the future is contingent on the present, and can be affected by something we do or don’t do now.”
To what degree does this perspective on dystopian novels and films resonate with your own reading?

‘Dystopian literature has been characterised as fiction that presents a negative view of the future of society and humankind’ (Contemporary Literary Criticism 2003, Vol. 168). Through the exploration of dystopia within a novel or film, the composer often highlights the shocking ramifications of potential decisions made in the present. Composers use these texts to convey their speculations on political or scientific concerns that presently exist. They often comment on
The citizens of the futuristic England are separated in classes of: Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas and Epsilons. From the beginning of the novel, Huxley establishes that the social structure is not due to wealth but rather due to the horrifying precision of genetic modification, ‘the lower the caste, the shorter the oxygen. The first organ affected was the brain…at seventy percent of normal oxygen you got dwarfs…who are no use at all.’ (Huxley 1932, pp.11). When creating the population, embryos are ‘predestined and conditioned. We decant our babies as socialised human beings…as future sewage works or future Directors of Hatcheries’ (Huxley 1932, pp.10). Through this, Huxley is commenting on the possible negative affects technological advancements, dividing the oblivious society into classes in order to achieve ‘social stability’. The community is not only born into this social structure, but are also conditioned to enjoy the life determined for them, ‘All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable social destiny.’ (Huxley 1932, pp.12). This social classification is further reinforced by ‘the savages’ in his novel, existing in an isolated reservation, a clear allusion to concentration camps with no escape, ‘To touch the fence is instant death, there is no escape from a Savage Reservation’
In his dystopia, the community is under the control of higher authorities with a totalitarian ideology of controlling the citizens. They utilise consumerism as a way of controlling their people, conditioning them at birth that ‘Ending is better than mending. The more stitches, the less riches.’ (Huxley 1932, pp.43). This encourages them to endorse in materialistic behaviour, citizens being disappointed when there is ‘hotels were too hopelessly old-fashioned - no television laid on in the bedrooms, no scent organ…not more than twenty-five Escalator-Squash Courts for over two hundred guests’ (Huxley 1932, pp.75). This displays Huxley’s prediction for the future of his society, where consumerism was gradually becoming a significant issue. The consumerism in Brave New World, was a way for the authorities to be able to keep the citizens busy, preventing ‘immoral’ thoughts of freedom, love and family. The presence of drugs is also present throughout the novel, ‘soma’ being a recreational drug in order to ‘take a holiday from reality whenever you like, and come back without so much as a headache’ (Huxley 1932, pp.46). Authorities in the novel, use this as another method to keep their citizens under the illusion of ‘happiness’ where ‘a gramme is better than a damn’ (Huxley 1932, pp.47). Totalitarianism is also portrayed through the character of Mustafa Mond, a world controller. When he discovers one of