Social Influence Of Crucial Elements In Science Fiction
Adla Alsayid
Period 4
02/16/16
Dystopia Crucial elements in science fiction are what helps the spectator understand the controversies that are constantly seen in today's world. Where socio-economic classes define who we are, where destruction and dehumanization are seen as part of our society, where childhoods and hopes are taken away every day. It makes the reader wonder, are we living in a dystopia like condition? Where every page, movie, article, or magazine, is just a simple broken reflection of our reality? There are countless clarifications for the word “Dystopia”, most commonly known as the opposite of the word Utopia. A nation ruled by a harsh dictator or group whose main cause is to make people believe they have a harmonious, prosperous …show more content…
government. When in reality they live in an undesirable society, the main question is, why is dystopian literature taking over bookshelves? What makes it so appealing? Not to everybody, but to a specific group, teens. Young adults are fascinated with the dystopian genre not only because it has become part of today's pop culture, but because they have notable issues that are seen in our daily lives.
In some ways, science fiction shapes our future.
Not only that, it has becomes such a huge impact on our society that it help us realize who we are and where we belong in today's social standards. It allows us to knowledge and explore all of this supposition that are commonly seen. From the terrorism, corruption, social, political, and environmental problems to our thoughts and emotions about our existent intellectual common standards. There is a specific genre of science fiction that has made part of teens creativity, it’s the famous dystopian literature that’s hitting charts lists and it’s being buried in every teenager's nose. It’s a pathway to our painful but at the same time entertained reality that makes us question the future. It did not only started in the 21st century with all of this high-quality movies and modern TV shows, but back at 1516 with Sir Thomas More publishing his famous …show more content…
Utopia.
The Dystopian category is a great way for authors to express their concerns and complaints about human society, in every flip of a page, they warn us of our everyday surroundings and shows us of how appealing it can be to rebel against the system.
Recently, characters on dystopian novels/movies are not as passive and vulnerable as they used to be, for now, they are reckless rebels teenagers who don’t hesitate to stand up for what they believe.
A recent representation of this type of dystopian literature is Suzanne Collins trilogy, The Hunger Games, whose main character, the heroic sixteen year old Katniss Everdeen struggles to take care of her family and friends at every turn. For the joy of teenagers, this book is set in a reality show-like condition, where wealthy capitalist entertain themselves by watching underage kids kill themselves in barbaric ways. An article recently stated the popularity of this type of book and the effect it has in this genre, “Teen dystopias, which always end more optimistically than their adult counterparts, are exciting and empowering stories. The stakes are usually very high indeed. Adults are the problem. And kids are the saviours. Of course the books are flying off the shelves” (Bethune, Brian). The Hunger Games is just another clear example of what this generation captives dreams are, for it takes us out of our ordinary lives to a whole new world full of risks that we are too afraid to
take.
As part of being teenagers, we invest ourselves in the search of our own identity. However, we fail in our attempt of finding that true itself, that feeling of necessity to know where we belong led us to seek the wrong crowds, which just justifies the simple feeling of sense value we as young adults constantly search for. The series Divergent by Veronica Roth displays countless dystopian elements. For example, the five different factions, it classifies individuals based on their abilities and ethics. Teenagers on this book must choose one of the factions to which they will dedicate their whole life to, a great example of how this book reflects us is the similarity the main character, Beatrice Prior, has with today's society. “I am proud. It will get me into trouble someday, but today it makes me brave. I walk toward the ledge and hear snickers behind me”( Roth pg.66 ) Beatrice has an inner conflict with herself, she’s to scared and confused to choose which faction she belongs too, she's not only scared because it's the biggest decision of her life but because she knows where she belongs too, she is afraid of being different. Her role in this book changes, grows and learns just like we teenagers do. “This is where the factionless live. Because they failed to complete initiation into whatever faction they chose, they live in poverty, doing the work no one else wants to do”( Roth pg.39) Falling into the factionless society is what most of the individuals in Divergent are afraid of, the jobs that the factionless have main seemas meaningless but they are necessary to the society, they have a unique purpose of their own. If the factionless were gone the world they live in would be filled with garbage and no one to do the works that the factions refuse to do. These demonstrates a clear example of the jobs people do not wish to have in today's world, but they don’t realize how important and even necessary these jobs are.
Lois Lowry film The Giver is set in a futuristic “utopian” community, where the government main priority is to make equal individuals in order to control them. Personages on this society might seem to be almost perfect, they dress the same, they eat the same portions of food, they all see on black and white, and they all even have the same bicycle. “The Giver presents us with a world where war, poverty, crime, suffering, and bigotry have been completely eliminated. In this utopian Community, people strive to maintain “Sameness” where everyone and everything is equal and same” ( Tao, Aaron) According to the The Giver, individuals optate becoming emotionless instead of losing their conformity. They suppressed any feelings of hate, love, happiness in order to avoid the pain of human feelings. For example, the sensitive, twelve years old naive Jonas. Gains a new position as a memory receiver, with the exposition he gets to new and strange feelings of suffering and caring, he discovered what evil really looks like. “ The movie is rife with bioethical implications applicable to our society, from genetic engineering and infanticide to surrogacy and euthanasia.” ( Grossu, Arianna) This article states how The Giver “releases” the elderly or the sick, or in other cases, twins. This community way of handling perfection is an example of how we fail at trying to make everything the same. Twins were not accepted since they represented danger, they weighted the twins and the one who weighed more gets to go home alive. “They asked the Thai surrogate mother carrying their twins to abort one of them because he had Down syndrome. When she refused, they took only his healthy twin sister and demanded a refund.” ( Grossu, Arianna) This dystopian film is a comparison to current social issues, where the world doesn’t hesitate in killing the weak and needy, where reflecting on the necessity of human reason is fundamental for the preservation of our future.
George Orwell’s Animal Farm is an ironic classic novella that every high school student has read before graduating. The mid 1945 book talks about the life of farmyards animals, which at the very beginning are neglected and abused by their human owners. For the purpose of making a new, better, and fair utopian society, the animals kick their owners and replace them with sadistic pigs. The new belief of pride and victory was destroyed by the communist propaganda the pigs brought “The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership.” (Orwell, Chp.3) Animal Farm portrays the 1917 Russian Revolution, where the pigs are represented as the dominant figures and the animals as the hard class workers. Due to the lack of power and knowledged the animals had, they suffered several mistreats from the pigs. They turned their dream society into an undesirable one, where the killing of their own people was seen everyday, where the oppressing classes had to starve, where being slaves for the gain of the pigs was consider first choice. In spite of the fact that this novel was written even before some of us were even born, it still reflects mankind’s ugly characteristics “The working class, represented by the majority of the animals, are shown to be at the lowest end of the spectrum throughout the book. By making them appear as such, Animal Farm seems to be making a statement about societal structure as a whole” ( Smith, Nicole) Orwell’s idea of using animals as metaphors is what makes it interesting to young adults, not only that, it reflects how naive we humans can be with today's society. In regards to maintain “peace” we try to fit in and obey all social classes standards, blinding ourselves with corrupt rules that at the end we don't even notice how harmful it can be to ourselves.
In conclusion, dystopian science fiction shows daily lives problems in drastic ways, it has the ability in focusing mostly on teens pop culture and it makes us realize how hard it is to identify ourselves. It can be shown by reckless teenagers who fight to be heard, or by opprosed animals that emphasize how corrupt society can be. No wonder young adults love dystopian literature that much, they feel like they are in it and have the desire to be just like the main hero, what's iconic about this? current world issues are leading us to famous events on books, so why not let teenagers fantasize for a little?.
Works Cited
The Hunger Games
Bethune, Brian. "Dystopia now: a frightening story about kids killing other kids for the amusement of adults has become a blockbuster. Here's why." Maclean's 9 Apr. 2012: 84+.General OneFile. Web. 3 Mar. 2016.
Divergent
Roth, Veronica. Divergent. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2011. Print.
The Giver
Tao, Aaron. "Dystopia: Total Equality and No Humanity - Aaron Tao." The Beacon RSS. N.p., 18 Sept. 2014. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.
Grossu, Arina O. "'The Giver' Reflects Reality: Column." USA Today. Gannett, 10 Sept. 2014. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.
Animal Farm
Smith, Nicole. "Social Stratification and Class in Animal Farm." Article Myriad. N.p., 4 Dec. 2011. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.
Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1954. Print.
Period 4
02/16/16
Dystopia Crucial elements in science fiction are what helps the spectator understand the controversies that are constantly seen in today's world. Where socio-economic classes define who we are, where destruction and dehumanization are seen as part of our society, where childhoods and hopes are taken away every day. It makes the reader wonder, are we living in a dystopia like condition? Where every page, movie, article, or magazine, is just a simple broken reflection of our reality? There are countless clarifications for the word “Dystopia”, most commonly known as the opposite of the word Utopia. A nation ruled by a harsh dictator or group whose main cause is to make people believe they have a harmonious, prosperous …show more content…
government. When in reality they live in an undesirable society, the main question is, why is dystopian literature taking over bookshelves? What makes it so appealing? Not to everybody, but to a specific group, teens. Young adults are fascinated with the dystopian genre not only because it has become part of today's pop culture, but because they have notable issues that are seen in our daily lives.
In some ways, science fiction shapes our future.
Not only that, it has becomes such a huge impact on our society that it help us realize who we are and where we belong in today's social standards. It allows us to knowledge and explore all of this supposition that are commonly seen. From the terrorism, corruption, social, political, and environmental problems to our thoughts and emotions about our existent intellectual common standards. There is a specific genre of science fiction that has made part of teens creativity, it’s the famous dystopian literature that’s hitting charts lists and it’s being buried in every teenager's nose. It’s a pathway to our painful but at the same time entertained reality that makes us question the future. It did not only started in the 21st century with all of this high-quality movies and modern TV shows, but back at 1516 with Sir Thomas More publishing his famous …show more content…
Utopia.
The Dystopian category is a great way for authors to express their concerns and complaints about human society, in every flip of a page, they warn us of our everyday surroundings and shows us of how appealing it can be to rebel against the system.
Recently, characters on dystopian novels/movies are not as passive and vulnerable as they used to be, for now, they are reckless rebels teenagers who don’t hesitate to stand up for what they believe.
A recent representation of this type of dystopian literature is Suzanne Collins trilogy, The Hunger Games, whose main character, the heroic sixteen year old Katniss Everdeen struggles to take care of her family and friends at every turn. For the joy of teenagers, this book is set in a reality show-like condition, where wealthy capitalist entertain themselves by watching underage kids kill themselves in barbaric ways. An article recently stated the popularity of this type of book and the effect it has in this genre, “Teen dystopias, which always end more optimistically than their adult counterparts, are exciting and empowering stories. The stakes are usually very high indeed. Adults are the problem. And kids are the saviours. Of course the books are flying off the shelves” (Bethune, Brian). The Hunger Games is just another clear example of what this generation captives dreams are, for it takes us out of our ordinary lives to a whole new world full of risks that we are too afraid to
take.
As part of being teenagers, we invest ourselves in the search of our own identity. However, we fail in our attempt of finding that true itself, that feeling of necessity to know where we belong led us to seek the wrong crowds, which just justifies the simple feeling of sense value we as young adults constantly search for. The series Divergent by Veronica Roth displays countless dystopian elements. For example, the five different factions, it classifies individuals based on their abilities and ethics. Teenagers on this book must choose one of the factions to which they will dedicate their whole life to, a great example of how this book reflects us is the similarity the main character, Beatrice Prior, has with today's society. “I am proud. It will get me into trouble someday, but today it makes me brave. I walk toward the ledge and hear snickers behind me”( Roth pg.66 ) Beatrice has an inner conflict with herself, she’s to scared and confused to choose which faction she belongs too, she's not only scared because it's the biggest decision of her life but because she knows where she belongs too, she is afraid of being different. Her role in this book changes, grows and learns just like we teenagers do. “This is where the factionless live. Because they failed to complete initiation into whatever faction they chose, they live in poverty, doing the work no one else wants to do”( Roth pg.39) Falling into the factionless society is what most of the individuals in Divergent are afraid of, the jobs that the factionless have main seemas meaningless but they are necessary to the society, they have a unique purpose of their own. If the factionless were gone the world they live in would be filled with garbage and no one to do the works that the factions refuse to do. These demonstrates a clear example of the jobs people do not wish to have in today's world, but they don’t realize how important and even necessary these jobs are.
Lois Lowry film The Giver is set in a futuristic “utopian” community, where the government main priority is to make equal individuals in order to control them. Personages on this society might seem to be almost perfect, they dress the same, they eat the same portions of food, they all see on black and white, and they all even have the same bicycle. “The Giver presents us with a world where war, poverty, crime, suffering, and bigotry have been completely eliminated. In this utopian Community, people strive to maintain “Sameness” where everyone and everything is equal and same” ( Tao, Aaron) According to the The Giver, individuals optate becoming emotionless instead of losing their conformity. They suppressed any feelings of hate, love, happiness in order to avoid the pain of human feelings. For example, the sensitive, twelve years old naive Jonas. Gains a new position as a memory receiver, with the exposition he gets to new and strange feelings of suffering and caring, he discovered what evil really looks like. “ The movie is rife with bioethical implications applicable to our society, from genetic engineering and infanticide to surrogacy and euthanasia.” ( Grossu, Arianna) This article states how The Giver “releases” the elderly or the sick, or in other cases, twins. This community way of handling perfection is an example of how we fail at trying to make everything the same. Twins were not accepted since they represented danger, they weighted the twins and the one who weighed more gets to go home alive. “They asked the Thai surrogate mother carrying their twins to abort one of them because he had Down syndrome. When she refused, they took only his healthy twin sister and demanded a refund.” ( Grossu, Arianna) This dystopian film is a comparison to current social issues, where the world doesn’t hesitate in killing the weak and needy, where reflecting on the necessity of human reason is fundamental for the preservation of our future.
George Orwell’s Animal Farm is an ironic classic novella that every high school student has read before graduating. The mid 1945 book talks about the life of farmyards animals, which at the very beginning are neglected and abused by their human owners. For the purpose of making a new, better, and fair utopian society, the animals kick their owners and replace them with sadistic pigs. The new belief of pride and victory was destroyed by the communist propaganda the pigs brought “The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership.” (Orwell, Chp.3) Animal Farm portrays the 1917 Russian Revolution, where the pigs are represented as the dominant figures and the animals as the hard class workers. Due to the lack of power and knowledged the animals had, they suffered several mistreats from the pigs. They turned their dream society into an undesirable one, where the killing of their own people was seen everyday, where the oppressing classes had to starve, where being slaves for the gain of the pigs was consider first choice. In spite of the fact that this novel was written even before some of us were even born, it still reflects mankind’s ugly characteristics “The working class, represented by the majority of the animals, are shown to be at the lowest end of the spectrum throughout the book. By making them appear as such, Animal Farm seems to be making a statement about societal structure as a whole” ( Smith, Nicole) Orwell’s idea of using animals as metaphors is what makes it interesting to young adults, not only that, it reflects how naive we humans can be with today's society. In regards to maintain “peace” we try to fit in and obey all social classes standards, blinding ourselves with corrupt rules that at the end we don't even notice how harmful it can be to ourselves.
In conclusion, dystopian science fiction shows daily lives problems in drastic ways, it has the ability in focusing mostly on teens pop culture and it makes us realize how hard it is to identify ourselves. It can be shown by reckless teenagers who fight to be heard, or by opprosed animals that emphasize how corrupt society can be. No wonder young adults love dystopian literature that much, they feel like they are in it and have the desire to be just like the main hero, what's iconic about this? current world issues are leading us to famous events on books, so why not let teenagers fantasize for a little?.
Works Cited
The Hunger Games
Bethune, Brian. "Dystopia now: a frightening story about kids killing other kids for the amusement of adults has become a blockbuster. Here's why." Maclean's 9 Apr. 2012: 84+.General OneFile. Web. 3 Mar. 2016.
Divergent
Roth, Veronica. Divergent. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2011. Print.
The Giver
Tao, Aaron. "Dystopia: Total Equality and No Humanity - Aaron Tao." The Beacon RSS. N.p., 18 Sept. 2014. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.
Grossu, Arina O. "'The Giver' Reflects Reality: Column." USA Today. Gannett, 10 Sept. 2014. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.
Animal Farm
Smith, Nicole. "Social Stratification and Class in Animal Farm." Article Myriad. N.p., 4 Dec. 2011. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.
Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1954. Print.