The Political Dangers of Romanticizing Dystopian Societies
Article by Kyrie Robertson, TPT Staff Writer
For centuries, humans have used reading as a tool for escapism. Homer’s The Odyssey, for example, was enjoyed by schoolboys in ancient Greece just as it is today - a fantastical tale that transports the reader to another place, another time. This human obsession for escaping real life is fueled by the genres of mythology, fantasy, and, most recently, dystopian science fiction. Dystopias fascinate us, we read with starstruck wonder: the wealthy elite control what is law, uniformity becomes a key pillar of survival, and innocents are sacrificed to uphold that societal order. The impossibility gives us comfort. When we finish such a book, we flip it closed. We sigh with a certain content, a reassurance that our lives aren’t that bad. Next fall we will see the movie adaptation and complain about its lack of likeness to the novel (“I mean really, the casting was abhorrent!”). However, the main question posed by these novels is often overlooked: what allows a society to become a dystopia? No one in a dystopian society knows their society is one, and no society originates as such. Hypothetically, any society can become dystopian. Within an American sphere, how can we prevent our society from becoming a dystopia - and how can we know it isn’t already well on its way to becoming one?
Photo via Word Forest
As previously mentioned, there are a few shared themes between dystopian novels. One of the more striking commonalities between these fictional societies is the motif of book banning. The Hunger Games, Fahrenheit 451, The Giver, and Brave New World are all examples of dystopian novels whose societies have banned, burned, or limited books. The society in Lois Lowry’s The Giver propagates the idea of “Sameness,” making sure citizens all conform to strict expectations. When the main character, Jonas, finds shelves and shelves of books within the House of Old (i.e., the safeguarded house of the overseers of his society), he is surprised, having not known so many books existed. The Giver’s government had limited citizens’ access to books (except the Book of Rules, of course). Books represent knowledge, and knowledge gives way to individual thinking, threatening Sameness. Similarly, the government in 1984 altered truths and censored information in newspapers and books. The government monitored the citizens under the guise of Big Brother, a ubiquitous surveillance engine ensuring they followed the rules.
These themes of book banning and suppression of originality are present, in some form or another, in almost all dystopian science fiction novels, which, ironically, are among the most challenged and banned books in the United States (in fact, every book referenced in this article can be found on this list detailing commonly challenged books in America). Conservative counties and states, in particular, are more likely to ban this book genre (or any book genre, for that matter). Take, for instance, the recent Floridian school book bans. Two recent state laws, “Parental Rights in Education” (“Don’t Say Gay”) and “Stop W.O.K.E.”, threaten to revoke the teaching certification of teachers who are found with books in violation of their stipulations. Books in Florida classrooms are currently being reviewed by media specialists and government officials to determine if they suit children's consumption.
It should be noted that for something to be suitable for a child to read in Florida, it cannot contain any “divisive” content, including topics concerning ethnicity or sex. An example of one of these divisive topics is critical race theory (CRT) - an examination of racial bias in America and how it has influenced society - which has been banned in some southern states, including Florida. Florida passed the “Individual Freedom” Bill in 2022 which banned the teaching of CRT in K-12 schools. It is meant to “dissuade discrimination” but truly promotes indifference and ignorance by severely limiting critical, divergent discussions of history with students. Instead, Florida schools are implementing a “Stories of Inspiration” curriculum, which is meant to teach students about “the principles of individual freedom that enabled individuals to prosper even in the most difficult circumstances,” and present a polished version of American history - promoting strict Americanism. So, the idea of Sameness returns once again, achieved through the suppression of knowledge within schools - a funny-feeling familiarity.
Sameness is reliant on the extinction of difference - which once again can be examined through the lens of The Giver. Within their society, people who do not follow the rules and infants who do not develop properly are “released,” using a form of euthanasia. This prevents differences from arising within society and allows the government to continue to control people. Governmental control relies on the death of innocents who have the capability of difference. This is partly why the unborn are typically revered and protected within dystopias (take, for example, The Handmaid's Tale or The Hunger Games) - they cannot yet possess differences. Dystopian fiction often uses this trope of “sacrificing” people for order, particularly children, because it is something that should be dystopian. Somewhat inevitably, this brings us to Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Fahrenheit 451, despite having all of the themes so far discussed, is an outlier because there is no point in the novel where there is order. Due to the outlawing of books, citizens rely heavily on television and basic, monotonous school routines. They are unfulfilled and unhappy. Children, in particular, are prone to harm each other for some semblance of mental stimulation. Fahrenheit 451 is unsettling because it is most reminiscent of American society: the banning of books, the mind-numbing educational programs, and mindless violence.
So in returning to the initial question: American society undeniably has elements of a dystopia. Between the dampening of knowledge, the uptick in mass shootings, and the suppression of those with differences, America is digging itself deeper into a pit of dystopia. Nonetheless, we romanticize dystopian fiction a dangerous amount - we focus too much on love triangles, on heroes and villains, on the singular people within the story - it causes us to overlook what a dystopia is and allows us to fail at recognizing aspects of dystopia in our society. The severity of the dystopias that we see in the novels also lulls us into a false sense of security - we fail to acknowledge aspects of dystopia in our society because they are not necessarily representative of the extremes we see in novels. Still, it’s not too late for us to fix this. We need to wake up. The war on knowledge needs to end. The war on free thought needs to end. The war on individuality needs to end. While it is, perhaps, a little naive to suggest a utopia is possible, we can hope to exist somewhere in the middle of “-topia” spectrum. A society of order can be obtained through a society of self-actualized individuals - America needs to stop trying to force order through conformity and attempts to simplify human experiences. Humans are not simple creatures and society is not a simple concept.
The views articulated in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the official stances of High School Democrats of America or The Progressive Teen.