Dystopic Literature
So that's what my paper for my lit class is going to be on this semester. The goal of the paper is to examine why some dystopic protagonists ultimately conform to societal norms and why some don't.
Anywho, I need books for this. I've done some looking on my own and so far I've got
We (Zamyatin)
1984 (Orwell)
Clockwork Orange (Burgess)
Brave New World (Huxley)
Bend Sinister (Nabokov)
Level 7 (Roshwald)
Stand on Zanzibar (Brunner)
This Perfect Day (Levin)
However, the more cases I have to study, the more in-depth I think the paper is going to be. So if anyone has suggestions, it can be from any culture from around 1920-1990. (Looking for a Cold War-ish/communist/socialist cultural motif)
Rambhutan
14-02-2007, 17:30
Handmaid's Tale
Greater Valia
14-02-2007, 17:33
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (Harlan Ellison)
Cluichstan
14-02-2007, 17:40
Ah, lovely, another homework thread. :rolleyes:
Cookesland
14-02-2007, 17:51
would Animal Farm be Dystopian even thought its about animals?
Gift-of-god
14-02-2007, 17:53
Your list includes two books that do not fit into your categories at the bottom of your OP. Neither Stand on Zanzibar nor Clockwork Orange fit. Clockwork Orange does not fit as it is not really dystopian, as it focuses on a small group of youth and their subculture rather than society as a whole, and Stand on Zanzibar is more of a near future sci-fi novel. Mind you, our near-future is tending towards the dystopic....
The original V for Vendetta comic would be good too.
Cluichstan
14-02-2007, 17:54
would Animal Farm be Dystopian even thought its about animals?
Yes, it's called allegory.
Is Jennifer Government out? It's a bit more recent than 1990..
btw, you might try lookign up the previous list of this kind..
My term paper was on the Gothic in dystopias, specifically 1984. I'll be glad to help you out in PM, as long as that is not against the rules.
would Animal Farm be Dystopian even thought its about animals?
Certainly.
The short story The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas touches on dystopic themes, especially ones similar to those mentioned in Brave New World.
Thanks.
Regarding Clockwork Orange, I was already leaning towards not using it, and I don't think I am, for the reasons you've suggested.
Regarding Stand on Zanzibar, I started it this morning and I'm already hating it, so any excuse to kick it out of my paper is fine by me.
In any case, I just checked out three more books from the library. Handmaid's Tale (Atwood), 334 (Disch), and Swastika Night (Burdekin/Constantine)
Andaluciae
14-02-2007, 20:34
If your theme is communism/socialism and it's depiction in dystopic literature, then Handmaid's Tale is little use to you. It's written by a lefty, Atwood, as a nightmare version of a hyper-religious, hyper-militarist US.
That's not exactly where I'm going with it.
I want to examine why protagonists do or don't conform.
One of the factors I could examine is the 'agenda' the writer subscribes to.
(I've got a whole table of factors, both within the novel and for the author/author's society)
That's not exactly where I'm going with it.
I want to examine why protagonists do or don't conform.
One of the factors I could examine is the 'agenda' the writer subscribes to.
(I've got a whole table of factors, both within the novel and for the author/author's society)
Well, Winston Smith is tortured into submission by a state willing to show him that there's a BIGGER fear than losing his principles (in Winston's case, having his face gnawed by rats, Room 101). Offred doesn't conform, and, seemingly, was somewhat able to escape. The wild man in Brave New World doesn't conform; leaves through suicide.
Handmaids Tale is a good choice
Anthem by Ayn Rand is another good one
And if you're already going to read The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas
then you might want to go ahead and read The Dispossessed byt the same author.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking.
But there's the WHY (this is a 15-pg paper), and that's why I'm examining the more common ones as well as some of the less common ones (The protag in "We" also conforms.)
Cypherspace
14-02-2007, 21:07
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Greyenivol Colony
14-02-2007, 22:07
Clockwork Orange is dystopian. The real focus is the state's attempts to rehabilitate Alex through torture and cognitive programming.
Society forcing its way into a young man's mind and robbing him of his rebeliousness... sounds like dystopia to me.
Anti-Social Darwinism
14-02-2007, 22:12
A Canticle for Liebowitz
Society forcing its way into a young man's mind and robbing him of his rebeliousness... sounds like dystopia to me.
To me, that much sounds like high school.
The dystopia in Clockwork Orange isn't in the purpose, but in the methods used by it: brainwashing rather than an attempt to truly reeducate.