Utopias and Dystopias Notes

Utopias and Dystopias

Utopia

• Origins:
  • The concept was introduced by Thomas More in his book "Utopia."
  • It describes a fictional island with total fairness.
  • A utopia is a "perfect place" where everyone gets what they need and is treated fairly.
  • Based on real-life monasteries, it aimed to inspire communal and fair practices by presenting an ideal.
• Price of Utopia:
  • Utopias always come with a price, and not everyone gets what they want or need.
  • More's original book included the concept of slavery.

Conventions of Utopian Literature

• A governing moral code obeyed by everyone.
• Fairness for each individual.
• Freedom for all, or an accepted sacrifice of freedom for a greater good.
• Integration with nature for harmonious and sustainable living.
• The vast majority, if not all, citizens are satisfied, happy, safe, and self-actualized.

Dystopias

• A dystopia is the opposite of a utopia.
• Most of the populace lives in misery.
• Sources of Misery:
  • Lack of freedom and excessive control by the government or those in power.
  • A destroyed ecological environment.
  • Dehumanization: people lose their identities and become mindless individuals in a system that doesn't care about them.

Examples of Utopias and Dystopias

• Utopias:
  • Utopia
  • The Giver
  • Omelas(?)
  • Transcendentalist works
• Dystopias:
  • Childhood’s End
  • Utopia
  • The Giver
  • The Hunger Games
  • The Terminator
  • The Matrix

Genres Associated With Dystopia

• Science Fiction:
  • Sci-fi reflects society, satirizes the world, promotes peace, presents an ideal world, or a dark vision of the future.
  • Examples: "The City of Ember," "The Hunger Games," "Library War," the Galactic Empire from Star Wars.
• Fantasy:
  • Many dystopias take place on other worlds or alternate realities, like Mordor in Lord of the Rings.
• Satire:
  • The first dystopian novel in English may have been Gulliver’s Travels, which made fun of British society and materialism (greed).

The Origins of Utopian Literature in English

• Utopian/Dystopian literature in English started with Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift.
• The first novels labeled as “dystopian” were We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin, published in 1921, and The Iron Heel by Jack London, published in 1908.

Yahoos and Houyhnhnms

• Yahoos:
  • Humanoid, aggressive, and impetuous.
  • Used by the Houyhnhnms for work; Mindless Labourers. "I sate coming towards the house a kind of whicle dran like a sledge by four yahoos"
• Houyhnhnms:
  • Intelligent, peaceful, and trustworthy but without passion and emotional connection; logical but naive.
  • They do not lie, cheat, or steal and don't understand why anyone would need to do so.
  • They use the Yahoos as labor, and their word for “evil” is “Yahoo.”
  • They are perfect innocence and naivety in contrast with the wild thoughtlessness of the Yahoos.
• Gulliver's Predicament:
  • Gulliver wants to become a Houyhnhnm but can’t; he is more of a Yahoo, but his pride blinds him to that.

Swift the Satirist

• Jonathan Swift mocked British society in Gulliver’s Travels.
• He satirized the idea of a perfect society, stating that every society has flaws preventing it from being perfect.
• In British society, the ruling class treated workers like objects, and peace was only available for the wealthy.

Brave New World

• Written in 1932 by Aldous Huxley, who was influenced by upper-class British society and free-thinking cultures in southern California.
• Huxley’s brother was Julian Huxley, a believer in eugenics (the study of how human genes make one kind of person “superior”) and the first Director of UNESCO.
• Huxley incorporated both eugenics (selection) and industrialization (efficiency) into the book, as influenced by his brother and Henry Ford, respectively.

Contextual Influences on Brave New World

• Spanish Flu (1918-20)
• Great Depression
• Job automation/mass production
• Increased use of advertisements and propaganda (Edward Bernays)
• Rejection of Victorian morality/increased sexual liberties
• Eugenics Movement
• Psychological discoveries (Pavlov’s dog, Behaviorist School of psychology & Freud’s concepts)

Brave New World Caste System

• Alpha/Alpha Plus:
  • Highest ranking; officials/elite scientists; not mass-produced; Grey
• Beta:
  • Second highest; highly technical jobs; some individuality; Purple/Mulberry; Like Alphas, Betas are not mass-produced and have more freedom and individuality. Most likely to work in places needing high technical skill. Live to satisfy their desires
• Gamma:
  • Polite; not deep thinkers, but conversive; service sector jobs; Green; Gammas are nice and polite but ultimately stupid. Most likely to be in service roles.
• Delta:
  • “Factory workers”; conditioned to dislike nature; consumers; Khaki; Deltas are docile and eager consumers, reprogrammed to dislike books and flowers. They are skillful in making things.
• Epsilon:
  • Low-level laborers; illiterate; Black; Epsilons are lowest, they can't read or write, are extremely obedient and destined to perform menial labor.

Brave New World’s Characters System

• Bernard Marx: An Alpha Plus (but not of normal stature); sad/morose; seeks meaning
• Lenina Crowne: A technician; in love with Bernard
• Helmholtz Watson: Emotional Engineer; loves poetry; Bernard’s friend
• Mustapha Mond: The World Controller; believes in maintaining order above all
• John, The Savage: An outsider from society; raised on a “savage” reservation; represents pure individuality/the arts/unrestrained free will/naivety