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Jacob Anderson

Mrs. M. J. Clark

AP English Literature/Composition 602

March 28, 2018

Dystopian Societies in Classic Literature

Literary works about dystopian societies display flawed

aspects of over-controlling governments that strive to maintain

power. One form of over-controlling government is shown through

social roles represented by animals that struggle to create a

perfect government. Another work shows the key concept of

controlling the population by restricting knowledge of the past.

Lastly, the denial of self is depicted as crucial to surviving

in a dystopian society that values efficiency over freedom

showing the many key traits of a dystopia.

George Orwell creates a dystopian society in Animal Farm by

choosing animals as symbols for Russia’s totalitarian regime

after the 1917 rebellion. The key animals, the pigs, act as

leaders for the farm. Old Major, the eldest pig, represents

Karl Marx and creates the rule: “Four legs good, two legs bad”

(Orwell 50) as a rallying point for the animals to take over the

farm by giving them the courage to fight for a democracy, but

ironically, the pigs start standing on two legs like humans.

Napoleon represents a combination of Stalin and Lenin due to his

cruel leadership after he chases off Snowball to take control

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over the farm. Napoleon controls the animals by ruling through

intimidation and employs dogs like the Russian police to execute

the animals who do not agree with him. The pigs further

distinguish themselves by sleeping in the beds in the farmhouse,

receiving extra portions of food, and performing the least

amount of work. As a result of Napoleon’s unfair benefits and

cruel treatment of the animals he is seen as a dictator to the

animals.

Unlike Napoleon, Snowball aims to create a utopian society

where all the animals are equal instead of just the pigs. To

achieve his goal Snowball proposes ideas to make life for the

animals easier such as building a windmill to grind the grain

and create power making work easier for the animals. Snowball

also suggests that all animals receive similarly sized portions

of food for their work so that all the animals are equal. Even

though Snowball was favored by the animals for his bright ideas

and suggestions for equality he is chased off under the

direction of Napoleon.

Similar to Napoleon, the dogs have a prominent position in

society as the police force that maintains Napoleon’s power.

The dogs chase away Snowball under the direction of Napoleon so

that he may be elected leader. As a result, Napoleon rewards

the dogs with a comfortable lifestyle. To maintain their

comfortable lifestyle the dogs are required to kill chickens

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that Napoleon claims are spreading lies. In return for their

blind obedience, Napoleon also rewards the dogs with warmth

during the winter and extra food; whereas Napoleon forces the

other animals to suffer from starvation and the cold. Special

treatment from Napoleon separates the dogs from the other

animals and as a result places them above the other animals.

Sheep and horses constitute the lower and middle classes.

The sheep depict the large group of Russian peasants who

unintelligently repeat slogans. They maintain hope for the

future while performing common everyday work. Sedley concludes,

“In Orwell the silliest of the animals are the sheep . . . They

have no reality as characters, but they do represent the British

upper class’s opinion of the working class . . .” (56-7) while

Boxer and Mollie portray the middle class. Boxer performs hard

work and obeys the orders the pigs give him; whereas, Mollie

chooses to run off to become a show horse due to not believing

in Napoleon. The lower and middle-class animals constantly fear

Napoleon considering them as traitors and feel no peace of mind.

Boxer goes to a glue factory after Napoleon determines Boxer has

outlived his usefulness representing how the animals are

disposable.

Depicting a dystopian government, Napoleon displays the

negativities of totalitarian rule. A major flaw involves

inefficiency, which occurs when the lower-class animals starve

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while the pigs thrive. Another flaw includes the ineffective

distribution of power with the pigs maintaining ultimate control

over the farm while other animals become disposable workers for

the pigs. The slogan changing from every animal being equal to

the pigs beings more equal then the other animals displays the

deterioration of ideals. Dystopian Society leads to the animals

living a life worse then what they had experienced before

Napoleon ruled showcasing the flaws with dystopian societies.

On the other hand, in 1984 Orwell discusses a dystopian

society in which the leaders control the upper fifteen percent

of the citizens to satisfy a lust for power and control.

Winston, a member of the Outer Party, becomes the main

antagonist against Big Brother and the Inner Party. A member of

the Outer Party, Winston avoids the telescreens that spy on him,

does not enjoy Hate Week which unites him with Oceanians against

Goldstein, and despises the posters, which remind him that Big

Brother and the Inner Party are watching Winston’s every move.

Since Winston works at the Ministry of Truth, he revises history

by rewriting articles and changes the past to support the Inner

Party, thus allowing the leaders to control the thoughts of the

citizens. Gotlieb proposes, “. . . from the Party’s point of

view, the only real demon is the past itself . . .” (13)

supporting how Winston’s job is important for the party to

maintain control. Winston fights against the Inner Party by

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writing a private journal containing Winston’s experiences that

rebel against the Inner Party. Joining the Brotherhood, Winston

meets O’Brien, who eventually exposes Winston as a traitor.

Unknowingly Winston accepts O’Brien’s invitation to seek freedom

from the government of Oceania. Executing a final act of

rebellion against the Inner Party, Winston pursues his

relationship with Julia when they meet secretly to talk and

enjoy time as lovers, thus going against the Inner Party’s

belief in marriage without love. In response to Winston’s

actions the Inner Party forces Winston to submit to Big Brother

through torture before finally killing him.

Joining Winston in rebelling against the Inner Party, Julia

also enters the Brotherhood; however, unlike Winston Julia is

not willing to prioritize rebelling against the Inner Party

ahead of her relationship with Winston. When O’Brien questions

her about the actions she would be willing to do, Julia rebels

by being unchaste while secretly hiding her nature by

volunteering to help with tasks in the Outer Party involving

leading the Junior Anti-Sex League. After the Thought Police

arrest Julia and Winston, Julia is the first to betray Winston

just to survive. Julia’s betrayal informs about a dystopia’s

ability to corrupt the ideals of an individual.

Unfortunately, the divide between the Inner and Outer

Parties compromise the majority of the conflict. The Outer

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Party members, whom the Inner Party monitors closely to prevent

rebellion, live in horrific conditions and often lack basic

supplies such as razor blades. Although the Inner Party

includes only one percent of the population, they live fancier

lives with extra perks such as wine and elevators. The Inner

Party works to limit the Outer Party’s resistance. Members of

the Inner Party follow strict rules about using doublethink to

accept any information that the government changes. Thought

Police like Mr. Charrington spy on Winston while children report

Mr. Parson and spy on the population. Drell notes, “The basic

theme of Nineteen Eighty-Four is the perpetuation of power by a

clique – the Party and Big Brother – by whatever [friends and

family] means available” (41). Big Brother acts as the figure

head of the Inner Party on posters which display him as the

leader of Oceania. Even though Big Brother is believed to be

fictitious an imaginary leader makes sense since loving a person

is easier than loving the party. One critic declares, “. . .

Big Brother is the fact that love, fear, and reverence are ‘more

easily felt toward an individual than toward an organization’”

(Dallin 193); therefore, Winston concludes that the proles will

rise to fight against the government of Oceania to end the rain

of oppression. Winston’s belief reflects the concept of the

constant power struggle that plagues dystopian societies leading

to their demise.
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Surprisingly, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World explores the

concept that a utopian society can prove similar to a dystopian

society. John, the Savage, an outsider to society, is brought

by Bernard to the city from a savage Reservation. Due to his

upbringing separated from society, John possesses different

beliefs and chooses to believe in freedom of choice. When he

argues for the choice to sin, John accepts his past instead of

ignoring. As a result, John seeks romantic love like

Shakespeare’s character as well as living a moral life by the

Bible and believing in God. John’s savage upbringing causes his

alienation from society since his traditions of religion and

reading are not what the World State accepts as standard. At

the same time John does not accept London’s customs, such as

taking soma to reduce worries and always having people surround

him. He enjoys taking time to reflect, which allows him to

maintain his independence, but Matter reports that for the World

State: “Individuality must be repressed because it invites a

malleable social structure” (62), which supports the idea that

John cannot fit in society. To escape society to be himself

John flees to a light house where he eventually commits suicide

due to not being fit for society.

In a similar manner, Lenina, John’s mother, suffers

alienation from society due to her living on a savage

Reservation for many years. At first Lenina acts overjoyed to

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return to London and visit her old friends. She believes that

the savage Reservation seems awful; however, when Lenina arrives

society mocks her for giving birth to a baby and looking

malformed as a result of her lifestyle on the Reservation.

Lenina’s inability to cope with the modern culture causes her to

commit suicide by overdosing on soma. With Lenina dead, John

feels even further separated from society leading to his

argument with Mustapha.

Mustapha Mond, unlike John and Lenina, proves his ability

to live in society by adapting. Stability serves as Mustapha’s

top priority, which he displays with pride during the decanting

process. To achieve stability, Mustapha believes citizens must

surrender certain rights relating to freedom. Shock training

and hypnopedia are used to correct thoughts relating to families

and time alone, as well as personal thoughts. Mustapha also

stresses the use of Soma to fix issues pertaining to life and

stress. Unlike John Mustapha chooses to deny the past by

considering family vulgar and by describing it in terms of a

cramped area that creates selfishness. Mustapha knows about God

but chooses to deny Him. An entity from the past, which

medicine has replaced, the World State does not accept God. The

World State sees literature outdated and unnecessary since it

does not better society. Holmes claims, “Mustapha’s goal

remains the child-like happiness of others [the citizens] while

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the Savage insists on freedom, on the right to be unhappy . . .”

(28). Overall, Mustapha believes in bettering society while

John looks towards the individual for hope. The struggle

between Mustapha and John acts as a physical representation of

the power struggle between the upper and lower class while

showing how the individual must adapt to survive in a dystopia.

Even though each society displays a utopia, they act

ultimately similar to a dystopia. Citizens seem similar to

slaves after giving up their freedom to a government that pushes

out the individual so that the leaders enjoy full control, and

only a select few possess freedom of choice. Mustapha belongs

to the ruling party that selects information that citizens know

while John depicts the class of people who rebel against the

dystopia. The restriction of knowledge and the restriction of

individualism showcase key flaws that occur from dystopian

societies.

While dystopian novels share a key theme of controlling

society by limiting knowledge, they also reveal the inevitable

opposition toward them by the middle and lower classes. Animal

Farm shows off how when one dystopian society falls another

takes its place through the society created by the pigs. On the

other hand, 1984 chooses to display the corruption of ideals and

the importance of controlling the past. Denial of freedom is

the final key trait of dystopias that Brave New World depicts.
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All the novels display a different key trait that makes up a

dystopia and are critical to its survival however, at its core

all the concepts reveal the flaws of a dystopia and why it would

never work.
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Works Cited

Dallin, Alexander. “Big Brother Is Watching You.” On “Nineteen

Eighty-Four.” Ed. Peter Stansky. Stanford: Stanford Alumni,

1983. 188-96.

Drell, Sidney D. “Newspeak and Nukespeak.” On “Nineteen

Eighty-Four.” Ed. Peter Stansky. Stanford: Stanford Alumni,

1983. 33-42.

Gotlieb, Erika. “The Function of Goldstein’s Book: Time as Theme

and Structure in Dystopian Satire.” Utopian Studies 2.3 (14

May 2015): 12-9. 11 Feb. 2018 <web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/

detail/detail?vid=1&sid=>.

Holmes, Charles M. “The Self Cannot Survive in Huxley’s Utopia.”

Readings on “Brave New World.” Ed. Katie de Koster. San

Diego: Greenhaven, 1999. 26-32.

Matter, William. “Utopia Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up to Be.”

Readings on “Brave New World.” Ed. Katie de Koster. San

Diego: Greenhaven, 1999. 61-9.

Orwell, George. Animal Farm: A Fairy Story. New York: Signet,

1966.

Sedley, Stephen. “Politics, Not Literary Quality, Has Made

Animal Farm a Lasting Novel.” Reading on “Animal Farm.”

Ed. Terry O’Neill. San Diego: Greenhaven, 1998. 54-60.