The three documents under study are two literary excerpts and a photograph.

Document 1 is taken
from Brave New World, written by Aldous Huxley and published in 1932, and depicts the “Hypnopeadic
process” used in this society to “educate” babies. Document 2 is an excerpt from The Giver, a novel by Lois
Lowry published in 1993, in which the reader discovers the community of Sameness where objects and
people are considered the same. Finally, document 3 is a photograph which was taken in May 2019 in the
United States and which depicts female activists dressed as handmaids, as a reference to Margaret
Atwood’s dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, during a protest to defend the right to abortion. ( = ici j’ai
présenté très brièvement les 3 docs, maintenant il faut expliquer pourquoi ils ont été mis ensemble, et la
question qu’ils soulèvent = l’annonce de la problématique+ annonce du plan) These 3 documents are set
in or refer to dystopian societies in which individuals seem to have lost or risk losing their freedom and
especially their right to make their own decisions.
So, how do the societies under study threaten the right to make choices? First, I will identify the
dystopian characteristics of the societies depicted in these documents and then, I will show how the
absence of choice is at the heart of these worlds.

Dystopian fiction often portrays societies in which individuals are submitted to an authoritarian
government which deprives individuals of freedom and enforces a strong hierarchy which causes social
inequalities. Indeed, in document A, we understand there are several social groups like the Alphas, who are
obviously at the top since they are “frightfully clever” while the Epsilons are at the bottom of the social
ladder. It is worth noting that each category is associated to a colour, which means individuals are defined
by what they wear, not who they are. This idea is also present in document 3 which refers to Margaret
Atwood’s Handmaids’Tale in which people are also dressed according to their “function”. Thus, ( = ainsi)
individuals are not defined by their personality but only by the role they play in society. This idea is also
depicted in document 2 where people’s personalities do not matter since they are considered as objects.
In this document the notion of hierarchy is also important, since only one individual is gifted with the
power to remember the world as it was before the community of Sameness made uniformity mandatory.
( = obligatoire) The concept of hierarchy is also highlighted in document 3 the women are on the same
level but hidden behind the sign about justice, some of them almost invisible . Thus, the power of law-
makers appears even more oppressive.

In all three documents, we understand that what makes governments powerful is their ability to
take away rights, and here specifically the right to make choices. Indeed, in document A, babies are
brainwashed into accepting their position on the social ladder, and they are also told who they should
admire and who they should despise. It is interesting to notice that this process is supposed to teach them
to be happy with their lot: “I’m so happy I am a Beta” the babies are told in Brave New World. This
satisfaction derived from the absence of choice can also be seen in document B where the absence of
choice is seen as a way to make people happier and safer: Jonas finally concludes that “We really have to
protect people from wrong choices.” In other words, in these two fictional societies, those at the top know
what is best for citizens and document 3 shows that in our world too, some political leaders, often men,
think they know best what is good for women and believe women should not be allowed to make
important decisions regarding (= concerning) their own bodies.

To conclude, these three documents show that dystopian societies rely on authoritarian
governments who try to make people believe that they are doing their best to protect them even if that is
at the cost of their own free-will.