VOX

BY
CHRISTINA DALCHER

Betina Ewa Jendrecka

HOW
MANY
WORDS
HAVE
YOU
SPOKEN
TODAY?!
 INDEX
• Introduction
• The novel and the author
• About dystopian genre
• Summary of „Vox“
• Dystopian elements in „Vox“
• Oppression of woman
• Authoritarian Control
• Social Decay
• Critism of existing systems
• Loss of Personal Liberties
• Conclusion
• Why did I choose this book?
• Why am I dissatisfied with this book?
• „Vox“ as school reading – pros and cons
INTRODUCTION
 THE NOVEL AND THE AUTHOR

The novel „Vox“ The author Christina Dalcher

 ABOUT DYSTOPIAN GENRE
• Oppression and control
• Social Decay
• Restriction of personal freedoms
• Surveillance State and Technology
• Criticism of existing systems
• Hopelessness and desolation
 SUMMARY OF „VOX“
• Take place in USA
• History of oppressed women by a government that sprang from the Bible Belt
• The „Pure“ movement is in the role of moral guardian
• Since the takeover, female members of society are only allowed to say 100 words a day
• The main characters are the linguist Jean, her husband Patrick and their four children, including a daughter
named Sonia
• There are two camps in the story, those who submit to the regime (including Jean‘s son Steve) and the
counter-movement, to which e.g. the disguised postman belongs
• When the president‘s brother suffers from Wernicke‘s aphasia, Jean is allowed to do research again and
negotiates certain privileges for herself and her daughter
• In the laboratory she finally meets Lorenzo with whom she begins a fatal affair
• In the end there is a happy ending for all but one
DYSTOPIAN ELEMENTS
IN „VOX“
 OPPRESSION OF WOMAN
• Maximum 100 words per day
• Moral behavior is required
• Seperate school for girls, where they only lern simpole math, religion and, above all,
„practical“ content
• Women become compulsively housewives
• In the course of the story there is the word counter with update, this requires daily recitation
of the creed and inappropriate choice of words is punished with additional words
• Exceeding the word limit will be punished with electric shocks
• Unruly women who are reported to the „Pure“-oranization are publicly exposed and sent to a
labor camp
 AUTHORITARIAN CONTROL
• Passwort withdrawal for women
• Word counter as a control mechanism
• School content is co-determined by the government-related oranization
• Regular speeches by the President to the people
• Controlled mass media content
• Anyone can become a snitch and will be rewarded for reporting erroneous behavior
 SOCIAL DECLAY
• Men have full controll over politics, public life and, to a large extent, over women‘s
everyday life
• Women have almost no rights, education, career and culture is unattainable for them
• Patriarchy has returned
• Social cohesion is crumbling, fear and distrust prevail
• There is unrest and insecurity in the general population
• Family relationships are put to the test, which then partially beak apart
 CRITISM OF EXISTING SYSTEM

The critiques in "Vox" aim to illuminate the negative effects of a repressive system and
provoke readers to reflect on issues such as gender justice, individual freedom and the value of
language.
 LOSS OF PERSONAL LIBERTIES
• Serves to maintain power and control of the government
• To suppress the opposition and the resistance
• As part of social control
• As a tool for obtaining the hierarchial structures
CONCLUSION
 WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS BOOK?

I was interested in the "game" with suppression due to a ban on speaking. The seizure of
power by the ultra-conservative government described above also prompted me to read this
book. Maybe as a warning to society?
 WHY AM I DISSATISFIED WITH
THIS BOOK?
• Strong beginning but rapid descent of the story
• Too many subplots, partly obscure entanglements
• The trasformation from a dystopia to a tearjerker
 „VOX“ AS SCHOOL READING –
PROS AND CONS

Pros
• Topicality of the main topic
• Encourages critical thinking
• Linguistic diversity and explantation of the
importance of language
• Interdisciplinary literature – parallels to
World War II and Hitler‘s dictatorship
Conts
• Touch on a very sensitive topic
• Any political, social and religious
controversies
• Not recommended for all ages
 THIS PRESENTATION
CONTAINS
670
WORDS.
THE WORD COUNTER WOULD
HAVE PROBABLY
KILLED
ME.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION