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3. Dystopian Fiction is flawed by its pessimism: the hero can never win. Discuss.

The role pessimism plays in Dystopian Fiction, particularly in Nineteen Eight-Four by George Orwell (1949) and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953), and how the hero can never win.

Dystopia derives from the Ancient Greek for ‘bad’ (Dys) and ‘place’ (utopia). In dystopian literature the author writes of an imagined, futuristic ?? CANT IT BE IMAGINED PAST OR PRESENT? place in which oppressive societal ID THIS A REALWORD? control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control. Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system. (quote???)

Dystopian novels are on one hand ( LWASY OR GENERALLY?) critiques of an author’s society and on the other hand, inherently a product of that society. By this I mean that the author’s ideas, writing style and approach to certain subjects will have inevitably been shaped by the very society they are critiquing. This is perhaps one of the reasons why the genre tends to be so pessimistic. Dystopian as political satires are a self-reflection as much as a comment on society where the writer projects their fears ON in their own society on to their work and like all ( MOST?)  self-deprecating work has a tendency to be harsh and pessimistic.

In this essay I will be looking ( I LOOK?)  at the role pessimism plays in Dystopian Fiction, how this pessimism is evoked, and how it contributes to our interpretation of Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) by George Orwell and Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury.

The feeling of pessimism and the negative tone is present from the very first impressions of these texts. In Fahrenheit 451 the first line immediately tells the reader of the cold-blooded way in which the fireman operates. “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.” (Bradbury, 9) Immediately we wonder what (HE COULD BE WRITING ABOUT )  this ( missing ? )  object could be. It could be a subconscious desire from the fireman to ‘burn’ the totalitarian state down, foreshadowing his realization and its outcome. It could be himself, that he would rather have his fate be burned than remain living in his world. Perhaps it could be a less direct connection to the character, for example, for something to burn it needs temporarily be left which possibly implies time. This missing object could take on a number of different meaningS and yet all of these are in one way or another negative.

The same can be seen in Nineteen Eighty-Four, although in a more apparent way: “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”(Orwell, 3) The reader is immediately given the sense that something is not quite right, for example and more obviously the clock striking thirteen, a number that many associate with bad luck for superstitious reasons. ‘The clocks striking thirteen’ also appears to be something noticed from a place of unease, the word striking generating a tense feeling of anxiety.

Dystopian Fiction writers create worlds ruled by power-crazed, totalitarian states in which the individual is no longer free and humans are the slaves of technology. The role of technology in society is incredibly present in both texts, BUT EVEN MORE SO IN especially in Fahrenheit 451. The death of nature, freedom and individuality is replaced by a mechanized and dehumanizing environment. The totalitarian state in place not only promotes but CONTINUOUSLY? continuingly manipulates the people in this dystopian world to have a lack of individual identities, ‘they exist principally as specimens of their class (49 – the dystopian impulse in modern literature). The people living in these SOCIETIES / LIVESworlds live in a grey, industrial world where they are controlled in ways they are not even aware of and turned into something not unlike machines, the focus being instead on industrial efficiency and mass production.

The reader is able to continuingly** observe this mechanization of people and culture. What we believe makes us fundamentally human is no longer part of people’s lives. Instead of being encouraged or even allowed to reflect on the world that surrounds them and how it works, be creative, have meaningful relationships, to name a few, they are expected to be passive., IN In other words to be part of a collective, not an individual. “On one level Winston attempts to resist by activism, by rebellion, seeking out the enemies of the regime; but on another level he simply struggles to maintain his individuality.” (150, the Cambridge Companion to George Orwell) Their every activity is monitored however, ;  they lose not only their independence but their individuality, turning into shells of human beings.

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The totalitarian system in place in these worlds dehumanizes people to the extent that what we consider to be a main aspect of human life and human being is no longer present or predominant in them. NO MAIN CLAUSE> For example in the production of poetry and music in Orwell’s dystopian world which is done by machines. A form of expression and creativity that our current society?? considers at its core to be human, which helps us give meaning to our existence (119 the literary underground???) is fabricated by machines, making it lifeless and soulless. This is arguably!! what we witness in both texts, Winston Smith and Montag’s struggle for their humanity that has been taken away from them by the dehumanizing world they are part of. The reader follows the process that they go through in an attempt to recuperate some of their humanity and individuality.

Technology plays a big role in this dehumanization and instilL in the reader feelings of unease and uncertainty. Both Orwell and Bradbury’s worlds are all together incredibly familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. The homely becomes unhomely, the familiar becomes uncomfortably strange or the unfamiliar become strangely familiar. (Bennett and Royle, 40??) These feelings of the uncanny are present from the beginning of both novels. Take Nineteen Eighty-Four’s MAIN world main slogan: “‘Big Brother is watching you’, but not watching over you as a brother should. Satires turn moral truths upside down. This configuration of the friendly into the threatening is a perfect piece of double-think.” (149 Cambridge companion) The reader is simultaneously familiar the setting – a society and a government - and believe they know what will happen while at the same time having a sense that something is not right from the start. This feeling of wrongness and of the uncanny which can often make us feel something akin to dread is prominent in the texts and contributes to the pessimist feeling dystopian DYSTOPIA? is flawed with.

The environment in which both Winston Smith and Montag live is one where hatred is not only accepted but highly encouraged. Replacing love for hatred is another integral part of this totalitarian system and to insure this system continues in place. Hatred is important to insure people are not inclined to create relationships and loyalties that may lead to the ultimate realization that the way they are living is unnatural and dehumanizing. This hatred, hellish environment is naturally painted in a pessimistic way and makes the reader reflect on the ways in which we live and whether we could ever reach such a future.

In Nineteen Eighty-Four, for example people are encouraged to share their hatred in the two minutes of hate. This encouragement is done in such a way that you cannot help but participate. As the main character tells us: “The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but that it was impossible to avoid joining in.”(Orwell, ) The people are manipulated to such an extent that hatred and a society without meaningful relationships is normal. The state hopes that by having people express their anger and hatred in a controlled way it will not only increase that anger and hatred but also make people have a feeling of participation and action enabling them to continue being passive in life.

The pessimism in dystopiaN? literature is not only natural in terms of its themes, setting and circumstances but also highlights the hopelessness we as readers feel for the people in this world. ;;; People that WHO? have been brainwashed and programmed to the extent that they themselves do not see their own tragedy. The reader is in actuality the one to channel their own pessimistic feelings onto these dystopian worlds. We are the ones thatWHO see how tragic their reality is, how soulless and empty their lives and they are.

One of the characteristics of dystopian fiction is exactly that, often the characters believe they are living in a utopian world, they don’t realize how much is kept from them and how much they are being controlled. We, as readers see their tragedy more clearly and cannot help but compare it to our own world and reflect on whether this could be the case in our world, making us wonder how much we are actually being manipulated and controlled. “Bradbury is very clear that it took no special revolutionary tyranny to achieve this. His point is that we arrived in the novel’s world via the popular vote, by public will. He shows us how democracy itself can be manipulated so that we become consenting elements in a system designed to make the rich richer, the poor poorer and the middle class, the anxious consumer class, constantly on the brink of losing its credit.” (quote) Even in our current world we see how possible it is to make society follow something without realizing what they are complying to.

Making these texts optimistic would defeat the purpose of dystopian literature which is not only to criticize but to warn people of the dangers of being passive in their lives. “(..) we should remember that the purpose of the narrator - protagonist’s entire journey in hell is to serve him – and his readers – as a warning to avoid the sin that condemns the sinner to eternal damnation, and to purse instead the ways up to heaven (...)” (Intro – Dystopia West, Dystopia East) Dystopian literature takes things to an extreme, as said in the quote, a ‘journey in hell’ it depicts a situation that is almost as terrible as it can get to make people understand the extent to which things can get to.

As a political book, founded BASED? on history and offering an interpretation of disrupted events one of the reason Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four especially is so pessimistic is that Orwell was aware of the level of manipulation propaganda of the time AND THE MANIPULATORS?? were attempting and mostly successfully doing THIS. Orwell’s reasoning to make his novel so pessimist could arguably be that he wanted it to have the opposite tone as propaganda. Nevertheless to a certain extend that is what dystopian fiction is – propaganda – with the objective of making sure certain mistakes are avoided and people’s actions respond to this warning. The reader is invited to reflect on the society they live in and its flaws and how these, if untackled and unchanged could mean a similar dystopian reality for future generations.

Orwell’s wish appears to be to not make something negative happy, risking it coming across as irrelevant, the author wanted to be as clear as possible. Highlighting how permanent the situation would be if reached???: “It is one of the most conspicuous features of the warning in these classics of dystopian fiction that once we allow the totalitarian state to come to power, there will be no way back.” (4, Intro- Dystopia West, Dystopia East) The Dystopian worlds the authors create are depicted as ruled by an all invincible, power crazed totalitarian state from which the inhabitants have no choice but to follow and any attempt at going against it will end in different forms of punishment. We get a sense of hopelessness for the characters living in this world because it is clear that there is no return, there is no going back, no possible solution or revolution that could liberate people and free them from such a state.

The reader is aware, from the beginning of the novels that these will inevitably end in the protagonist’s trial, that the main character’s quest to reclaim their individuality will invariably be unsuccessful. Throughout the novels, the negative and pessimist feeling that is evoked lets the reader know that the outcome IS NOT GOING TO BE PSOTIIVIE?

 not be positive. One could argue THEN WHY DOESN'T ONE?? that our main character is inherently a victim, not a hero. A victim for the life it’s forced to lead, the world in which it HE + IT?? has to live in and our own knowledge that his ultimate fate will most likely be a negative one. However this is what makes Winston Smith and Montag heroes, that they realize what is happening an attempt to fight it. “Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four to a transformation of the individual personality until it embraces all it abhors (…). The sinister and irrevocable transformation of the protagonist represents the irrevocable damnation of his society. “(4, Intro- Dystopia West, Dystopia East) The whole novel is tainted by the fact that the reader knows that the main character’s quest of going against the system will inevitably be unsuccessful, we simply don’t know when or how but we know it will end in injustice as is common in the dystopian genre. Even in Fahrenheit 451 where one could interpret the ending in a positive light we still have to consider that not only did the fireman have to become a villain and kill people to get where he gets but that even then he will spend his whole life running away and waiting to destroy a system he was once a part of. Even when he is ‘free’ he is still following the system.

Overall, it may be said that dystopian fiction is in fact flawed with pessimism in various aspects which is to be expected considering the theme it focuses on. It not only helps set the tone for the novel but guides us through reading it.

The general negativity and permanently unsuccessful hero helps the reader become aware of the long-lasting consequences of reaching a situation like a totalitarian government. “That he is finally defeated is inevitable in this satire of total power.” (150 the Cambridge companion to George Orwell) The constant pessimistic presence is incredibly effective making people question their own selves, their actions, the world and the role they play in it.

. Dystopian Fiction is flawed by its pessimism: the hero can never win. Discuss.

The role pessimism plays in Dystopian Fiction, particularly in Nineteen Eight-Four by George Orwell (1949) and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953), and how the hero can never win.

Dystopia derives from the Ancient Greek for ‘bad’ (Dys) and ‘place’ (utopia). In dystopian literature the author writes of an imagined, futuristic place in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control. Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system. (quote)

Dystopian novels are on one hand critiques of an author’s society and on the other hand, inherently a product of that society. By this I mean that the author’s ideas, writing style and approach to certain subjects will have inevitably been shaped by the very society they are critiquing. This is perhaps one of the reasons why the genre tends to be so pessimistic. Dystopian as political satires are a self-reflection as much as a comment on society where the writer projects their fears in their own society on to their work and like all self-deprecating work has a tendency to be harsh and pessimistic.

In this essay I will be looking at the role pessimism plays in Dystopian Fiction, how this pessimism is evoked, and how it contributes to our interpretation of Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) by George Orwell and Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury.

The feeling of pessimism and the negative tone is present from the very first impressions of these texts. In Fahrenheit 451 the first line immediately tells the reader of the cold-blooded way in which the fireman operates. “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.” (Bradbury, 9) Immediately we wonder what this missing object could be. It could be a subconscious desire from the fireman to ‘burn’ the totalitarian state down, foreshadowing his realization and its outcome. It could be himself, that he would rather have his fate be burned than remain living in his world. Perhaps it could be a less direct connection to the character, for example, for something to burn it needs temporarily be left which possibly implies time. This missing object could take on a number of different meaning and yet all of these are in one way or another negative.

The same can be seen in Nineteen Eighty-Four, although in a more apparent way: “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”(Orwell, 3) The reader is immediately given the sense that something is not quite right, for example and more obviously the clock striking thirteen, a number that many associate with bad luck for superstitious reasons. ‘The clocks striking thirteen’ also appears to be something noticed from a place of unease, the word striking generating a tense feeling of anxiety.

Dystopian Fiction writers create worlds ruled by power-crazed, totalitarian states in which the individual is no longer free and humans are the slaves of technology. The role of technology in society is incredibly present in both texts, especially in Fahrenheit 451. The death of nature, freedom and individuality is replaced by a mechanized and dehumanizing environment. The totalitarian state in place not only promotes but continuingly manipulates the people in this dystopian world to have a lack of individual identities, ‘they exist principally as specimens of their class (49 – the dystopian impulse in modern literature). The people living in these worlds live in a grey, industrial world where they are controlled in ways they are not even aware of and turned into something not unlike machines, the focus being instead on industrial efficiency and mass production.

The reader is able to continuingly observe this mechanization of people and culture. What we believe makes us fundamentally human is no longer part of people’s lives. Instead of being encouraged or even allowed to reflect on the world that surrounds them and how it works, be creative, have meaningful relationships, to name a few, they are expected to be passive. In other words to be part of a collective, not an individual. “On one level Winston attempts to resist by activism, by rebellion, seeking out the enemies of the regime; but on another level he simply struggles to maintain his individuality.” (150, the Cambridge Companion to George Orwell) Their every activity is monitored however, they lose not only their independence but their individuality, turning into shells of human beings.

The totalitarian system in place in these worlds dehumanizes people to the extent that what we consider to be a main aspect of human life and human being is no longer present or predominant in them. For example in the production of poetry and music in Orwell’s dystopian world which is done by machines. A form of expression and creativity that our current society considers at its core to be human, which helps us give meaning to our existence (119 the literary underground) is fabricated by machines, making it lifeless and soulless. This is arguably what we witness in both texts, Winston Smith and Montag’s struggle for their humanity that has been taken away from them by the dehumanizing world they are part of. The reader follows the process that they go through in an attempt to recuperate some of their humanity and individuality.

Technology plays a big role in this dehumanization and instil in the reader feelings of unease and uncertainty. Both Orwell and Bradbury’s worlds are all together incredibly familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. The homely becomes unhomely, the familiar becomes uncomfortably strange or the unfamiliar become strangely familiar. (Bennett and Royle, 40) These feelings of the uncanny are present from the beginning of both novels. Take Nineteen Eighty-Four’s world main slogan: “‘Big Brother is watching you’, but not watching over you as a brother should. Satires turn moral truths upside down. This configuration of the friendly into the threatening is a perfect piece of double-think.” (149 Cambridge companion) The reader is simultaneously familiar the setting – a society and a government - and believe they know what will happen while at the same time having a sense that something is not right from the start. This feeling of wrongness and of the uncanny which can often make us feel something akin to dread is prominent in the texts and contributes to the pessimist feeling dystopian is flawed with.

The environment in which both Winston Smith and Montag live is one where hatred is not only accepted but highly encouraged. Replacing love for hatred is another integral part of this totalitarian system and to insure this system continues in place. Hatred is important to insure people are not inclined to create relationships and loyalties that may lead to the ultimate realization that the way they are living is unnatural and dehumanizing. This hatred, hellish environment is naturally painted in a pessimistic way and makes the reader reflect on the ways in which we live and whether we could ever reach such a future.

In Nineteen Eighty-Four, for example people are encouraged to share their hatred in the two minutes of hate. This encouragement is done in such a way that you cannot help but participate. As the main character tells us: “The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but that it was impossible to avoid joining in.”(Orwell, ) The people are manipulated to such an extent that hatred and a society without meaningful relationships is normal. The state hopes that by having people express their anger and hatred in a controlled way it will not only increase that anger and hatred but also make people have a feeling of participation and action enabling them to continue being passive in life.

The pessimism in dystopia literature is not only natural in terms of its themes, setting and circumstances but also highlights the hopelessness we as readers feel for the people in this world. People that have been brainwashed and programmed to the extent that they themselves do not see their own tragedy. The reader is in actuality the one to channel their own pessimistic feelings onto these dystopian worlds. We are the ones that see how tragic their reality is, how soulless and empty their lives and they are.

One of the characteristics of dystopian fiction is exactly that, often the characters believe they are living in a utopian world, they don’t realize how much is kept from them and how much they are being controlled. We, as readers see their tragedy more clearly and cannot help but compare it to our own world and reflect on whether this could be the case in our world, making us wonder how much we are actually being manipulated and controlled. “Bradbury is very clear that it took no special revolutionary tyranny to achieve this. His point is that we arrived in the novel’s world via the popular vote, by public will. He shows us how democracy itself can be manipulated so that we become consenting elements in a system designed to make the rich richer, the poor poorer and the middle class, the anxious consumer class, constantly on the brink of losing its credit.” (quote) Even in our current world we see how possible it is to make society follow something without realizing what they are complying to.

Making these texts optimistic would defeat the purpose of dystopian literature which is not only to criticize but to warn people of the dangers of being passive in their lives. “(..) we should remember that the purpose of the narrator - protagonist’s entire journey in hell is to serve him – and his readers – as a warning to avoid the sin that condemns the sinner to eternal damnation, and to purse instead the ways up to heaven (...)” (Intro – Dystopia West, Dystopia East) Dystopian literature takes things to an extreme, as said in the quote, a ‘journey in hell’ it depicts a situation that is almost as terrible as it can get to make people understand the extent to which things can get to.

As a political book, founded on history and offering an interpretation of disrupted events one of the reason Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four especially is so pessimistic is that Orwell was aware of the level of manipulation propaganda of the time were attempting and mostly successfully doing. Orwell’s reasoning to make his novel so pessimist could arguably be that he wanted it to have the opposite tone as propaganda. Nevertheless to a certain extend that is what dystopian fiction is – propaganda – with the objective of making sure certain mistakes are avoided and people’s actions respond to this warning. The reader is invited to reflect on the society they live in and its flaws and how these, if untackled and unchanged could mean a similar dystopian reality for future generations.

Orwell’s wish appears to be to not make something negative happy, risking it coming across as irrelevant, the author wanted to be as clear as possible. Highlighting how permanent the situation would be if reached: “It is one of the most conspicuous features of the warning in these classics of dystopian fiction that once we allow the totalitarian state to come to power, there will be no way back.” (4, Intro- Dystopia West, Dystopia East) The Dystopian worlds the authors create are depicted as ruled by an all invincible, power crazed totalitarian state from which the inhabitants have no choice but to follow and any attempt at going against it will end in different forms of punishment. We get a sense of hopelessness for the characters living in this world because it is clear that there is no return, there is no going back, no possible solution or revolution that could liberate people and free them from such a state.

The reader is aware, from the beginning of the novels that these will inevitably end in the protagonist’s trial, that the main character’s quest to reclaim their individuality will invariably be unsuccessful. Throughout the novels, the negative and pessimist feeling that is evoked lets the reader know that the outcome not be positive. One could argue that our main character is inherently a victim, not a hero. A victim for the life it’s forced to lead, the world in which it has to live in and our own knowledge that his ultimate fate will most likely be a negative one. However this is what makes Winston Smith and Montag heroes, that they realize what is happening an attempt to fight it. “Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four to a transformation of the individual personality until it embraces all it abhors (…). The sinister and irrevocable transformation of the protagonist represents the irrevocable damnation of his society. “(4, Intro- Dystopia West, Dystopia East) The whole novel is tainted by the fact that the reader knows that the main character’s quest of going against the system will inevitably be unsuccessful, we simply don’t know when or how but we know it will end in injustice as is common in the dystopian genre. Even in Fahrenheit 451 where one could interpret the ending in a positive light we still have to consider that not only did the fireman have to become a villain and kill people to get where he gets but that even then he will spend his whole life running away and waiting to destroy a system he was once a part of. Even when he is ‘free’ he is still following the system.

Overall, it may be said that dystopian fiction is in fact flawed with pessimism in various aspects which is to be expected considering the theme it focuses on. It not only helps set the tone for the novel but guides us through reading it.

The general negativity and permanently unsuccessful hero helps the reader become aware of the long-lasting consequences of reaching a situation like a totalitarian government. “That he is finally defeated is inevitable in this satire of total power.” (150 the Cambridge companion to George Orwell) The constant pessimistic presence is incredibly effective making people question their own selves, their actions, the world and the role they play in it.