MASARYK UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

Department of English Language and Literature

Dystopia in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Veronica Roth’s Divergent Trilogy

Bachelor thesis

Brno 2019

Thesis supervisor: Author:

Mgr. Jiří Šalamoun, Ph.D. Erika Kristová 1

Abstract

This bachelor thesis deals with the problematics of dystopia in George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four and Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy. The theoretical part of the thesis introduces dystopia and explores its most significant features, namely control over people’s lives, disturbing setting and heroes questioning society. The analytic part firstly examines dystopian features of Nineteen Eighty-Four and then analyses the Divergent trilogy. This thesis then focuses on comparing these novels and their dystopian character. The final chapter of this thesis presents the projection of Nineteen Eighty-Four’s and Divergent’s antiutopian elements into today’s social systems, specifically the management and laws of China and North Korea, and the caste system in India.

Key words George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Veronica Roth, Divergent, dystopia, dystopian features

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Anotace

Tato bakalářská práce se zabývá problematikou dystopie v knize 1984 George Orwella a trilogii Divergence Veronicy Roth. Teoretická část této práce představuje dystopii a její nejvýznamnější prvky, jmenovitě ovládání životů lidí, znepokojivé scenerie a hrdiny zpochybňující společnost. Analytická část se první zaobírá dystopickými prvky románu 1984, a poté analyzuje Divergenci. Následovně se tato bakalářská práce zaměřuje na porovnání dystopických prvků těchto dvou románů. Závěrečná kapitola zkoumá promítnutí antiutopických prvků obou příběhů do dnešních sociálních systémů, zejména se zabývá spravováním a zákony v Číně a Severní Koreji, a kastovním systémem v Indii.

Klíčová slova

George Orwell, 1984, Veronica Roth, Divergence, dystopie, dystopické prvky

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Declaration

I hereby declare that I worked on my bachelor thesis independently and that I used only the sources listed in bibliography.

March 30, 2019 Erika Kristová

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Acknowledgement

I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to my supervisor Mgr. Jiří Šalamoun, Ph.D. for his valuable guidance, useful advice and time dedicated to my work.

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Table of Contents

Introduction ...... 7 1. Dystopia ...... 9 1.1. Definition and history ...... 9 1.2. Dystopian features ...... 11 1.2.1. Control over people’s lives ...... 11 1.2.2. A disturbing setting ...... 12 1.2.3. Heroes questioning the society ...... 14 2. Nineteen Eighty-Four dystopian features ...... 15 2.1. How people are controlled ...... 15 2.2. Post-war London, Oceania ...... 19 2.3. Winston Smith defying the system ...... 20 3. Divergent dystopian features ...... 23 3.1. Life within a faction ...... 23 3.2. Post-apocalyptic setting ...... 25 3.3. Tris as a divergent young heroine ...... 26 4. Comparison of dystopian features in Nineteen Eighty-Four and Divergent ...... 29 4.1. Control over the society ...... 30 4.2. The role of the main protagonist ...... 32 4.3. Renegades ...... 34 5. The projection of NEF and Divergent into today’s social systems ...... 36 5.1. Nineteen Eighty-Four vs China ...... 36 5.2. Nineteen Eighty-Four vs North Korea ...... 37 5.3. Divergent vs India ...... 40 Conclusion ...... 42 Bibliography ...... 44

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Introduction

In the last ten years there emerged multiple dystopian stories for young adult readers, and thus dystopian literature gained once again wide audience. Young adult novels have strong roots in older dystopias, even though today’s dystopian books are not in most cases as horrendous and appalling as they used to be. This is for young adults prefer to read stories with which they can identify, and they therefore often seek happy ending. But how does one figure out he is reading a dystopian novel?

The aim of this thesis is to answer this question and to compare dystopian features of one of today’s novels for young adults and a dystopian classic from the first half of the twentieth century. Both of these novels’ main theme is fear; nevertheless, each book deals with this topic differently. After comprehending the parallels and differences between these two narratives, the thesis then focuses on the projection of the portrayed social systems into today’s present societies or religions.

The thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter introduces dystopia and its history, mentions both dystopian classics and new novels; then it focuses on dystopian features, particularly on control over people’s lives, disturbing setting, and heroes questioning society.

The second chapter analyses dystopian features of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. The analysis includes a description of post-war London; it also explains ways by which people of Oceania are controlled, and Winston Smith’s defying the system.

In the third chapter, the dystopian character of Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth is examined. It again explores the life in post-apocalyptic world, in this case, post-apocalyptic Chicago divided into factions, and the way Tris Prior becomes a heroine.

The fourth chapter then focuses on finding parallels between the two discussed novels. It especially focuses on the formerly debated dystopian features – on the role of the main protagonist and control over the society – and adds a new topic for comparison, that is named Renegades. This subchapter deals with the outcasts of both stories.

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The fifth chapter calls attention to the projection of Nineteen Eighty-Four and Divergent into today’s social systems. Namely, it compares lives in the novels with lives in North Korea, China, and India for their regimes bear a strong resemblance to those described in novels.

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1. Dystopia

1.1. Definition and history

To comprehend the word dystopia, the term utopia must be explained first. From the etymologic point of view, the word utopia originated from two Greek words meaning „perfect place“ and „nowhere“ – it can, therefore, be defined as a perfect non-existing place or alternatively a place, where there is no one. (Szacki, 1971) Cambridge Dictionary explains utopia as ‘[the idea of] a perfect society in which everyone works well with each other and is happy’. Being happy, however, means different concepts for different people. If one approaches utopia with different aspirations, needs, values, or tastes, it may be transformed into anti-utopia. (ibid.)

When analysing Plato’s Republic (380BC), it is highly likely today’s people would not want to live in a state where guards control what the community listens to, dances to or reads. Nowadays, society as such would in most cases be considered dystopian. Who was the first author to introduce utopia is therefore not evident, although it is mostly considered to be Thomas More with his work Utopia (1516) where he recounts how a Portuguese explorer visited a joyful island with a social organization securing a feeling of maximum happiness to its inhabitants. (ibid.)

A dystopia – as well called anti-utopia or cacotopia – is an antipode of utopia. The plot is normally set in the future where the main protagonists deal with their fears and rebel against the oppression from the side of the government that borrows some features from the present societies. Typical for dystopias is a novel genre. In order to ironize and criticize utopias’ possible inauguration, it is vital to characterize them in “real life”. If such accession has not been achieved, dystopia would become utopia because it would once again be describing an ideal system of society without any critical point of view. (Naxera & Stulík, 2012)

As for each writer there might be different interpretations and understandings of what the miserable life should look like, it is essentially impossible to define the first dystopian novel. Notwithstanding, as the first dystopian novel is mostly reckoned to be H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine (1895). (Liptak, 2013)

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Two of the greatest works of dystopian fiction are widely considered to be Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932) and George Orwell’ Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) as both works deal with the topic of social classes and the control of human behaviour. Huxley was mostly inspired by the continuation of socialism and communism in Europe; in Brave New World he criticised this era and thus illustrated a

…repulsive picture of the mass community comprised of sad miserable people deprived of their own inner lives, and people moving under the pressure of the external stimuli that are being commanded by a small number of a leading class members. (Szacki, 1971)

Many authors were astounded by the idea of anti-utopia, hence there arose multiple dystopian works in the years after Brave New World and are still being created. Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, dystopia has become a popular genre for young adult admirers of science-fiction or fantasies. It is presumed that first books that started the whole YA dystopian boom were Lois Lowry’s The Giver (1993) and Suzanne Collin’s Hunger Games (2008). (Deliee, 2017) Only in the last ten years emerged more than fifty dystopian novels for young adults such as James Dashner’s The Maze Runner (2009), Veronica Roth’s Divergent (2011) or Kiera Cass’ The Selection (2012).

There are multiple reasons why YA dystopian literature attracts a large number of readers and one of them is that it mirrors teenagers’ lives. Adults in those books are typically the oppressors, meanwhile, the heroes are teenage boys or girls. The reader, therefore, gets into a fictional world far worse than his own, yet still so similar. Additionally, the hero of YA fiction is most likely to create a new and better life for everyone which gives the adolescents hope that anything can be improved even in their lives. (Young, 2011)

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1.2. Dystopian features

1.2.1. Control over people’s lives

The most distinct feature of dystopian fiction is that the society is constantly being regulated, observed, and controlled but an illusion of a perfect society is maintained. The community is managed by a deprived ideology’s propaganda, people’s independent thoughts and rights are restricted, their freedom is remarkably limited, and a concept or a figurehead is glorified by citizens that are under uninterrupted surveillance. Individuality and resistance are also undesirable and forbidden; uniformity is the only acceptable goal. (Chung, n.d.) Moreover, the barren and post-apocalyptic setting helps the idea of living a miserable life because people feel like there is no escape; there is no beauty in the world left (see next subchapter).

Chung created four types of dystopian controls. A corporate control, where an immense corporation, or possibly more of them, masters the society through advertisement, media, and provided equipment. Another type of dystopian controls, used for example in Nineteen Eighty-Four, is a bureaucratic control. A mindless bureaucracy governs the humankind by excessive and unreasonable regulations or strict obedience to formal rules. After bureaucracy control, Chung comments on technological control – a population that is controlled through computers, phones, robots, or scientific means. As the last type of control, there is mentioned philosophical or religious control that enforces people a religious or possibly philosophical ideology through theocratic government or a dictatorship. (ibid.) An example of philosophical control is the control portrayed in Divergent.

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1.2.2. A disturbing setting

One of the most noticeable features of a dystopian novel is its backdrop. A great number of dystopian stories are set in a destroyed and devastated world in the future, usually demolished by a catastrophe – radiation leak, war or technology putsch. (Heffernan, 2014) The setting is not necessitated to be post-apocalyptic, a reader may encounter many miscellaneous backgrounds. However, there are some attributes that connect them.

According to Bransford (2010), a suitable dystopian world requires dynamics, values, and unfamiliarity. He claims that the best surroundings shall not be static for immutable places cannot have the needed effect on characters’ lives. The best backdrop demands a plot happening in the outside world, inherent to the setting itself. Yet, a great setting also needs its own value system; for example, a distribution into factions in Divergent (2011) or “every man for himself” in The Road (2006). Another, and the most important, aspect is the unfamiliarity of the setting. A reader can either visit a completely new world he has never seen before or must find something new and surprising in a place that is already recognized by him. (Bransford, 2010)

Beth Revis (2010) adds that a good dystopian background further expects to go against the characters by some means, to reflect certain characteristics of the old world, and to provide the protagonist with an opportunity to become a hero. In Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) Winston tries to defy the society through joining a secret opposition group, and in Divergent (2010) Tris conquers the dark side by accepting her divergence. (Revis, 2010)

It’s setting. Setting is a character and must be given that same amount of attention as any "real" character, and not just act as the backdrop to everything else. Think of it like the cardboard scenery from your elementary school days. It's there but has no substance. A bad setting will feel the same way… Because when your world comes alive, so do your characters. (Zundel, 2010)

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In the novels from the nineteenth century, which were often based on social and political concerns, the ending commonly restores a system that has been rattled with at the beginning of the story. Nevertheless, by the end of the nineteenth-century authors tend to leave the endings open and the stories’ worlds in a desolated state. The twentieth-century dystopias are characterized by the struggle of constant remaking the persons’ environment that requires a model not dependent on a stable foundation. (Heffernan, 2014)

Since September 11, 2001 – date of the infamous terrorist attack on the twin towers in New York City – a good deal of young adult (YA) fictions has emerged. When the imminent dread of a possible attack on the United States has shown to be more than just a threat, the consequence seemed to be a quasi-dystopian world. (Ames, 2013) Despite this background, contemporary YA authors started to write stories where the post-apocalyptic setting, increase and development of technology that drags people out of the real world, and the constant monitoring of one’s needs and actions, is excessively significant. (Sugarman, 2009)

As reported by James (2016), contemporary dystopian works challenge the idea that the future worlds need to be only dreary, bleak, and monolithic, and demonstrate a fine combination of YA dystopias’ elements and so-called Indigenous futurism that “incorporates Native/ Indigenous concepts of community, power, and responsibility.” (James, 2016) Not only the Indigenous futurism focuses on involvement, but it also addresses intersectionality for its themes and protagonists. (ibid.)

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1.2.3. Heroes questioning the society

There is a difference between a hero and a protagonist of a story. A protagonist becomes a hero when he or she stands up to the immoral world order and fights for a change. A true hero will often reach his or her goal and make the world a better place with this transformation. (Fix, 2016)

Most of earlier written dystopias, such as Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, Huxley’s Brave New World or Zamyatin’s We, do not have a hero, only a protagonist. The tone here is more negative than it is when discussing heroes, and the average age of the central figure of narrative is significantly higher. (ibid.) Main protagonists of YA fiction, however, are usually heroes that truly make a difference by defying the society.

In the past ten years, a regular reader of young adult dystopian fiction has begun to come across adolescent female protagonists – or more precisely – heroines. The popularity of Harry Potter (1997) and the wit of Hermione Granger displayed that readers were eager for female protagonists and consequently, in 2008, Hunger Games with its courageous Katniss Everdeen changed the game and many other heroines emerged. (Hentges, 2018)

Collins and Roth suggest that teenagers and preadults are the most likely to defy themselves in accordance with their own ideals and reject oppressive controls; that “adolescent women are uniquely positioned to overcome the enforced subjugation and develop into fully autonomous individuals.” (Green-Barteet, 2014)

Heroines of YA texts that are presented in Indigenous futures – futures with non-Caucasian female leads – explore necessary questions of purpose and choice, social consciousness, gender, power, technology, violence, and endings with triumph. Whilst not limited to portray average heroines, it analyses the vital role of adolescent young women that is, even though still troublesome and dangerous, neither irrelevant nor accidental. (James, 2016)

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2. Nineteen Eighty-Four dystopian features

2.1. How people are controlled

Orwell’s classic Nineteen Eighty-Four is one of the most well-known and timeless dystopian novels for its undeniable atrociousness. There are many ways that make the reader of this story feel like living in such dreadful surroundings would be an outright horror, even though many of the book’s characters may not feel the same way. The Inner Party uses some direct methods that are people aware of to watch over Oceania’s inhabitants: the Party is able to hear and see everything the citizens do or say through hidden microphones and telescreens placed in every apartment, above the city fly helicopters, and the streets are overseen by police patrols.

Besides the apparent techniques, the Party has devised other, more subtle, means of enforcing enslavement upon its members. (Xhinaku & Pema, 2015) When walking the streets, a member of the Party notices, apart from the police patrols, massive posters with an “enormous face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features” (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 5), and a great sign saying “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU”. (ibid., pg. 5) This indirect way of control constantly reminds people that they are being watched and that there is no possible way of escaping. Creating a powerful symbolic figurehead, an embodiment of the Inner Party that supposedly runs Oceania helps the Party to generate a concrete fear with a face and a voice and leaves the real leaders in anonymity.

One of the most demonstrable pieces of evidence of the Inner Party’s absolute control and power is the people’s behaviour happening while the Two Minutes Hate. As commented by the main protagonist Winston, not joining in is essentially impossible. Everyone is full of hatred thirty seconds into the Hate, throws objects nearest to them at the telescreen, and blinded by the submerged loathing. When reaching the Hate’s climax, the Enemy of the People Emanuel Goldstein becomes a bleating sheep, transforms into a Eurasian soldier, and consequently, when the followers are sufficiently frightened, turns into the Big Brother with Party’s slogan “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” that makes all people sigh with relief. (ibid., pg. 16-18) To arrange the Two Minutes Hate in this specific order shows that the oligarchs are fully aware of the manners by which they manipulate the 15 state of Oceania. Assigning Goldstein the resemblance of a sheep displays Orwell’s affection for symbolism and irony. Since sheep are mainly seen as an obedient herd of followers unable of their own actions and thoughts (Orwell used this allegory even in his earlier published novella Animal Farm), they represent the members of the Outer Party. Goldstein is the “black sheep” here, the outcast separated from the herd. (""It resembled the face of a sheep, and the voice, too, had a sheeplike quality." (12)", n.d.)

Another effective way of controlling the society that Orwell took over from Soviet Communism is uniformity. All members of the Outer Party call themselves “comrades” and have the same belongings; they all have the same bare flats, Victory Gins, Victory Coffees, no laces nor razors. Served lunches are also the same for everyone: “a metal pannikin of pinkish-grey stew, a hunk of bread, a cube of cheese a mug of milkless Victory Coffee and one saccharine tablet”. (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 47) The portions of distributed chocolate are always getting smaller and smaller, yet the citizens believe the Party’s proclamations and think the shares are growing. On the other hand, members of the Inner Party have nice flats, good wine, and the possibility to switch the telescreens off; this way the superiority of the leading party is shown. (ibid.)

The reason for sameness is for the Inner Party to demonstrate its domination above one’s personal identity; wearing the same blue overalls suppresses uniqueness and ensures that the identity created by the Inner Party is the only acceptable one. Ingsoc’s choice of clothing for its people also visibly sets apart Party members from proles who do not have uniforms. ("In 1984, what was the uniform of the Party, and what was its purpose?", 2011) Showing any signs of solitude or individuality, so-called ownlife, which means for example going for a walk alone instead of participating in “communal recreation” or visiting proles’ part of the city is always slightly dangerous since such behaviour is highly suspicious. (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 75)

The above-mentioned term ownlife is a word used in Newspeak – the official language of Oceania. It has been created to support the totalitarian power and meet the ideological needs of English Socialism; or Ingsoc in Newspeak. As stated by Syme, an expert on Newspeak working on the Eleventh Edition of the Newspeak Dictionary, in the fifth chapter of the book:

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Don’t you see the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it… Even the slogans will change. How could you have a slogan like “freedom is slavery” when the concept of freedom has been abolished? The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact, there will be no thought as we understand it now. (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 49-50)

Newspeak in the year 1984 is not yet fully perfected; it is only a provisional one. The word free still exists in Newspeak but not in an intellectual or political meaning since such types of freedom no longer exist even as concepts. Newspeak provides a medium of expression for the supporters of Ingsoc, but most importantly it restrains one’s ability to express himself and makes other forms of thought impossible. (ibid., pg. 270)

Next subtle method of monitoring and possibly torturing people used by the Inner Party is the portrayed time management. Winston is not completely certain to be placed in the year 1984 because it is simply not possible to specify any date within a year or two. (ibid., pg. 10) The Party keeps their subordinates in ignorance; not knowing exactly how long it has passed since “the war” (specified in subchapter 2.2. of this thesis) makes it harder for the people to recall their memories and therefore the past. As O’Brien puts it, while past has no concrete existence – it exists only in people’s memories and records that are being intervened with – it can be changed. The Party controls people’s memories and thus it controls the past itself. (ibid., pg. 225) Ingsoc as well uses the absence of time knowledge as a torturing tool. The Party purposely leaves in the windowless Ministry of Love the lights on so there is no darkness; the impossibility of knowing the daytime alone is making the prisoners feel uncomfortable and insane.

Wittily chosen names also make its part in manipulating the community. The Ministry of Truth concerns itself with lies, the Ministry of Peace deals with wars, the Ministry of Plenty handles starvation and the Ministry of Love torture. Even the name “Big Brother” itself suggests that he, meaning the Party hidden behind him, is part of everyone’s family and someone the regular people can trust. As cited by Goldstein in his book:

These contradictions are not accidental, nor do they result from ordinary hypocrisy: they are deliberate exercises in doublethink. For it is only by reconciling contradictions that power can be retained indefinitely. (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 195)

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Not only are the citizens of dystopian London controlled by the Party, but they also must control themselves – their facial expressions, tics, talking from sleep; even a back can be revealing. When facing the telescreen, it is advisable to wear an expression of quiet optimism for one is constantly being watched. Winston does his best in hiding his true views on the leading Party and the Big Brother but for one must inevitably eventually make a mistake, the Thought Police detect him at the end, nevertheless.

Another Party’s way of controlling its members’ lives is to strictly forbid intercourse if it is not happening within a married couple trying to conceive a child. Many people, and especially women, are even members of Junior Anti-Sex league that safeguards complete celibacy. Moreover, to ensure this sexual puritanism the Party is most likely not to wed two individuals that show affection for each other; that way sex would be undoubtedly more enjoyable and that is something the Party needs to avoid. As a result, some people that need to occasionally release the steam or naturally rebellious people like Julia find their way to copulate anyway. (ibid.)

When Winston thinks about his ex-wife Katharine, or probably still present wife for she does not necessarily need to be dead and the Party does not permit divorce, he recalls her “stupid, vulgar, empty mind full of Party slogans” and her stiff body. (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 62) Winston comments that had it not been for the sex, he might be able to live with Katharine. In his exact words:

As soon as he [Winston] touched her, she [Katharine] seemed to wince and stiffen. To embrace her was like embracing a jointed wooden image. And what was strange was that even when she was clasping him against her, he had the feeling that she was simultaneously pushing him away with all her strength. The rigidity of her muscles managed to convey that impression. She would lie there with shut eyes, neither resisting nor co-operating, but submitting. It was extraordinarily embarrassing and after a while, horrible. (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 62)

The description above makes it clear why Winston craves to remain celibate. Curiously, it is Katharine who refuses this proposal for they “must produce a child if they can”. (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 62) She calls the intimate act “our duty to the Party” (ibid., pg. 62) and that is all it is to her. Correspondingly, Winston starts to dread moments of their upcoming intercourses and sighs with relief when, after there is no baby on the way, Katharine finally agrees to give up trying and eventually consents to separate. (ibid.) Winston also uses similar words while describing Julia, when he meets

18 her after their stay at the Ministry of Love. He notices that “her waist had grown thicker, and, in a surprising way, had stiffened” and later adds that her body reminds him of a corpse he once dragged. (ibid., pg. 263)

Orwell engages sexual abstinence as a dystopian feature for he believes a person cannot be withheld of this instinct and must subsequently behave accordingly. Looking at it from another point of view, Sunstein (2005) believes that Orwell’s claim that “totalitarian governments thrive on the repression of sexual drives in order to make room for mass marching and public cheering” (Gleason, Goldsmith & Nussbaum, 2005) is wrong. He insists that the connection between orthodoxy and sexual privation are not always allies but oppositely can even become antagonists. (ibid.)

2.2. Post-war London, Oceania

The dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four is set to a period after a colossal war. Which war – no one can know for sure; but when looking closely at the political background of the year 1949, it is obvious the story is firmly grounded on post-Second World War Britain. A reader learning about London’s dilapidated streets and bombed sites easily connects this scenery to the late 1940s when bomb sites were relatively common. (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. viii) Winston describes the streets of London, the capital city of Airstrip One and altogether the third most populated city of the provinces of Oceania, as “vistas of rotting nineteenth-century houses, their sides shored up with baulks of timber, their windows patched with cardboard and their roofs with corrugated iron, their crazy garden walls sagging in all directions.” (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 7) The reason for constructing such devastated setting lies in Orwell’s lack of interest in the picturesque side of pre-war England. (Lowe, 2009)

Neglected and falling apart houses are only one of the signs letting the reader realize the atmosphere of the setting is unpleasant and alarming, therefore dystopian. As mentioned in subchapter 2.1., the streets are uninterruptedly giving the citizens of London the feeling of being watched; either by police patrols’ roundabouts or Big Brother’s face staring at them from ubiquitous posters. Immoral acts such as raping, burying alive, slaughter of children or slavery are considered completely normal and, if performed within one’s own territory, even meritorious. (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 168)

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After Russia absorbed Europe and the United States of America consumed the British Empire, two of the three great super-states were created. The third and smallest one, Eastasia, comprising of China and states lying to the south of it, Japanese islands, Mongolia, and Tibet, only appeared as a definite unit after another decade of disorganized fighting. Eurasia spreads out from Portugal to the Bering Strait and thus covers the whole northern part of Europe and Asia. Oceania, the biggest of these existing powers, includes the Americas, the Atlantic islands including the British Isles, Australia, and southern part of Africa. (ibid., pg. 167 – 168)

Oceania is permanently at war with one of these states or another and has been so for more than two decades. However, as Goldstein puts it:

War is no longer the desperate, annihilating struggle that it was in the early decades of the twentieth century. It is a warfare of limited aims between combatants who are unable to destroy one another, have no material cause for fighting and are not divided by any genuine ideological differences. (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 168)

The essential purpose of these wars is mainly to intimidate citizens and spread hysteria and hatred amongst them. The absence of the ability to think reasonably, which is more easily achieved in a time of war, is exactly what the Party needs of its inferiors. It is vital for the Party to create a mentality applicable to a state of war; it is not important whether the war is going well, nor does it matter whether the war even exists. The fighting alone, if there is any, is happening solely on the vague frontiers, involves very few highly military-trained people and leaves a minimum of casualties. (ibid., pg. 168 – 174)

2.3. Winston Smith defying the system

Winston Smith is not a typical hero. A classic hero, as more thoroughly described on page 12 of this thesis, is someone capable of changing the world for the better; and Winston does not reach this goal at the end of the novel. What is more, his thinking is rather negative and does not encourage anyone else to join his quest. On his defence, however, there must be said that an open rebellion would not stand a chance in Winston’s surroundings and would be impracticable. (Xhinaku & Pema, 2015) In fact, the idea of collective rebelling alone sounds completely absurd for Winston specifies it

20 as “a look in the eyes, an inflection of the voice, at most, an occasional whispered word.” (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 64) But despite all these inconveniences, the main protagonist of this dystopia finds few ways to defy Oceania’s laws and in the course of time even joins an illegal community created specifically for destroying the Party’s totalitarian regime. (ibid.) Orwell pursued to figure out what made the English protagonists to oppose the absolutism and discovered that individuality of English people is the biggest asset for collective strength. (Lowe, 2009)

The first signs of Winston Smith’s potential rebellion can be seen from the right beginning of the book where a reader notices Winston’s attitude towards the system. In the first chapter, a reader is introduced to at least forty years old diary bought in a shop that is supposed to be out of bounds for the members of the Outer Party. Regardless of Winston’s intention to write into the diary, which is an activity that is also strictly forbidden for its apparent thought-sharing, even the fact that he owns such artefact is remarkably comprising. (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 9) Winston hesitates to use the diary at first but eventually begins “writing in sheer panic, only imperfectly aware of what he is setting down.” (ibid., pg. 11) He starts with writing utter nonsense but ends up filling half a page with “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” in capitals. The simple act of putting his ideas down does not matter, however; the essential crime Winston has committed is the fact that such thoughts even came across his mind – a Thoughtcrime, as called in Newspeak. (ibid., pg. 20) As totalitarianism “dictates everyone how to think, demanding absolute obedience, which implies the disappearance of individualism and personal features” (Ratiani, 2012), Winston’s treacherous thoughts were looked upon as the ultimate break against the law. These thoughts hunt him partly because of his job at the Ministry of Truth where he rewrites old articles whenever the Party needs it, namely when the portions are cut again or when someone becomes vaporized.

Winston’s rebellion continues with his secret relationship with Julia whom Winston initially hated for he considered her to be a member of Thought Police. After Julia’s private message to Winston saying “I love you” that opens the second part of the book, the two protagonists start meeting in the countryside mainly in order to have intercourse. A member of the Outer Party can occasionally find the nerves to break the rules and sleep with a prole prostitute –such behaviour is dangerous, but not deadly. Notwithstanding, as briefly mentioned earlier, any sexual activity between two Outer Party members who are not married together and are not trying to conceive a child is

21 unacceptable. Many people in the novel are members of the Junior Anti-Sex league that ensures total celibacy for both sexes (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 60-61) but as the sexual instinct cannot be altogether suppressed, Winston, who despises the Party’s ideology, and Julia, who simply feels like rebelling, start meeting regularly and hire a room above an old small shop in the prole part of the city. Albeit at the beginning, the relationship between Winston and Julia is purely sexual, their feelings get eventually involved as well; that makes their main offence against the Party. As Winston tells Julia shortly before they visit O’Brien:

Confessing is not a betrayal. What you say or do does not matter: only feelings matter. If they could make me stop loving you – that would be the real betrayal. (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 151)

As seen in the above quotation and confirmed in the third part of this book, to reveal someone’ traitorous actions and hand them over to the Inner Party is not considered a real betrayal. Both Winston and O’Brien are aware of this, therefore, unsurprisingly, Winston does not break sooner than he truly betrays Julia in room 101 by desiring to switch places with her. (ibid., pg. 248)

The crucial move in Winston’s goal of overthrowing English Socialism is his joining the secret conspiracy organisation called the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood is supposed to destroy the established oppressive regime of Oceania with the help of Emmanuel Goldstein’s book The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism. (ibid., pg. 159) This book describes the life before and after “the war”, the social division of people, and most importantly, how to get rid of the dictatorship. Nevertheless, the crucial parts of Winston’s rebellion are not his actions, but his thoughts. He strongly agrees with the information provided by Goldstein’s book; in fact, he feels like he did not learn anything new – that the book simply summarized his own thoughts. (ibid., pg. 166-196) As learnt later in the book, organisation like Brotherhood may not even exist and can only be a helping tool for catching the thought-criminals. (ibid., pg. 235)

The unconventional hero’s journey of fighting against the Party’s ideology ends with Winston’s imprisonment and torture in the Ministry of Love. Discovering that O’Brien’s true allegiance lies with the Inner Party, both answers and raises many questions. O’Brien electrocutes Winston while explaining the Party’s longing for power

22 and tries to indoctrinate him. In this part of the book, a reader perceives how firmly Winston believes in his own sanity and how great is his hatred for Big Brother. He is trying to outsmart O’Brien and to only pretend his obedience for as he himself puts it: “to die hating them, that was the freedom.” (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 254) However, this state of mind does not last for a very long time, because everyone is eventually mentally defeated by the Party. Room 101 – “the worst thing in the world” according to O’Brien (ibid., pg. 256), is a room that differs from person to person; everyone’s worst fears come alive there. For Winston, it is a place with rats ready to eat his face and a place where he is finally broken.

3. Divergent dystopian features

3.1. Life within a faction

Characters from the Divergent trilogy are divided into five factions, each cultivating different virtue. There is only one chance for every person to choose their faction and this decision is irreversible. It is expected from the people to always put the faction first and listen to its leaders; if one disobeys or decides to leave for some reason, he or she becomes Factionless. (Roth, 2011) Such arrangement was created because the ancestors supposedly believed the reason behind warrying world was the failure of human personalities; therefore, they divided into factions that “sought to eradicate those qualities they believed responsible for the world’s disarray.” (ibid., pg. 42) Each faction has its own emblem (see Figure 1.) and members with the same characteristic behaviour wearing the same colour of clothing; besides this, a reader immediately realizes the most important feature of each faction by reading its convenient name.

Figure 1. Which Divergent factions do you belong in? (Guivera, 2015) 23

Generous altruistic citizens who dedicated their lives to helping others and lead a simple life choose Abnegation. This faction feeds the Factionless and leads the government since they blame any selfish behaviour. Those who are kind, friendly and compassionate, live in harmony, and are always happy, are in Amity. They blame aggression for the war-like state of the world. In Candor, there are honest people that tell the truth even if one wishes they would not for they blame duplicity. Smart people that value logic and knowledge are in Erudite; they blame ignorance for the faults of society. Dauntless members blame cowardice – they are brave and fearless and become the city’s protectors. (Roth, 2011)

At the age of sixteen, every inhabitant of Chicago must choose his or her faction and live accordingly for the rest of their life. They should never contact their family if they choose to leave their original faction and should live by the slogan “faction before blood”. (Roth, 2011, pg. 43) The Aptitude test, detailly examining everyone’s behaviour in a simulation, should help the teenagers decide to which faction they belong; however, it is up to them which faction they will join in the end. There is a group of people whose tests do not show accurate results, those who are Divergent. Such individuals are very dangerous for the aspiring leader – Jeanine from Erudite – since they show signs of nonconformity and different thinking. This behaviour is completely undesirable because not only Divergents will not adapt to a certain way of thinking, they also cannot be controlled by most serums. (ibid.)

Each faction has its own serum for controlling and influencing the lives of people that are by some means disobedient or inconvenient. The serum of Dauntless makes a person hallucinate, Candor’s forces out the truth, Amity’s gives peace, Erudite’s death and Abnegation’s serum resets memories. (Roth, 2013, pg. 100) Albeit it is necessary to wipe one’s recollections on some occasions to keep the city safe, it also changes a person’s identity in a way – he or she becomes a different person. Another serum, made by Erudite to build an army, makes decent people do anything the injector wants them to, thus it makes a perfect weapon for creating an army out of Dauntless who are already trained to protect the city. Divergents do not need to obey the orders given through this serum, and hence are being found and killed. (Roth, 2011)

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As clarified in Allegiant – the last book of this trilogy – not only are people controlled within their factions, they are even controlled from the outside. Both the readers and the citizens of Chicago learn that their city is just an experiment regulated from Bureau of Genetic Welfare established for the desire of creating selfless, peaceful, honest, intelligent, and brave individuals – Divergents. David, the leader of Bureau, can monitor everything that is happening in Chicago city from the distance, so the totalitarian power is unravelled and later also overthrown by heroine Tris. (Roth, 2013)

3.2. Post-apocalyptic setting

The story of Divergent is set to a post-apocalyptic Chicago encircled by a high fence. The city has become a mixture of ruins and new modern buildings. The story unmistakably takes place in the future since reader encounters many futuristic technologies including serums and mind-controlling chips. In addition, Tris mentions she was told by her mother that people did not use to genetically engineer produce but throughout the books, it is the only possible way. (Roth, 2011) The world is found in a state after two disasters; a destructive fire and so-called Purity War. Purity War was a culmination of riots and dissatisfaction of “damaged people” lead against people with pure genes and the government. This war caused a “level of destruction formerly unheard of on American soil, eliminating almost half of the country’s population.” (Roth, 2013, pg. 123)

People believe that the barrier protects them from the outside rather than keeps them in but the latter shows to be true. At the end of Insurgent, the whole city of Chicago discovers it is only an experimental colony – one city out of fifty more only on the continent of North America – dedicated to the observation of human behaviour in set conditions. (Roth, 2012) The world outside the colony is very different from that inside. At first, the only thing a small rebellious expedition behind the wall can see is a long railroad track and overgrown trees with roots sprawling beyond the cement fixtures over the pavement. After going through a high fence surrounding the Bureau of Genetic Welfare located at the old Chicago O’Hare International Airport, a vast well-maintained organized space with an enormous building in the middle of the area is exposed.

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At the top, there are few tall towers which enable David and his co-workers to observe and control everything from above. (Roth 2013, pg. 110-112)

The fringe is an area full of genetically damaged people that lies between Chicago and Milwaukee – other experimental government-regulated area. People inhabiting the fringe live in small colonies build of wrecked tentative shelters made of aluminium, cardboard, and tarp; they burn old paper in order to be warm since the government will not provide anything to them. Right the contrary, an organized group from the Bureau snatches children found in the fringe from their parents and test their genes. (ibid.) In the film adaptation of Allegiant, the fringe is more post-apocalyptic looking land with red craters, boiling black streams of water, and toxic climate producing showers of blood.

3.3. Tris as a divergent young heroine

Abnegation-born Beatrice Prior is a typical young adult heroine for she successfully defies categorization and revolts against the system. Taking her Aptitude test, Tris realizes why she has always felt like she did not belong to Abnegation – she is a Divergent and therefore different. Nonetheless, she is special even amongst Divergents because the Aptitude test shows her compatibility with three factions at once – Dauntless, Abnegation, and Erudite. After considering all options, Beatrice chooses to join Dauntless and start anew which is the beginning of her rebellion.

At the time that Tris joins her new faction, she discovers that being with Dauntless is the most dangerous place for her divergence since she must pass the Initiation test that includes succeeding in a simulation. As mentioned before, serums producing simulations do not work on Divergents so Tris, having the ability to know she is placed in simulation, is better at getting out than others; this capability is dangerous for the supervisors may realize her divergence. Tris, with the help of also divergent Tobias, learns how to pass her test as Dauntless and outwits the system once more. However, this condition does not last for a long time since Erudite’s controlling serum does not work on Tris, and her divergence is thus revealed. Tris manages to escape, and at the end of Divergent, alongside with her brother Caleb and her partner Tobias, becomes Factionless. (Roth, 2011)

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Tris’ insurgency continues in Insurgent where she starts to fully realize the mortal peril, she and the other Divergents are in. Jeanine organizes raids on every faction to find all Divergents, and especially Tris whose results from the Aptitude test were the most inconclusive. Later, Caleb betrays Tris by informing Jeanine how to get Tris into Erudite headquarters – to threaten her with killing her companions if she does not give herself in, is all that needs to be done. As Tris is born and raised Abnegation, she cannot watch other people die and turns herself in to Jeanine for testing. (Roth, 2012)

As made clear when thoroughly examining Tris’ body and her responses to various situations, Tris is also physically adjusted to heroism. Erudite’s tests conclude that Tris has:

…one of the largest lateral prefrontal cortexes I [Jeanine] have ever seen. Yet the orbitofrontal cortex is remarkably small. It does not merely indicate something about her behaviour, but about her desires. She [Tris] is not reward motivated. Yet she is extremely good at directing her thoughts and actions towards her goals. This explains both her tendency toward harmful-but-selfless behaviour and, perhaps, her ability to wriggle out of simulations. (Roth, 2012, pg. 335-336)

According to Green-Barteet, Tris “never makes a conscious decision to become a rebel.” (Green-Barteet, 2014) The desire to understand her parents’ sacrifice brings her to carry out several rebellious moves including public announcement of her Divergence, aligning with untrustworthy individuals or betraying her companions and her love interest. Such actions help her to eventually succeed in her rebellion and “enable her to develop into the autonomous individual she is by the novel’s conclusion.” (ibid.)

Regardless of Tris’ undertaken rebellious actions, it is not until Allegiant that she is fully aware of her mutiny. Even though she has always felt like she did not belong to her faction, both Abnegation and Dauntless, like she was not selfless enough for Abnegation but also was too selfless for Dauntless, even after learning and accepting her divergence and feeling as if “someone breathed new air to my [Tris’] lungs. I am not Abnegation. I am not Dauntless, I am Divergent. And I can’t be controlled” (Roth, 2011, pg. 442), it is not sooner than in the last part of the trilogy that she completely understands how important her individuality is, embraces her divergence, and decides to fight against the oppression by all means necessary. 27

Beatrice’s revolt ends with her death that helps to stop the attempt of wiping peoples’ recollections with the memory serum; sacrificing herself for the greater good and ultimately changing the world shows her as the preeminent hero. At first, however, Tris does not want to accomplish this last stage of her uprising thinking: “I don’t want to die anymore. I am up to the challenge of bearing the guilt and the grief, up to facing the difficulties that life has put in my path. I can’t sacrifice myself, this time.” (Roth, 2013, pg. 411) It is settled that Caleb will be the one trying to deactivate the memory serum and releasing a death serum on him as a result. Nevertheless, after realizing Caleb is doing this task out of guilt, Tris decides to go through the death serum herself for she is doing this quest out of love and nothing but love. Tris survives going through the death serum since her Divergence is so complex that she can force herself not to obey, and disables the memory serum. However, later, ironically, is shot by David afterwards. (ibid.)

Killing off a hero is a curious and not frequent act in YA literature. In an interview given to MTV, Roth explains that the story kept building up to that point. In the first book, Tris plays with the thought of sacrificing herself twice but she survives since her motives are not right. In the second book of this trilogy, the same situation repeats; she goes to her execution “in this act of bravado and self-sacrifice” (Wilkinson, 2013) and that does not feel proper as well. Roth felt like killing Tris off in Allegiant by finally letting her know what sacrificing really means made her an honourable way to go. (Wilkinson, 2013)

In the film adaptation of Insurgent (2014) directed by Robert Schwentke, Tris’ divergence reaches a completely new level when she eventually masters to pass simulations of all five factions to open a box a with secret message and thus becomes hundred percent Divergent and pure. In the book, notwithstanding, this box is not mentioned at all and Tris remains compatible for only three factions still.

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4. Comparison of dystopian features in Nineteen Eighty-Four and Divergent

When comparing ways societies in Nineteen Eighty-Four (NEF) and Divergent were controlled and regulated, one must take into account in what time period in history these dystopian novels were written, what phase of life the authors were in, and what purpose the books were supposed to serve.

As NEF was published in 1949, only four years after the WWII ended, this book is inevitably and inseparably connected with the war period. As George Orwell fought in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1937) for the left-wing Republicans, therefore against the Fascists, he has gained experience in describing the war-like state of the world. Likewise, he was not afraid to write a book strongly disapproving of established totalitarian regimes; a nice example may be his allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) which powerfully criticizes Stalinist regime in Russia. What is more, Orwell was suffering from tuberculosis by the time NEF was published, and deceased few months later so his health issues possibly reflected in the “pessimistic and foreboding tone” of the book. (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. xiv)

According to Titans of History (2018): “Orwell’s politics were consistently left wing, but he scathingly cut through the rigid conventions of leftist sympathy for Stalinist mass murder.” (Sebag Montefiore, 2018) For this reason, not only there can be seen obvious allusions on extreme right-wing ideologies such as Nazism and Fascism, but also on those of extreme left-wing. And even though NEF does not bear an as close resemblance to the regime in Stalinist Russia as does the portrayed story in Animal Farm, the ruling ideology in NEF is called English Socialism, and the description of Big Brother is very similar to that of Josef Stalin. (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. viii)

On the other hand, Veronica Roth’s idea for Divergent came to her while studying psychology and treatment of phobias at university. She scrutinized peoples’ attempts to be virtuous and their following fails that are unavoidable when concentrating on the wrong things. “Virtue as an end to itself is not really a useful pursuit,” Roth commented. (Krook, n.d.) Subsequently, she examined how people overcome their phobias and what group of people is constantly trying to do so; this way

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Dauntless faction was created, and the rest followed rather naturally. Some characters, such as Tris’ mom or Tris herself, are even based on real-life persons. (ibid.)

Correspondingly, as stated in this thesis’ subchapter 1.2.2., YA fiction generally takes place in less dreadful and dull places than those written in the nineteenth or twentieth century; the hero, or even trendier heroine, of YA dystopia is more heroic and his or her story usually ends by overthrowing the former dictatorial system. (James, 2016) It is also a place for young adults to “safely reflect on their own development and experience,” (Deliee, 2017) suggesting that teenagers feel like upcoming challenges are less difficult to manage when placed in intensive and mysterious context. (ibid.)

For these palpable reasons, Orwell’s style of writing, undoubtedly influenced by WWII and his illness, is bound to be more appalling and atrocious than Roth’s; it is supposed to captivate a wider audience. In contrast, Divergent was written mostly to appeal to younger readers and dystopian features are hence not as evident as in NEF. When reading the detailed description of an awful life in Oceania and comparing it to the world portrayed in Divergent, it may seem like these two worlds have nothing in common. Nevertheless, there are still some parallels between these two seemingly unlike books, and both their differences and similarities are going to be further discussed in following subchapters.

4.1. Control over the society

Worlds depicted in both stories are placed to post-war big cities, one to former London, the other one to Chicago. Both of these cities are in ruins and people living there lead lives with either limited or none freedom. The society is under persistent surveillance; in the case of NEF this surveillance is widely known, in Divergent’s case the truth about being constantly observed remains secret until the last book.

Both cities’ citizens are not only being observed but also somehow controlled; however, they differ in means of achieving their desired obedience. Every so often, the process of creating biddable followers requires wiping one’s memories to alter the past, present, or future, and each one of the discussed dystopian novels has diverse ways of doing so. NEF, written in the first half of the twentieth century and with its overall deeper and more dreadful context, does not use modern technologies much. There are 30 telescreens, helicopters, microphones transcribing one’s speech…, but no devices today’s people could not imagine. The submission Ingsoc requests is enforced solely by mental and physical torture carried out in Miniluv. (Orwell, 1949/2000) On the contrary, technology illustrated in Divergent is very advanced and futuristic, and as a result, it is no surprise the society here is made to forget certain moments by using memory serums. (Roth, 2011)

At first glance, NEF’s social order is completely different from that in Divergent; there is no division into factions, and everybody is treated the same; poorly, but equally. Nonetheless, when looking closer on Divergent, even though the sameness is not as extreme as in NEF, a person’s individuality is still greatly suppressed. Inhabitants of post-apocalyptic Chicago can choose what to eat for dinner, whom to marry, or what job they are going to administer, but it must be within the laws of their faction. For example, Abnegation eat modest plain meals and do not drink alcohol, therefore, Tris sees and tastes hamburger for the first time only after joining Dauntless, thinking: “In the center of the table is a platter of food I don’t recognize: circular pieces of meat wedged between round bread slices. I pinch one between my fingers, unsure what to make of it.” (Roth, 2011, pg. 65) Furthermore, NEF’s uniformity is not that unambiguous as well; it turns out the Inner Party has different rights than members of the Outer Party and, of course, proles.

If one thing that NEF and Divergent have undeniably in common was to be highlighted, it would have to be the restricting of one’s uniqueness. In both specified dystopias reader comes across some kind of constraint that limits people, even though most of them do not realize it and are happy with the way things are. They blindly celebrate Big Brother’s nonsense commands or are entirely satisfied with the faction system. Both books, however, show few people that are feeling different and therefore alone; people, who either do not trust the system at all, sense that there is something wrong going on, or are simply feeling rebellious. One way or the other, both texts give the readers hope that there is someone trying to stop the misdeeds and change life in the cities for the better.

The major theme in both of these narratives is undeniably fear, and each book has its own way of dealing with it. In NEF, everyone fears the windowless Ministry of Love because it is widely known that it considers itself with torture. The traitor

31 of the Party, however, comes across his or her biggest fear in the room 101, adapted specifically for the purpose of breaking people down; it shows the seriousness and exploitation of ones’ phobias. (Orwell, 1949/2000) In Divergent, people’s fears are used for a different purpose. Members of Dauntless have available serums inducing hallucinations of their biggest fears in order to toughen them up and make them fearless. New members are often mentally completely exhausted, after finishing such simulation, and do not wish to come back. (Roth, 2011)

The part that differentiates both stories the most, is the ending of the books where is shown whether the totalitarian regime persists or is finally defeated. As explained earlier, Orwell and Roth are two completely different authors with unalike views and goals so it is understandable, and to some extent expected, that at the end of Divergence a reader gets a happy ending. A hasty look at the finales of these narratives, nevertheless, may bring one to a conclusion that to any rule there is an exception, and that in this case, everything is the other way around for Winston does not necessarily dies and Tris unquestionably does. But be that as it may, after closer examination a reader must comprehend that the possible mercy provided to Winston does not need to show an overthrowing of the totalitarian regime. On the same note, Tris’ death does not have to mean the end of the world. Quite the contrary; the Party of NEF happily continues in usurping its followers and factions in Divergent are cancelled at last.

4.2. The role of the main protagonist

Despite the fact that Winston and Tris have completely different journeys and must overcome different obstacles, as explained more thoroughly in chapters 2.3. and 3.3., both of these role models have many important characteristics in common. They are both feeling distant, question their surroundings and eventually fight against the system.

Winston realizes the Party’s oppression and manipulation throughout the whole novel (except for the very last chapter); he is aware that the Inner Party has been altering with people’s memories and that Oceania keeps changing its enemy in the war, and he has this bland feeling like the life used to be better before Ingsoc came to power. Winston deals with the idea of possible rebellion quite often, but he also wonders whether he is a lunatic. (Orwell, 1949/2000)

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Perhaps a lunatic was simply a minority of one. At one time it had been a sign of madness to believe that the earth goes round the sun: today, to believe the past is unalterable. He might be alone in holding that belief, an if alone, then a lunatic. But the thought of being lunatic did not greatly trouble him: the horror was that he might be wrong. (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 73)

Tris, on the other hand, believes the faction system is satisfactory and helps the people live safely, until taking her Aptitude test and finding out she is divergent changes her mind. But even then, she does not comprehend the overall extent to which she and other people are controlled; this reconciliation happens at the end of Allegiant after her visit to the fringe. Yet, even though her rebellion is not always conscious, she becomes a hero anyway. (Roth, 2013)

Another thing that these two characters share is the act of betrayal; both commit some, but each in a different sense. Winston Smith is in his rebellion loyal to both him and Julia right to the very end. “He had told them everything he knew about her, her habits, her character, her past life… And yet, in the sense in which he intended the word, he had not betrayed her. He had not stopped loving her” (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 248) After his encounter with his greatest fear in the room 101, however, he finally betrays her even in this meaning as he begs O’Brien to put on his place Julia instead. (ibid.)

Tris finds herself in the position of choosing between following her instincts and betraying her friends multiple times, and mostly she chooses the first option. However, as it turns out, trusting her instincts is the right choice; so even though at the end of the second book she decides to join her enemies in order to get closer to Jeanine and betrays Tobias with her fellow Dauntless, it allows her to get into the Erudite headquarters more easily and helps her with finishing their goal. (Roth, 2012),

Both these central figures of narratives fight for the right causes and both die. In Winston’s case, notwithstanding, death may not be literal. On page 248 of NEF, O’Brien promises: “It might be a long time. You are a difficult case. But don’t give up hope. Everyone is cured sooner or later. In the end we shall shoot you.” (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 248) The audience of this novel does not get to find out whether Winston is really shot or not, however, that is not crucial for the story. Winston as a person thinking for himself is dead and replaced by someone simply accepting the Party’s truths; someone who considers his occasional flashbacks as a sign of illness. 33

As is masterly written in the two last sentences of this excellent novel: “He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.” (ibid., pg. 269)

Unlike Winston, Tris does not die in vain. Her death means a real victory for everyone in Chicago and near-living people; the world is saved, and the faction system destroyed. She sacrifices herself instead of her brother which makes her an honourable way to go. (Roth 2013) But the question remains - did Tris have to die? Caleb would die and save the world instead and Tris could remain between the living ones. Yet, considering this and that, Tris was the only one who could, in reality, get through the death serum, thus her death was necessary, nevertheless.

4.3. Renegades

In both stories, there are groups of renegades; people who are perceived with negative aspect and have different rights than those who have some social status. These groups are similar in that they both lie on the edge of society, and that most people despise them and do not wish to be in their place; except for the main protagonists. Winston and Tris both sense hope in these assemblages and think that these communities could be the ones to rebel and overthrow authorities. These groups have completely different goals and thinking since Factionless become Factionless as a punishment and by contrast, proles are born proles and do not know any different.

People can become Factionless for several reasons: when they do not pass the Initiation test of their faction if they are abandoned for some reason, or decide to leave. Not surprisingly, many Factionless people are Divergents; they felt like they did not fit into their faction for they believed in more virtues at once and could not choose. The Factionless live in the worst part of Chicago and have the worst jobs; they become janitors, garbage riders or cleaners. They are not paid by money but by clothing and food provided by Abnegation. To be Factionless is a disgrace and no one desires to become one; some even say they would rather die. (Roth, 2011)

The proles live in a part of London with a high amount of criminality but as far as it is happening amongst the proles themselves, the government does not care about it. They have different rights than the members of the Party and seemingly also more freedom; they have cheap magazines with pornography, women can use makeup and 34 cheap perfumes, and many houses have no telescreens. They are considered strongly inferior to the Party members, as evident by Syme’s proclamation: “The proles are not human beings,” (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 50) and the Party’s slogan: “Proles and animals are free.” (ibid., pg. 66)

Both proles and Factionless represent noteworthy hope for oncoming rebellions. In Tris’ case, this expectation is only about the possibility of her joining the Factionless for short periods of time whenever convenient, and of forming an alliance with them in order to overthrow Erudite. She never wishes to join the Factionless since she believes that “to live factionless is not just to live in poverty and discomfort; it is to live divorced from the society, separated from the most important thing in life: community.” (Roth, 2011, pg. 20)

Winston’s faith in the proles is considerably more complex and stable. He strongly believes the proles have more freedom than he does, that only they have the power to defeat the system, and is thinking about how his life would look like if he were to be one of them. “If there is hope, it lies in the proles,” (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 64) Winston records in his notebook; his thoughts, unfortunately, continue with these words: “Until they become conscious, they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled, they cannot become conscious.” (ibid., pg. 64) As written in Goldstein’s book, proles are only sporadically aware of the war. When necessary, they can be nudged into fevers of hatred and terror but when left to themselves, they are most likely to forget for long periods of time that the war is still going on. (ibid., pg. 194)

But in spite of the fact that Winston puts tremendous faith in proles and their opportunities to rebel, they never do so. Factionless, on the other hand, are only waiting for the occasion to depose Erudite and when that chance finally comes up, they do not hesitate and ally with Dauntless to strengthen their forces. Factionless are therefore the perfect partners in the act of destroying authorities. But looking at it from another perspective, their life in seclusion made them hungry for rights and power and for that reason, stopping Erudite is not enough for them and eventually, they try to rule instead of Jeanine. (Roth, 2012) Luckily, this is remedied by Tobias’ success of persuading the leader of Factionless to stop fighting. At the end of the novel, since all factions are abolished, everyone is technically Factionless, but the standard of living is significantly higher and equal for everyone. (Roth, 2013)

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5. The projection of NEF and Divergent into today’s social systems

In the following subchapters, this thesis focuses on the projection of NEF and Divergent into today’s social systems; in particular, China, North Korea, and India. These states were chosen for their undeniable connection with Nineteen Eighty-Four or Divergent. NEF finds its parallels with China for the censorship in both cases is very strong and limits people’s freedom. North Korea is relatable to NEF because of the way the government rules the country. North Koreans have restricted rights and lead a poor life which greatly reminds one of the life in Oceania. Lives portrayed in Divergent are not applicable to those in China and North Korea since dystopian features of this YA novel rest mainly in futuristic technology and division into factions. Therefore, Divergent is in the thesis compared to India’s caste system, practised by Hindus.

5.1. Nineteen Eighty-Four vs China

As evident from previous analysis of NEF, the Inner Party of Airstrip One, aside from other ways of absolute monitoring, has means of forceful censorship, in which aspect the Inner Party strongly resembles the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Chinese authorities control China’s population with a great number of employees hired to thoroughly censor the internet, or through a messaging app called Weibo. (Dans, 2016) Sina Weibo is China’s biggest social network that works similarly to widely known Twitter. For Twitter and Facebook are blocked in mainland China, – a precaution called the Great Firewall of China – this micro-blogging platform represents controlled “sensitive free” content. ("What's on Weibo", 2018)

Not only some famous social media are being unavailable and replaced by more appropriate ones, but the People’s Republic of China also uses other types of censorship, for example, “keyboard blocking”. This restriction stops users from inserting a post containing banned phrases or words, namely e.g. “Chinese Communist Party brutally kills people”, “Evaluate the Chinese Communist Party”, “Obedient citizens under its brutal rule” or “Run the opposite direction of the so-called ideals of Communism”. ("Keywords Used to Filter Web Content", 2006) However, these bans have only limited outcome on freedom of speech for people can easily use homophones, 36 homographs, or other substituting characters; for instance, nonsensical word combination “eye field” is similarly shaped to banned word freedom. (King, Pan & Roberts, 2013) On account of only censorship carried out by humans cannot be outwitted by clever phrasing or using irony, the only truly effective way of controlling posted texts is reading them and eliminating those found questionable. (ibid.) For this reason, the number of people employed to monitor the internet, more precisely about two million people, outnumbers even China’s total of active soldiers. (Kuo, 2013)

G. King, J. Pan, and M. E. Roberts, three Harvard teachers, published a study where they investigate censored posts; they try to find out goals for China’s extensive censorship program and construct a theory of “collective action potential”. According to this theory, the objective of restriction is people who create collective assemblies and “seem to have the potential to generate collective action”. (King, Pan & Roberts, 2013) In this sense, many social users’ posts discussing the same topic on social media, such as protests or other events that are likely to produce collective action, are being censored. (ibid.)

CCP’s Internet police work in the same way as NEF’s workers at the Ministry of Truth – both censor undesirable and inappropriate content. Winston and his co-workers rewrite news articles to make them in accordance with new facts; they even create or vaporize persons, if necessary. These tactics are not widely known; the employees of the Ministry of Truth are supposed to believe they are simply rephrasing an occurred mistake and other citizens do not know anything at all. (Orwell,1949/2000) Oppositely, censors in China are not shy or hiding the censorship in any way. Censored websites often contain notes such as “Sorry, the host you were looking for does not exist, has been deleted or is being investigated”. (King, Pan & Roberts, 2013)

5.2. Nineteen Eighty-Four vs North Korea

Aforementioned overall censorship is also practiced in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). As the Inner Party members in NEF edit newspapers or books in order to have no contradictory information, North Korean books must be re- edited every five years, which gives the Korean Worker’s Party (KWP) the power to alter history. What the KWP says cannot be refuted, no matter where the truth lies.

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Additionally, North Koreans have restricted access to the internet and other channels of news, and are being lied to about their food supplies and economic situation. (Henderson, 2018)

Another similarity between societies living in DPRK and NEF is the fact that they are both placed in a constant state of war. The Korean conflict, still in process from the end of WWII, is the most significant one, alongside with the tensions between North Korea and Japan or the United States of America. Victory is not important neither for the Inner Party nor North Korea since both wars merely exist to “eat up spare resources and keep the population in line”. (Henderson, 2018)

Appalling social conditions are another analogy found between two formerly discussed social systems. Dreadful life described in supposed-to-be-fiction NEF is little different from the terrible conditions in which live inhabitants of DPRK. Citizens of North Korea suffer from famine and poverty since the economy is awfully poor, and all money is invested in inefficient military personnel. (Henderson, 2018) Furthermore, the elite class enjoys special privileges such as cars or luxury food while in the meantime, other workers are starving. (Newman, 2013) This situation reminds a bystander of Inner and Outer Party allocations. Inner Party members enjoy plenty of privileges such as red wine, good food or the possibility of turning the telescreen off. On the other hand, the Outer Party rations are minimal and inadequate for a comfortable life; people in post-war London get poor innutritious food, twenty grams of chocolate and a hundred grams of tobacco a week, and a small amount, if any, of razors and shoelaces. (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 54-55)

Other ways of manipulating comparable to NEF, for example, total surveillance or DPRK’s version of Newspeak, are also worth mentioning. Much like in NEF, people in North Korea are being controlled even in their private matters. Besides cameras, wiretapping of phones, hidden microphones, and monitoring internet usage, there is a great number of informers that are being rewarded. (Henderson, 2018) As explained in earlier subchapter concerning the control of people’s lives in NEF, Newspeak is also a way of controlling people as its aim is to reduce vocabulary and get rid of unwanted words. Similarly, shortly after WWII has ended, Kim Il-sung banned descriptive and flowery words and thus constructed “a prescriptive dictionary for recommended terms of speech.” (Henderson, 2018)

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In NEF, a reader finds out most people love Big Brother. Despite the absolute power Big Brother has over the citizens, whether he exists or not, people of Oceania still adore and worship him, and have complete faith in what he claims. When the Party reduces rations of chocolate once again and claims the rations have been raised instead, Winston, seemingly the only one realizing the truth, is thinking about others: “Was it possible that they could swallow that, after only twenty-four hours? Yes, they swallowed it.” (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 55) Comparatively, as “the regime depends on its subjects putting loyalty and obedience to the Kim dynasty above all other values,” ("Should the world fund food aid to North Korea?", 2014) the North Koreans are supposed to believe considerably impossible truths about their oppressors. (Henderson, 2018) Kim Jong-un, for example, is claimed to be able to control the weather and his father, Kim Jong Il, allegedly invented the hamburger. (Cockburn, 2017)

Correspondingly, discarding the established system is altogether unimaginable for there is no other way for it happening than through a rebellion, which is also something unthinkable. Last elections held in 2014, had almost a hundred percent voting rate with a nearly unanimous result. ("Freedom House", n.d.) What is more, the regime is not likely to fall even for its abominable economic situation. In order to bring the demise of the rule, it is needed to induce a social state of agitation which is improbable since people in DPRK believe their economic problems are due to “the hostile international community and natural disorders” (Park, 2002) rather than the leadership of North Korea. One can once again see the close resemblance with NEF for overthrowing Big Brother’s rule is also something completely inconceivable. “The Party could not be overthrown from the within. Its enemies, if it had any enemies, had no way of coming together or even of identifying one another,” says Winston when he is going through his thoughts. (Orwell, 1949/2000, pg. 64)

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5.3. Divergent vs India

For Divergent trilogy is more fictional and uses futuristic technology, finding today’s social system similar to that portrayed in Divergent is a bigger challenge than to find a system like that described in NEF. One of the most striking dystopian features of Divergent is its division into factions that restricts people’s freedom. This social structure may remind one of the division into castes. Various systems in which populations can be stratified, like the class system in Western societies, or feudal system are known but these systems allow relatively high socioeconomic mobility. Caste systems, however, have low social mobility for they are “hereditary stratification systems in which status is ascribed based on the status of the family into which one is born.” (Wienclaw, 2017) As factions in Divergent, after one’s choice at the Choosing ceremony, cannot be changed, a comparison with immobile caste system is the most relevant one.

Debatably, the best-known caste system still existing is India’s caste system that originates in the Hindu religion. (ibid.) India’s caste system is one of the oldest forms of social stratification and divides people into five castes: Brahmins – teachers and priests – are the highest caste followed by rulers and warriors called Kshatriyas. Next, there are Vaisyas, merchants and farmers; Sudras, who are labourers, are coming right after. The lowest class is called Dalits, also called the Untouchables. Their job is to clean latrines or sweep streets. (Borooah, Sabharwal & Diwakar, 2015)

The main difference between castes in India and factions in Divergent, is the fact that although in both cases one is being born into his or her social group, in Divergent the individual concerned can later choose a different faction, if desired. However, this Choosing ceremony is held only once in a person’s lifetime hence the opportunity to choose a different faction afterwards would be denied and would end in one becoming factionless instead. (Roth, 2011) In contrast, Hindus cannot join a caste of their own choice for the cycle of birth and rebirth is vital to them. It is believed a man is born into caste he deserves; therefore, if one has behaved badly in his life, he is likely to be reborn as an Untouchable as a punishment for his sins. (Borooah, Sabharwal & Diwakar, 2015)

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Another parallel between the novel and Hinduism can be found in their job specializations. Every caste as well as every faction has assigned jobs and cannot do jobs from another caste or faction. Since people in Divergent choose their faction because of the virtue it presents, the job they are going to practice is based on these virtues as well. Thus, for example, selfless members of Abnegation take care of the factionless and administer all the other factions, and fearless Dauntless are the city’s protectors. (Roth, 2010) In the caste system, the job specialization depends on so-called dharma, which is the importance of “doing what is right for the person.” (Borooah, Sabharwal & Diwakar, 2015) Dharma is different for every caste so as Brahmins’ mission is to become priests and teachers, Dalits’ is to be cleaners. Needless to say, it would be considered utterly erroneous for Dalits to study the same teachings as Brahmins, Dalits cannot fulfil their lives differently for “it is only by doing one’s dharma that Dalits stand a chance of improving their lot in future life.” (ibid.)

There is another thing that these two debated cases have in common. Both the caste hierarchy and Divergent have a group of outcasts. In India’s caste system these are the above-mentioned Dalits. Dalits’ status is thought to be so low that they are not considered to be a part of the Indian caste system at all. They are being viewed as unclean hence the term Dalits, which means broken or oppressed, is often replaced by less demeaning the Untouchables. (Wienclaw, 2017) Equally, the Factionless from Divergent are complete outcasts belonging nowhere which can be seen even from the name itself. No one wants to become factionless for it means terrible life in poverty and working as garbage riders or janitors. (Roth, 2011) The job specialization of Factionless is once again noticeably close to that of Dalits.

Further, both Dalits and Factionless got some rights in the end. Discrimination against Dalits is officially prohibited, plus they have been provided “qualifications for many jobs that would require a non-scheduled caste member to have more qualifications and no preference or advantage over others from their category.” (Wienclaw, 2017) Similarly, the Factionless became equal to the others for all factions have been annulled and all differences erased.

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Conclusion

This thesis focused on the topic of dystopia in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy. In the first chapter, it examined the general definition of dystopia, its history, and features. It mentioned examples from both dystopian classics and young adult dystopian literature, and it also explained why YA dystopian literature experiences a boom again.

The second and third chapters discussed the control the totalitarian regime had over its citizens, namely the censorship, constant surveillance, restricted rights, or torturing methods. Then it analysed the roles of Winston and Tris; it examined their rebellions, observed their life under the oppressive regime, and focused on the impact they had on the plot and the world around them. Then it portrayed the disturbing setting people lived in and its importance on the story.

The fourth chapter was dedicated to the comparison of Nineteen Eighty-Four and Divergent. It examined the similarities and differences between these two stories, and focused especially on Winston’s and Tris’ uneasy lives and journeys, backgrounds, and on the outcasts of the stories. It was mainly discovered that even though the world of Divergent was more futuristic with advanced technology, the setting of both stories was depicted and post-war, the lives lived within were strictly controlled, living conditions were terrible, and the freedom of the citizens was limited. The chapter also showed that despite Winston and Tris were completely different, they shared similar goals, and rebelled, each in his or her own way, to achieve it.

In the fifth chapter, the thesis projected both novels into today’s social systems and showed that China and North Korea have many in common with Nineteen Eighty-Four. It presented that people in all the aforementioned social systems are being constantly monitored and manipulated, live in totalitarian regimes, and have restricted rights. Similarly, there were found parallels between the life portrayed in Divergent and life of Hindus. Both citizens of post-apocalyptic Chicago and India are divided into social groups that have different rights and job specializations.

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The main goal of this bachelor thesis was to compare a dystopian classic by Orwell and today’s young adult novel by Roth, and discover their similarities with the around world. It came to a conclusion that even though these novels look like they are completely different, they have many mutual features such as the horrendous conditions of living and the rebellion of main protagonists, their failure, or the feeling of solitude. This showed that even though today’s young adult dystopian stories may seem in many ways different from older dystopias, the main dystopian features remain the same. A reader always comes across an appalling setting with restricted freedom and a protagonist that wishes to defy the system and change the world. It also demonstrated that life in some countries like China, India, or North Korea is close to that portrayed in discussed dystopian novels.

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