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Orwellian Methods of Social Control in Contemporary Dystopian Literature

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Orwellian Methods of Social Control in Contemporary Dystopian Literature View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Repositorio Documental de la Universidad de Valladolid FACULTAD de FILOSOFÍA Y LETRAS DEPARTAMENTO de FILOLOGÍA INGLESA Grado en Estudios Ingleses TRABAJO DE FIN DE GRADO A Nightmarish Tomorrow: Orwellian Methods of Social Control in Contemporary Dystopian Literature Pablo Peláez Galán Tutora: Tamara Pérez Fernández 2014/2015 ABSTRACT Dystopian literature is considered a branch of science fiction which writers use to portray a futuristic dark vision of the world, generally dominated by technology and a totalitarian ruling government that makes use of whatever means it finds necessary to exert a complete control over its citizens. George Orwell’s 1984 (1949) is considered a landmark of the dystopian genre by portraying a futuristic London ruled by a totalitarian, fascist party whose main aim is the complete control over its citizens. This paper will analyze two examples of contemporary dystopian literature, Philip K. Dick’s “Faith of Our Fathers” (1967) and Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta (1982-1985), to see the influence that Orwell’s dystopia played in their construction. It will focus on how these two works took Orwell’s depiction of a totalitarian state and the different methods of control it employs to keep citizens under complete control and submission, and how they apply them into their stories. KEYWORDS: Orwell, V for Vendetta , Faith of Our Fathers, social control, manipulation, submission. La literatura distópica es considerada una rama de la ciencia ficción, usada por los escritores para retratar una visión oscura y futurista del mundo, normalmente dominado por la tecnología y por un gobierno totalitario que hace uso de todos los medios que sean necesarios para ejercer un control total sobre sus ciudadanos. La novela de George Orwell 1984 (1949) es considerada un hito del género distópico: en ella, Orwell retrata un Londres futurista gobernado por un partido fascista y totalitario, cuyo objetivo principal es el control total sobre sus ciudadanos. En este trabajo se analizarán dos ejemplos de la literatura distópica contemporánea, "La Fe de Nuestros Padres" (1967) de Philip K. Dick y V de Vendetta (1982-1985) de Alan Moore, con el objetivo de estudiar la influencia que la distopía de Orwell jugó en su construcción. El trabajo se centrará en cómo estas dos obras tomaron la representación de Orwell de un estado totalitario y los diferentes métodos de control que éste emplea para mantener a los ciudadanos bajo un estado de absoluta sumisión y control, y cómo los aplicaron en sus obras. PALABRAS CLAVE: Orwell, V de Vendetta , La Fe de Nuestros Padres, control social, manipulación, sometimiento. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 7 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: SCIENCE FICTION, UTOPIAS AND DYSTOPIAS ................................................................................................................... 9 2.1 HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF SCIENCE FICTION: AN OVERVIEW ....... 10 2.2 SCIENCE FICTION AND UTOPIAS .................................................................... 11 2.3 DYSTOPIAN LITERATURE................................................................................. 11 3. ANALYSIS: ORWELL, DICK AND MOORE ........................................................ 16 3.1 ORWELL’S 1984 .................................................................................................... 16 3.2 PHILIP K. DICK’S “FAITH OF OUR FATHERS” .............................................. 22 3.3 ALAN MOORE’S V FOR VENDETTA .................................................................. 30 4. CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................... 39 5. WORKS CITED ........................................................................................................ 41 1. INTRODUCTION Dystopian literature is characterized by a blending of fantasy and reality that creates a futuristic world based on features of the author’s present world. The main aim of dystopian writers is to create a piece of literature that allows them to criticize certain political, social and economic aspects of their present, as a warning for its readers about the dangers of following these ideologies. It is due to this amalgam of reality and fiction that dystopian literature is regarded as a subgenre of science fiction, a broad genre characterized by a futuristic setting, typically in newly discovered planets and where the latest technological developments play an important role. Although Yevgeny Zamyatin and Aldous Huxley had already inaugurated the dystopian genre with their novels We (1924) and Brave New World (1932) respectively, it was George Orwell who gave the genre its definitive push with his novel 1984 (1949). Orwell depicted a futuristic world divided into three super-states, governed by totalitarian parties whose main aim is to exercise absolute control over their citizens whatever means they find mandatory, which has influenced the writing of subsequent dystopias. Acknowledging the power of Orwell’s novel influencing future dystopias, this paper will analyze the features of the Orwellian model of a totalitarian government, as well as identifying and describing the different methods it uses to keep citizens under strict control and manipulation. This analysis is intended to provide the basis for a further analysis of two contemporary dystopias, Philip K. Dick’s short story “Faith of Our Fathers” (1967) and Alan Moore’s graphic novel V for Vendetta (1982-1985). The aim of this paper is to compare the similarities and differences between these two dystopias, focusing on the ruling governments they portray and the methods for social control they make use of, as well as drawing their similarities and/or differences compared those depicted in the Orwellian model. For that purpose, the methodology I follow in this paper consists of a study of the Orwellian ideas of totalitarianism and social repression as the basis for an analysis of Dick’s and Moore’s works, exploring their plots, characters and methods for social repression these works represent in order to see how they have adapted Orwell’s ideas. I have selected two dystopias, Dick’s “Faith of Our Fathers” and Moore’s V for Vendetta , a short story and a graphic novel respectively, because these are literary forms that are neither as widely read as novels nor there are many critical analysis on these literary forms. Moreover, Dick is one of the most important science fiction readers of the twentieth century and his short story was published in the anthology Dangerous Visions , one of the most important anthologies of science fiction as it set the course of the twentieth-century science fiction offers readers a different perspective over dystopias, set in Vietnam and depicting a world ruled by a Communist Party. On the other hand, Moore’s graphic novel shares the setting with Orwell`s 1984 , although the main reason why I selected this work is because it has become the symbol of social protest. Thus, this paper expects to find a clear relation between the two dystopias that will be analyzed and Orwell’s 1984 , as well as some similitudes between Dick’s short story and Moore’s graphic novel in their depiction of a futuristic world, ruled by a totalitarian government that uses not only technology but whatever means and methods it finds necessary to control its citizens 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: SCIENCE FICTION, UTOPIAS AND DYSTOPIAS This paper will start its analysis of dystopian literature by discussing its origin. To begin with, this paper will try to provide a definition for the genre of science fiction, as well as giving an overview of its history. In this manner, this section will lay the groundwork for a discussion about utopias and dystopias, what they are and when they emerged, to conclude this first part with a survey of the history of dystopias, focusing of the two major periods and the discussion around different notions of dystopias. It is difficult to provide a definition for science fiction because, as Peter Fitting claims, “there is still no single accepted definition for the genre” (135). For Chris McKitterick, “Science fiction is the literature of the human species encountering change, whether it arrives via scientific discoveries, technological innovations, natural events, or societal shifts” (n. pag.) whereas Darko Suvin defines it as “a literary genre whose necessary and sufficient conditions are the presence and interaction of estrangement and cognition, and whose main formal device is an imaginative framework alternative to authors empirical environment” (qtd. in Fitting 136). These two definitions of the genre are based upon the elements around which science fiction works are built: science and fiction blended in a depiction of futuristic worlds which are characterized by scientific and technological developments, which help humanity to reach and construct these worlds, and ultimately dominate them. These futuristic worlds in which science fiction stories are placed are commonly set in the outer space, or even in different universes. The plot of these stories is built around a human element who suffers the effects of those scientific and technological developments, in an attempt to illustrate the effects that these developments may cause to humankind in the near future. This is one of the main reasons why this
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