Places and forms of Power: British humour

LELE - DOSSIER ORAL - NOTION N°2 : DYSTOPIA

Documents: 1984, George Orwell, 1948 ; The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood, 1985 ; Matched, Ally Condie, 2010

How does the author depicts his society through the dystopian novel?

INTRO :

   I’m going to talk about the notion The writer in his century through the theme of dystopia. A dystopia is a fictional story depicting an imaginary society, organized in such a way that it prevents its inhabitants to achieve happiness and liberty. The documents I have chosen to illustrate my theme are the following ones: an excerpt from 1984 written by George Orwell in 1948, another one from The Handmaid’s Tale written by Margaret Atwood in 1985 and the last one is from the novel Matched written in 2010 by Ally Condie, which is my personal document that I choose because I think it perfectly illustrates the way government controls society in dystopia. All of these excerpts are opening chapters. By means of these documents, we may wonder how does the author depicts his society in his dystopian novel.

DEVELOPMENT:

  Firstly, by definition, dystopia is a way to criticize society, or the past by means of writing. So, authors are depicting their societies by criticizing them, exaggerating their flaws. It is shown in the excerpt from George Orwell’s 1984. In 1948, aware of the past of his world and influenced by what happened during the Second World War and the current cold war, the author chooses to write about a dystopian society, ruled by a single party and a charismatic leader, it reminds us of the dictatorship that used to rule the former USSR: “the electric current was cut off during daylight hours” and “the economy drive”. Indeed, the figure of Big Brother is quite similar to the portrait of Joseph Stalin: “a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features”. The character of Winston Smith symbolizes the state of the population: he limps and “had a varicose ulcer above his right ankle”, he represents sickness and stands for the whole country. His name is very common. In the excerpt, he is a feeble character, he looks overwhelmed by the government of his State, while Big Brother is his opposite. He embodies strength and power.

   It is the same situation for the excerpt of The Handmaid’s Tale. The author is criticizing a society where liberty is banished, in reference to the election of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, when she wrote her novel. The world as we know it seems to be a part of History in the narrator’s present: “we slept in what had once been the gymnasium”, use of “formerly”. Some objects from the past are used but seems to be relics: “army-issue blankets, old ones that still said U.S.”. What is left from our present is now used in a totally different way: sport places, turned into dormitories or prison yards.

  Then, criticism is supported by the presence of an over-controlling government. In 1984 , the country is controlled by the unique party and his leader: Big Brother. The party is represented by the “telescreen”: the “voice” that “could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely”. People are obliged to wear the “uniform of the party’’. Posters of Big Brother are always around Winston and frequently mentioned, the catching phrase “Big Brother is watching you” is written twice in bold characters, like Winston, the reader is overwhelmed by it.

    In the novel Matched, society is over-controlling people. 17 years old youngsters are matched during a “Match Banquet”, organized by “Officials”, so as to marry someone genetically adequate. They are controlled and kinda rationed: “for a minute I think about saving some of mine […] It would be bad form to hide it away in my mother’s purse even if she would agree, and she won’t. My mother doesn’t break the rules”. Population obeys to rules, imposed by their Society. All of it is carefully orchestrated: “There is a system, of course, to the Matching. In City Halls across the country, all filled with people, the Matches are announced in alphabetical order according to the girls’ last names.”, “It’s so complicated—the Matching—and I am again reminded of the intricate steps of the dances they used to do long ago. This dance, however, is one that the Society alone can choreograph now”.

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