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All about Dystopian Fiction

The term “dystopia” characterizes an imagined future society or world that is oppressive and frightening with terror and distress. It is an antonym for “utopia,” derived from the book by the same title by Sir. Thomas More in 1516, which described an ideal society free of crime, violence and poverty.

The First Dystopian Novel, "WE"

First edition of the novel
Author	Yevgeny Zamyatin
Language	English, Russian
Genre	Dystopian novel, Science fiction
Published	1924
Publisher	E.P. Dutton
Publication place	United States / Russia
Media type	Print
Pages	226 pages
ISBN	0-14-018585-2

Dystopian fictions commonly explore post-apocalyptic societies that suffer from mass impoverishment, totalitarian control and dehumanization of living conditions inflicted by technological advancements. Despite not being a real world, the world of dystopian fiction reflects the worrisome undercurrents of today’s society: the worsening gap of the haves and have-nots, racial and ethnic divisions, political polarization, and the threats of advancing machinery, just to name a few. It often prompts readers to take insight into fresh perspectives on problematic social and political practices of today. Given this, dystopian fictions are purposely written as warnings for people to consider what might happen in the future when these troubling societal tendencies are not treated properly.

Core Concepts

Here are five characteristics of dystopian fiction. Although the list below is not all-inclusive, they are common key features found in dystopian fiction.

• Oppressive control: Dystopian fiction depicts an uncompromised power of an authority or government that monopolizes control over the masses and surveils all aspects of their lives. The citizens of a dystopian society are often indoctrinated under totalitarian control and made to lose their rights of speech, religion, having opinions, and properties as individuals and ultimately their freedom. Alternately, dystopian fiction also explores a world in which there is no government and lawlessness prevails to the extent that only chaos, violence, and poverty are what makes up the society.
• Dehumanization: Dystopian fiction commonly addresses the subject of the dangers of conformity, where individuals’ rights are lost for the greater cause of society as a whole. Individuals are forced to conform to expectations of the totalitarian government or system to the degree where the humanity of people is degraded.
• Environmental degradation: Dystopian fiction deals with the aftermath of a cataclysmic environmental disaster such as a universal flood, especially violent volcano, or global warming that leads to a complete destruction of Earth as we know it. In this theme, Earth is often depicted as uninhabitable.
• Squalor & suffering: Dystopian fiction revolves around the survival of a few in a post-apocalyptic world. Individuals, in this theme, are left to fend for themselves against extreme impoverishment, lawlessness, or both in a devastated world or society at the end of a catastrophic event such as a nuclear war
• Unchecked scientific or technological advancements: Dystopian fiction often uses technology as a fear-mongering tactic rather than a tool to enhance human existence or making necessary tasks easier. Technological advancements are portrayed as being weaponized in their use for genetic manipulation, mass surveillance, and extreme control of human populations.

Themes and Setting

Dystopian fiction often deals with issues relevant to us today, which encourages readers to take a deep dive into the intricacies of human nature and consider the potential consequences of our behaviors. Here are the most common themes explored in Dystopian fiction:

• Good vs. Evil: Dystopian fiction often contrasts what’s good to what’s evil. A protagonist who stands on the good side battles with their adversary, whether it be a figure, system, technology, or concept for their survival.
• Totalitarianism: Dystopian fiction portrays those under oppressive control and how their thoughts and perceptions of reality are manipulated. The struggles of a few, alert and still capable of thinking for themselves can work as a magnet that entices readers into reading these dystopian stories.
• Lifestyle Disparities: Social inequalities in distribution of wealth between a ruling class and poor citizenry is a common theme of dystopian fiction, which is a reflection of the world we live in today.
• Technological Control: Technological misuse and manipulation is often what attracts readers to dystopian stories as they seek certainty in an uncertain world.  
• Environmental Destruction: Dystopian fiction often explores the theme of environmental destruction with struggling few survivors in the aftermath of disasters. Stories that explore this theme are read as warnings about the potential consequences of human behaviors that are selfish, ruthless, and arbitrary.

Purpose

Dystopian fiction depicts hypothetical future societies where the citizenry is faced with disastrous political, societal, technological, religious and environmental events and their aftermaths. This form of fiction explores challenges stemming from real world events or problems, and it helps readers to forge critical thinking about what they might do in “what if” situations. It is proposed to give readers a didactic message about the world they live in today.

Subgenres

Dystopian fiction is a subgenre of science fiction and also a form of speculative fiction. Dystopian fiction explores aftermaths of failed or fallen societies in some way. Dystopian fiction has been loved by bookworms since Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World published in 1932, which caused people to imagine “what ifs '' and led the genre to the mainstream. With the popularity of dystopian fiction increasing, writers began exploring their unique visions of dystopia, and their visions turned into subgenres of dystopian fiction. Here are some notable subgenres of dystopia:

Combinations: These novels typically explore both elements of utopias and dystopias, and often encourage readers to think about the choices we make today and how they may potentially lead to a better or worse world in the future. Ursula K. Le Guin’s Always Coming Home, Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time, and Aldous Huxley’s Island are representatives.

Controlled Societies: Strict rules and brutal dictators are often seen in dystopias ruled by ruthless egalitarianism as seen in Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We. In the story, people are referred to by numbers not named and viewed as part of a single empire without any freedom and individuality. In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, the government doesn’t allow books to be read and surveils its citizens to enforce its rules.

Environment: Dystopian fiction commonly explores the aftermath of environmental disasters like nuclear war as in Russell Hoban’s Riddley Walker, depicting a devastated world, thousands years after a nuclear war.

Feminist Utopias/Dystopias: These novels often explore idealist societies without issues concerning gender inequality or disparity and elevates women as equal or superior to men. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Herland and Joanna Russ’s A few Things I Know About Whileaway, men are eliminated and men’s roles are replaced by women in an all-female society. The same matter is dealt in Lauren Oliver’s Pandemonium, which features a society where women are in control.

Top 10 Contemporary Dystopian Novels

Author	Title	Year	Theme	Summary
George Orwell	1984	1949	Totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and repressive regimentation	The dictator Big Brother enforces omnipresent surveillance over the people living in the three inter-continental states after a world war.
Omar El Akkad	American War	2017	Environmental crisis, displacement, and civil conflict	An American civil war broke out after banning the use of fossil fuels in 2074. The story follows a family that goes to a refugee camp and struggles to survive throughout the war.
Aldous Huxley	Brave New World	1932	Technology, control, and the cost of happiness	The story explores a futuristic society that revolves around science and efficiency. The rulers use technological advancements to control individuals' behaviors, emotions and births to keep their population.
RAY Bradbury	Fahrenheit 451	1953	Censorship, conformity, and identify	In a future society where books are banned and firemen are charged with burning books, Guy Montag is transformed from a book-burning fireman to a book-reading rebel to search for deeper meaning in life.
H.G.Wells	The Time Machine	1895	Inequality, social class, and technology	A scientist creates a time machine that enables to travel to the distant future, and the story follows as he travels in time.
Margaret Atwood	The Handmaid's Tale	1986	Gender roles and equality, personal liberty and conformity, and oppressive government	The story is set in the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian state, where women cast as handmaids are kept captive as a child bearing surrogate for a powerful but sterile couple without personal freedom.
Suzanne Collins	The Hunger Game	2008	Societal inequality, Love/Loyalty/Compassion, and Hypocrisy	A fictional totalitarian government holds most of the country's wealth and controls its citizens, and some children are selected to participate in a televised death match, called the Hunger Games every year.
Cormac McCarthy	The Road	2006	Challenges of survival, importance of family, and father-son relationships	A man and his son are forced to fend for themselves after a cataclysmic event.
Yevgeny Zamyatin	We	1924	Mechanization, alienation, religion, and surveillance	The story explores a future nation where the citizens wear uniforms and are referred to by number.
Jack London	The Iron Heel	1908	Socialism, social revolution, rebellion, and war	The story is about the fall of the United States to a fascist dictatorship led by a group of monopoly capitalists, called the Iron Heel.

External Links

1. the book by the same title
2. Thomas More
3. dangers of conformity
4. uninhabitable.
5. post-apocalyptic
6. technology as a fear-mongering tactic
7. A few Things I Know About Whileaway