Download Utopia: A place, state, or condition that is ideally perfect in respect of

Characteristics of Dystopian Literature
Utopia: A place, state, or condition that is ideally perfect in respect of politics, laws, customs,
and conditions.
Dystopia: The futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion
of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or
totalitarian control. Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case scenario, make a criticism
about a current trend, societal norm, or political system.
There are many common traits that dystopian societies contain:
1. Society: most impose severe social restrictions on community members
 Social stratification: social class is strictly defined and enforced (society is split
into a caste system where people have specialized functions)
 Repression of the intellectual (knowledge is power, ignorance keeps people weak)
 Propaganda is used to control the citizens of society
 Information, independent thought, and freedom are restricted
 Citizens are perceived to be under constant surveillance
 Citizens have fear of the outside world
 Citizens live in a dehumanized state
 Citizens conform to uniform expectations. Individuality and dissent are bad.
 The society is an illusion of a perfect utopian world
2. Social Groups: total absence of social groups other than the “state”
 Independent religion is notable because it is omitted
 Family is attacked: the hostility to motherhood (family loyalty is a challenge to
loyalty to the state)
 Instead of normal religion, a figurehead or concept is worshipped by the citizens
of society
3. Technology: technological advancements cut people off from the natural world and
help the government to keep control of society

People are conditioned to fear nature
 The natural world is banished or distrusted
 The natural world has been mastered to the point where nature has become barren
or turns against humankind
 Technological advances enslave humans or regiment their lives
 Sophisticated equipment is used for surveillance and punishment
4. Politics: Government asserts power over citizens
 Government is flawed in some way, portrayed as oppressive
 Filled with pessimistic views of the ruling class – rules with an “iron fist”
 Illusions of a perfect society are maintained through one of more of following
types of controls:
 Corporate control: One or more large corporations control society through
products, advertising, and/or the media (ex. Minority Report, The Running
Man)
 Bureaucratic control: Society is controlled by a mindless bureaucracy
through a tangle of red tape, relentless regulations, and incompetent
government officials (ex. Futurama, though not technically a dystopia, has
this element).
 Technological control: Society is controlled by technology – through
computers, robots, and/or scientific means (ex. The Matrix, The
Terminator).
 Philosophical/psychological control: Society is controlled by philosophical
ideology or psychological warfare often enforced through a dictatorship or
theocratic government (ex. Star Wars)
5. Economic: state is in control of the economy
 black market – items banned or seen as contraband
 upper members of the government have access to wealth, luxury, and supposedly
contraband goods while average people live in poverty
6. The Hero: protagonist questions society
 often feels trapped and is struggling to escape
 questions the existing social and political systems
 believes or feels that something is terribly wrong with the society in which he or
she lives
 helps the audience recognize the negative aspects of the dystopian world through
his or her perspective
7. Conflict: societal group somewhere not under control of the state
8. Resolution: can be unresolved
 protagonist’s/rebels’ escape from the system
 overthrow of the government/society
 death of protagonist
 reeducation/conformity of protagonist