The literature of thought control: examining the enduring significance of the dystopian genre

Abstract

The genre of dystopian fiction is one of the most essential components of social commentary on our society, but its critical style is often absorbed into genres like Young-Adult fiction. I set out to investigate exactly which elements of dystopian fiction, in its past and present forms, are central to its usefulness as a tool to study our contemporary world. My focus was divided into three concentrations of dystopian novels: those that exposed the inadequacies of their particularly lived pasts, those which commented on the deficiencies of their present, and those which illustrated the fears of their individual futures. Each section revolves around the discussion of one primary novel—Nineteen Eighty-Four, Catch-22, and Brave New World, respectively—with other novels and sources in support. I find that the strength of dystopian fiction comes from its resonance with literary interpretation across multiple time periods and metaphoric, critical application to a range of evolving social issues.