Dystopia

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Roxy Haitsch 

Professor Grajeda 

ENC 1102 

19 March 2014

Dystopia is defined as an imagined state or place in which everything is unpleasant or bad (Dictionary.com). In Stanley Kubrick’s film, A Clockwork Orange, and George Orwell’s novel, 1984, actions are taken to create a utopian society through totalitarian control. With eyes clenched shut and minds wide open, can anything more “unpleasant” or “bad” be imagined than a political system set in place to gain complete control over the publics “happiness?” Should the needs of society weigh against the rights of the individual? Both works of literature have set in place political systems through efforts to control their citizens, contain executed policies that inhibit freedom, and utilized methods of rehabilitation on people who choose not to follow these policies. The shared theme to be discussed in 1984 and A Clockwork Orange is the dystopian society.

The initial purpose behind the political system set in place in George Orwell’s novel,1984, was to benefit the greater good by preventing an emotionally driven society. Orwell shows this totalitarian state through the eyes of Winston Smith, who is hardly a supporter of this controlled world known as Oceania; an all-powerful and all-seeing technology society. In Stanley Kubrick’s film, A Clockwork Orange, the political system set in place did very little to control the growth of an excessive, violent youth culture, initially. Kubrick documents the life of Alex DeLarge in a futuristic city, also a totalitarian state. In this city, Alex along with his gang of

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“droogs” are a part of this growth, and as such engage in violent activities such as beating men, and raping women. The clear sense of disorder in the film quickly spirals into complete chaos when the system finally takes action to control Alex’s violent ways.

Policies such as the ban on speaking or thinking against the government were executed in Orwell’s novel, inhibiting the...