An Analysis Of Ally Condie's 'Matched'

Novelists create science fiction novels that represents what today’s society could possibly look like if the government has too much power. Today’s society would fall into a state of corruption, where nothing belongs to a single person and everything is owned by the government. It would be a place where people cannot openly voice their thoughts or opinions without getting in trouble with the powerful government. Ayn Rand’s science fiction novel, Anthem, depicts a dark vision of the future world where individuality is not permitted to exist. The main character, Equality, sets himself aside from the other people living in society. He knows that he is different, but with a sense of naivety, he finds his independence wrong, but he cannot help it. Liberty, the female character in which Equality has feelings for, also finds herself to be different from others and follows Equality’s path. In conveying the insidious corruption of the collectivist society of Anthem, Ayn Rand uses dramatic and situational irony.

Overbearing governments can change every aspect of society but people’s memories and their stories of the past cannot be completely altered to forget what life was like. Society uses these memoires to compare it to the new way of ruling which sometimes is less favorable to the individual. Governments try to change people’s opinions of reality which proves to be impossible. Within the novels, 1984 by George Orwell, The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley the Governments have taken society's freedom away and all that remains are the memories of what life was like before the changes; the main characters are constantly using the past as a way to survive through the difficult times.

In this society, everyone was deemed equal to each other so no one could find out new things or talk about the past. No one was allowed to think as an individual. They had to use the word "we" instead of "I". Everyone always had to be in a group and male and female worked apart from each other. In the novel, the government chose who went with whom and whom they had to mate with. They couldn't choose because than they would be punished and be sent to a corrective center (jail/prison). No one rebelled because of this. In our society, we are allowed to choose who we want to be with and with who we want to start a family with. In the novel, the government is bad because no one is allowed to speak out. They didn't have a democratic environment. In our world, we have a democratic government and the right to freedom of speech, without getting punished. On the contrary, we have to speak out to make our community better and safer to live.

In George Orwell's novel 1984, we explore intimate human relationships, as experienced by the protagonist Winston Smith. Not many bonds are stronger than those developed among family, friends, and lovers. In Oceania, those bonds were made but they've always had a dim side to them, since the only thing you could openly be loving about was the Party and Big Brother. This limitation was one of the most necessary in order to achieve complete power and control over the citizens. The reason for this limitation was the never-ending need of the Party to dissolve all loyalties derived through sex, love, and family and redirect them to the Party itself. Another limitation enforced by the Party was the destruction of trust. The Party invaded the trust between parent and child, co-workers and most importantly between man and woman.

The dystopian novella, Anthem, is set in an age in which every aspect of life is controlled by oppressive leaders. In this society, everyone was deemed equal to each other, meaning no new ideas were allowed and the past could not be discussed. Individuals are told they exist only for the sake of serving society and have no other purpose. Strict rules were put in place involving everyone’s daily lives, their partners, and even when they were allowed to smile. The goal of this controlling environment is to be completely free from conflict and maintain peace and order by giving citizens little freedom.

After rebuilding an item from the Unmentionable Times, Equality begins to contemplate about his purpose and personal identity, “And a strange thought comes to us: we wonder, for the first time in our life, what we look like. Men never see their own faces and never ask their brothers about it, for it is evil to have concern for their own faces or bodies. But tonight, for a reason we cannot fathom, we wish it were possible to use to know the likeness of our own person” (Rand 21). Throughout the novel, Equality’s government forbids the community from obtaining any knowledge on their history. They force characters to live according to the way they set laws, and made it so that asking or having any information that was considered “unacceptable” was morally wrong; they claimed the Unmentionable Times were cruel times, and that they wanted to prevent such chaos again. In forcing a society to groupthink, people will never be able to introduce themselves to different lifestyles and experiences that would help them create their own opinions and values. By thinking as one, true happiness cannot be found- instead, people would simply be distracted by the routines they have adapted rather than living according to what is best suited for themselves. Without the introduction of new ideas, or anyone to initiate a change for better living, an irrational government is bound to grow.

How would you feel if your parents controlled your every move in life? You wouldn’t like it, would you? In Ally Condie’s novel Matched the Government is very controlling. To show, how controlling the Government is Condie uses repetition, dialogue, and inner thinking. Throughout the book, the Government is a central idea. The Government makes all the big and small decisions for the people, for what job the have or who they marry or how many kids they have. They also kill people on their eightieth birthdays. They do all of this to make sure that people don’t get out of line or god forbid make their own decisions. Ally Condie uses repetition, dialogue, and inner thinking to show how controlling the government is.

“Crossed” by Ally Condie carries on explaining Cassia’s story. This time, Ally Condie expanded on her love life and the journey to the rising. She has also brought in Cassia’s Grandfather even though he is dead. In Crossed, Ally Condie added multiple points of view making you see more of the story. From this, it caused a more complex theme. Personally, I think the theme is, the story teaches us not only about love but, also about taking a risk when your gut or heart knows it is right. Additionally, the story is about individuality, relationships, and survival, and altogether it is about romance (such as the love triangle) and trusting your instincts (for instance in the story when Cassia is trying to find Ky and she goes where

In George Orwell’s novel 1984, the nature of love and friendship in the nation of Oceania that Orwell writes about, the Party tries desperately to erase love for anything but Big Brother from the lives of its members. (Reese) 1984 displays that the party’s unlimited and absolute control of the people. For an example the telescreens are used to surveillance the people in their homes. The party has eyes in many places too. For instance the love of Winston and Julia somehow compromised by Mr. Charrington when he disclosed the relationship to the Party about them. Another example of the love in Oceania is the marriage of Winston and Katharine ended horrendously. (Reese) Winston thinks deeply about the condition of the world. (Notes) He said he wanted to throw her off of a cliff.

Any government with total control is worth being feared and having a group of individuals who go against their government. With complete control, a government is capable of committing acts against their citizens, which can be perceived as “something good” from the government’s point of view. In 1984 by George Orwell, and “Harrison Bergeron”, by Kurt Vonnegut, the main characters, Winston and Harrison, feel oppressed by the government's acts and events, try to overthrow their government, and go through a realization of hopelessness and defeat.

Life would be perfect if everyone could be married to their true love, jobs fit perfectly to personalities, and diseases were practically nonexistent. The Society in Ally Condie’s novel Matched offers these things and more. But what exactly is the real price for having a seemingly perfect life? In order to have a perfect society with perfect lives, freedoms have to be given up and strict laws must be observed. This may be evident in the book especially, but can also be seen around the world in the different cultures that are prevalent.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley illustrates what is actually happening in modern society. The novel is a satire of a totalitarian government and although it is fantasy, there are early traces of it occurring in modern day. It is hard to imagine a government that is solely based on the ideals of the people when there is an elected government body who makes decisions. The government’s goal is to have stability and prosperity and that, at times, is accomplished at the expense of the individuals who are governed. Accordingly, there is danger in having an all-powerful state because personal freedoms are lost. More so, there is power in having knowledge that others do not possess because it is a gateway for the government to control the public

Lots of things are restricted from them such as information, independent thought, and freedom. Cassia questions the existing social and political systems which shows some type of problem in their method. Also, this society is an illusion of a perfect utopian world. As the story evolves, the reader can see what was thought to be a perfect society turn into something completely wrong.

to begin the society groups the citizens of class by gender. For example, “I could have endured living with her if it had not been for just one thing-lust” (Orwell 149). In this quote he is basically saying that if there hadn’t been a need for lust then their marriage would have worked. Women are portrayed as only a need for sexual desire. Another reason when gender is excluded is when making certain decisions, for example Julia always made the decisions of where they should meet. Julia was more dominant in the relationship, she had more say of where they should have met and what they were going to do. Winston was only in the relationship for the lust since he didn’t get that with his wife. Finally, another example of the government being selective of gender is by taking away all the promoting against sexual desire, which makes women almost render less. women mostly stayed at home and rarely worked as portrayed by the book. There were also many clubs and activities that promoted against non-sexual activities, so women were basically useless. To conclude the government separates the citizens by gender in the cases of lust, companionship, and decision making.

In light of current events, society is more concerned than ever about just how much power the government has over people. Individuals are concerned that those in charge might implement policies that could deteriorate certain groups’ quality of living. To some, this may be foolish, but as is shown in some novels, this could happen, and when it does, it is hard to combat. In both George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World authors depict societies under strict government control. These instances display to readers the issues that arise when governments lead through excessive limitation and by demanding conformity.