Beautiful Monsters By Eric Puncher Analysis

Dystopian societies, as described in novels and movies, fascinates all audiences from young to old because they can relate in someway to the portrayed unfortunate circumstances. For instance, the novel 1984 and the movie Divergent, intrigue the imagination for most readers because they can actually sense an overpowering government in their own life. Both of the stories are an extreme of what most people would say is taking place in reality today; however, their story still resonates in the minds of many as it expresses a common theme. Both 1984 and Divergent have a similar theme of a controlling government system that oppresses their citizens.

Does a perfect world exist? It is the idea that when creating this utopia everyone will be happy, equal, understanding of each other. Often in the attempt to make this dream like utopia often becomes a dystopia. This futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societies are controlled and make it seem like a perfect world, but what do these dystopian worlds show us? In his text “Beautiful Monsters” , Eric Puncher depicts of a world where adults are casted out of society . A world where Children live forever and control society. It’s the conflict of the Perennials and the senescent that shows Puncher 's political argument. Pruncher’s argument is people often classify people and reject them from society through the false values that have been implemented in their society. While in Neil Gaiman 's and Bryan Talbot’s comic strip, “From Homogenous to Honey”, they depict a world where a masked assailant completely erases the homosexual narrative from history. By destroying these narratives, he is carrying out his agenda, and creating a dystopian society where everyone’s narrative is the same. Gaiman’s argument is that a dystopian society strips culture of its individuality, which leads to a lack of independent thinking, this in turn causes individuals to lose themselves. Therefore making everyone the same. This imperfect world clearly has a negative effect on the citizens. But through the authors dystopian worlds who was able to use it more successfully to create a

Years ago, Charles Darwin developed a theory of evolution. The strong will readjust and change while the weak die off. This became known as natural selection. The world is ever changing and in order to survive, one must adapt to their surroundings. Without doing so, the chances of survival are slim. Much like society today. Society has the top 1%, who are adjusting just fine to this ever changing world. But what about the other 99% of people? Majority of them are the ones struggling to change their life. Whether it be by going to school to earn a degree and a higher paying job, or cutting back on expenses to afford the necessities of life, one must adapt. Dystopian literature gives people an idea of what could happen in this ever growing, refined world. Most dystopian literatures install a sense of fear in people. A fear that society could be taken over by a select few, an unnatural force, or Mother Nature herself. The movie, In Time¸ and the story by Ray Bradbury, The Murderer, give chilling examples of what could, or could not, become of just Earth, but society as well.

As a tool for social commentary, oftentimes a writer will employ the use of a biting satire. Through precise writing and exaggerated concepts, Kurt Vonnegut is clearly a skilled user of satirical storytelling. As one of the most famous and widely read short literary tales of all time, Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron is certainly his best example in this genre. In Harrison Bergeron, Kurt Vonnegut proposes that true equality is not an ideal worth striving for, as many people believe, but a mistaken goal that is dangerous in both implementation and consequence. To achieve physical and mental equality amongst all Americans, the government in Vonnegut's short story subjects its citizens to “handicapping” through the use of crude means, such as canvas sacks of lead balls worn to impede physical ability, or more sophisticated technology, like the miniature radio used to mentally incapacitate the intellectually adept. This has rendered the dystopian future presented both bland and uneventful through its enforcement of equality for all. Vonnegut expertly engineers his story to capture the essence of an utterly broken and depressing future. Calibrating the specific aspects of literature, Vonnegut is attune with the exact parameters he so desires for his tale. Like a true master of his craft, Vonnegut in Harrison Bergeron welds together poignant imagery, vague setting, rich symbolism, and a detached tone to build a stunning tour de force of American literature.

The short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is considered an example dystopian society because it demonstrates many attributes of a typical dystopian society. According to the handout a dystopian society has information, independent thought, and freedom restricted from the citizens. In the story the narrator talks about how, “the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains”(1). These transmitters prevent people from thinking creatively and imaginatively, which is a restriction of free thought and an example of a characteristic of a dystopian society. Also in the handout it describes how bureaucratic control is when society is controlled with strict rules and

“An imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect,” is the definition you’d read if you searched up the word, “utopia.” Humans strive to achieve perfection- the perfect grade, a perfect family, having a perfect life, being the perfect person- to be flawless. We as humans, typically desire for what we don't have. After all, our world is not perfect at all. We face hardships, anxieties, pain, and much more.

This story began explaining the characteristics that made that world an utopian society “everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and law. They were equal every which way…” , everything looks to be fine with this society, but in paragraph 3, it is shown what the people that live there had a disadvantage by being equal, “Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she could not think of everything but in short bursts”, it seems here that this people don't have their own opinion, because they forgot things really quickly, in that same paragraph it is also stated “George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all the times.” the government has seen that not everyone is what they call a normal citizen, and has found a way to make them the same.

Have you ever heard of a utopia? It’s an imagined place where everything is perfect. It may sound great, but one person’s utopia could be someone else’s dystopia. A dystopia is an imagined place where everything is unpleasant or bad. In utopias you must give up free will and your equality.

Dystopian societies are in the real world today and have been before. Many of them can vary in severity but all of them are terrible. A dystopian society is an imbalance between the government and the people and how their choices affect the society in a bad way; Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany is a very good example of a dystopian society. By analyzing Nazi Germany and Hitler’s tyranny, one can notice Adolf’s changes in Germany, his impacts on people, and how the genres of literature can be taught through dystopia.

By attempting to dictate all matters of thought, from the brutal surveillance of 1984 to the unwavering dedication to a caste system in Brave New World, as well as choosing to forgo creativity and emotional freedom in order to substitute government propaganda, the people of these dystopian futures lose their humanity despite technology moving

During the 20th century, authors utilized realistic problems in which humanity was facing in regards to technology, control, and the concept of dystopia. The story Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, foreshadows the potential future of humanity by using themes resembling the oppression and abolition of civilian rights and freedoms in order to give insight towards the future of humanity. The story displays society of mankind with no differences and limited potential that is controlled by a government deadset on keeping the status quo. Vonnegut exemplifies traits of communism in his dystopian society, as he states, ”They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way” (Vonnegut 1). Ultimately, freedom and civil rights are restricted, resulting in, a lack of privacy and minimal self autonomy.

Dennis Prager once said, “Although images of perfection in people’s personal lives can cause unhappiness, images of perfect societies, utopian images, can cause monstrous evil. In fact, forcefully changing society to conform to societal images was the greatest cause of evil in the 20th century.” (Prager Dennis, Search Quote) The meaning of this upscale quote goes to show how our generation evolves into society. In general, everyone wishes to live in a perfect world, with perfect, happy people, where no harm can be done. Each individual has their own way of wanting “a perfect society.” For example, it could be living in a world with no violence or war, and another person can think their “perfect society” would be living in a world of equality amongst our peers. In other words, this perfect world that one would want to/ think they live in is called a Utopia.

Underpinning Aldous Huxley’s dystopic representation of a totalitarian consumerist technocracy Brave New World and Kurt Vonnegut’s short story “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” is a more subtle and nuanced mimesis of a restrained society where individuality, human instincts and social cohesion are dominated by the repressive nature of politics. Both composers are skeptical of the political acts enforced by each bureaucracy and draw attention to the fact that by suppressing individuality, a society is robbed of artistic and intellectual innovation. Huxley and Vonnegut convey the people-power relationship through indirection, using characterisation and symbolism to mimeticise subversion and repression – political stances unveiled by the use of counterpoint. One set of movements represents the

Growing up you learn where you fit into society and culture from your surroundings. You go to school, hang out with friends, socialize, and even go to family get-togethers; in all of these situations you learn from your surroundings. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the outcome of where you fit in is not always chosen. Even if it is personal decision, it is still controlled by society and the culture in which you live. In literature, the stories of characters are perceived by the reader in the eyes of the narrator.

A dystopian society, usually illusory, is the reverse of an idyllic utopia: it is generally tyrannical and inhibited. Dystopian societies mirror our future- they are usually a hyperbolic familiar society with satirical exaggeration. This kind of literature is written to amend other people 's idea of the kind of society they should thrive for. As well as that, they are written to express their concerns about the future and humanity. Societies of this nature appear in many works of fiction, predominantly in novels set in a speculative future. Dystopian culture is often mused by societal collapse, dehumanization, poverty, and deprivation.