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Comparing Dystopia In Vonnegut, Gattaca And The Island

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Dystopian literature and film has been quite a popular genre for readers. In most texts, they are set in a post-apocalyptic or dystopian world where the protagonist struggles to fit into these corrupted worlds and these protagonists rebel because they feel like the government has turned their backs on them, leaving them treated unfairly. The protagonist fight back in the hopes of restoring society to its sensible state. All the main protagonists in the plots are put into inhumane situations as they are controlled by the government in order to fit their ideas and beliefs or just the plain simple reason, for their own entertainment. Through the actions and perspective of these protagonists, it shows a reflection of how we deal with certain issues …show more content…

My first connection is how governmental control over the population affects the individual’s way of life and that helps connects Gattaca and The Island. My second connection is the struggle of an individual in a conformist dystopian society and that helps connects Mr Van Gogh and Harrison Bergeron. How governmental control over the character affects the individual’s way of life: The government in dystopian texts controls society in which ever way they want, which means they have the power to determine how each individual should live their life and the choices that should be given to them. The actions of the government are based on their ideas and beliefs of what they think should be the outcome of society. In the sci-fi futuristic dystopian film, Gattaca directed by Andrew Niccol, the government craves absolute perfection for society.Through genetic engineering, the government could alter and reconstruct a person’s DNA in order to prevent any potential diseases that would be proven fatal later on as one ages. That would not only increase one’s lifespan but also enhance them physically and mentally i.e stronger and smarter. Those whose parents who do not engineer …show more content…

They are classified as “in-valid”, “de-gene-erate” or “faith birth”. In the film, the protagonist, Vincent Freeman was diagnosed with a heart condition and the doctors said that he would only live up to the age of 30. He wasn’t engineered to be a “valid” which would mean that he would be restricted to limited places before even learning of his true potential. He wasn’t accepted by society as the government forced the idea of how genes are all that matters in life, “It doesn’t mattered how much I lied on my resume, my real resume was in my cell.” This affects Vincent’s life in a lot of ways when he wanted to work at Gattaca Space Corporation and to be launched into space as he would often get rejected from many places such as the school when he was a little kid and a job at a company. He also gets discouraged of his dream even from his own father, “the only way you’ll see the inside of a spaceship is as a cleaner.” This shows that the government despises imperfection and that they are cornering these “imperfect” people to do unimportant and tedious work in order to avoid having them diminish their so

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