Explore the Role of Religion in Dystopian Fiction with Regards to the Children of Men and Brave New World.

Regardless of personal beliefs or opinions, it is nearly impossible to imagine the existence of modern English literature without the influence of religion. Since the dawn of recorded history, religion has played a vital, recurring role in works of fact and fiction, alike. In his book How to Read Literature Like a Professor, author Thomas Foster asserts several points about this relationship between religion and literature, especially in relation to the image of Christ, and states, “Culture is so influenced by its dominant religious systems that whether a writer adheres to the beliefs or not, the values and principles of those religions will inevitably inform the literary work” (125).

Society in all cultures share a common trait: Religion. Studying religion in any society reveals many of their traits and explains the actions of the individual. For example, Jewish people live their lives according to what was written in the Talmud and the Torah. They respect the Sabbath and also eat Kosher meat. Even when looking at Huxley's A Brave New World, analyzing religion still helps us understand the actions of the societies and characters within the book.

“And now I see the face of god, and I raise this god over the earth, this god whom men have sought since men came into being, this god who will grant them joy and peace and pride.” Page 97, Anthem. The novel written by Ayn Rand is set in a dystopia; a place in which the condition of life is extremely bad, as a result of a society where expression of emotion and individuality is believed to be a sin. The theme that contributes most to the dystopia of Anthem is religion/ beliefs, however, as time progresses the character’s viewpoints of the religion/ beliefs are altered throughout the novel. The purpose of this essay is to explain Rand’s use of religion/ beliefs with the use of examples from her novel, Anthem.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver is a book containing social and political issues. Religion serves as a huge issue in this novel, religion is a powerful thing that can constrain and blind someone. The way Barbara Kingsolver further dissects the issue of religion is by using various literary elements. With the literary elements involving religion, this further contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole to being about religion, and its power to control and be the motive of someone’s actions, without them thinking deeply about what they are doing. Some issues stated with religion, in this novel supported by literary devices, is how humans use it for bad and or selfish desires, and how over faithfulness can blind some, and lastly

Throughout this course, religion has projected itself in many writers literature. The 1800’s was a critical time for the United States, it was the beginning of the melting pot. Although this melting pot did more harm than good for some, many of these people leaned on their religion to get them through difficult times. Three works that religion is most prominent would be “ Letters to Luis de Santangel” (pg 34-36), “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” ( pg 256-288), and “The Wonders of the Invisible World” (pg 327-333). These three works all express how religion and faith influenced the writer's life.

Known as a safe read throughout the literary world, Christian fiction is devoid of true human condition such as the grotesque and the sexual. Richard Terrell proposes in his essay Christian Fiction: Piety is not Enough, that Christian fiction cannot rely on being religious anymore to earn the title of “good fiction”. He addresses the issue of Christian fiction limiting itself to a certain range of topics because it is a “religious” work and these limitations result in mediocre writing. Though the credibility is weak throughout Christian Fiction: Piety is not Enough, the elements of logic and emotional appeal are effective in convincing Christian readers that today 's Christian fiction is subpar.

Individualism, fear, and anguish spur thoughts of God, which, in turn, imperil rationality and industrialization. In particular, when Mustapha Mond meets with the Savage, he professes, “You can only be independent of God while you've got youth and prosperity” (Huxley 213). Huxley entails that, in a utopian society, where melancholy is obsolete, God would be bleak as well. That is to say, without a panhandler, the almsgiver would be nonexistent. In every visit I make to the temple, I see countless people with their hands folded in prayer, ludicrously pleading for a utopian life. It is their quest for “fruits” that ushers them to the corridors of religious institutes, rather than their devotion to God. Likewise, people who deem that science breeds stability, order, and contentment, are usually agnostic as they ask for nothing from God. Thus, one cannot confide in both science and theology for answers and stability. In addition, Huxley presents characters as religious or scientific extremists as the Savages are devoid of theories, and the civilized beings are destitute of faith. Without a pure subconscious, the civilized are empty shells lacking hearts, and without science, the Savages lack

Religion and faith play numerous roles in people’s lives. From being a unifying factor to alienating people, and from comforting people to terrifying others, the roles of religion is vast and boundless. In The Crucible and “Upon the Burning of Our House”, it is evident that religion and faith play a subconscious role in the lives of people by acting as an inner conscience and by giving people a spiritual peace of mind.

social issue of religion in the dystopian society of the World State. Huxley reveals to the readers

Chapter 5 Part 2 of Brave New World is the most disturbing chapter of the book I found repellent. The worst part of this chapter was during the religious service attended by Berndard. It has used a comparison towards Christian icons and concepts. On this part of the chapter consisting Berndard's Solidarity Service, which he attends every two weeks. Unlike us, Christians, we go to church every week.

Besides these two literary works, there are other means of communication which has caused the world to become aware of this epidemic of warped religion. This is best seen in the 1984 movie adaptation of Stephen King’s Children of the Corn. By using a tainted understanding of the Judeo-Christian Bible, Isaac turns harmless children into members of a murderous cult in the name of their religion and its traditions which purposefully parallels to real events of murderous religious cults prior and during the creation of the movie. Looking deeper into King’s use of children as the main subject of the story, there is the realization O’Connor and Jackson’s works warn older generations of the negative impacts lost religion and tradition has on younger

As an author, Kurt Vonnegut has received just about every kind of praise an author can receive: his works held the same sway over American philosophy as did those of Jack Kerouac or J.R.R. Tolkein; his writing has received acclaim from academics and the masses alike; and three of his books have been made into feature films. Society has permanently and noticeably been altered by his writing. Through accessible language and easily-understood themes, Vonnegut has created works subtle, engrossing, and familiar. His main method for doing this is by exploiting a theme with which everyone is familiar and about which everyone has his own opinion: religion.

Aldous Huxley foresaw a number of incredible triumphs in his novel, but it seems that he saw no kind of liberation for women at any stage in the near or even distant future. In fact, despite the dystopic nature of his novel, he instead created a futuristic world that is hauntingly similar to our own. Predictably, ‘Brave New World’ is centred around Alpha-plus men who rebel against their totalitarian government only to meet their unfortunate, and anti-climactic downfall in some way or another. Unfortunately, these men are seen as the undisputed heroes of Huxley’s novel, despite the fact that they don’t really do anything of significance. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is just another replica of the misogynistic 1930s society that has been written

As, perhaps arguably, his most famous novel, from his most famous book series, The Chronicles of Narnia, there has been much debate as to his motives for the implementation of religion in his works, and even some question as to whether religion is an actual existing aspect of the work. This essay will not only outline the unmistakable presence of religious allegory, but also focus on the purpose of it being there. Thus being, that C.S Lewis uses religious allegory to effectively introduce and develop core themes of the novel in a fashion both comprehensible and relatable for a universal audience.

Arthur Machen and H.G. Wells were one of the most influential writers in the history of the English language. Through their works, both Machen and Wells illustrated the themes of sexuality and horror by exploring the idea of the supernatural. However, Machen’s gothic novella The Great God Pan (1894) and H.G. Wells’ sci-fi novel The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896) further exemplified the theme of humankind’s relationship to God. In the late Victorian period, the influence of religious mythology fell upon writers in England, and stories of the “unseen” became popular and abundant. This era was a time when the public started to seriously question their religious lives. Nevertheless, The Great God Pan was denounced by the public upon its publication for its focus on God as a powerful symbol for horror and sexuality. On the other hand, Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau was written as a satire, mocking Christianity and other forms of religion. In this short essay, I will expand on religious symbolism and point out the influence of Christianity using Arthur Machen’s The Great God Pan and H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau.