Utopia And Dystopian Society In The Books Of The Divergent

Dystopia is common theme which dates hundreds of years in literature worldwide. Dystopian novels and short stories often depict a society repressed by a totalitarian government which comes to power after a cataclysmic occurrence, wielding unforgiving power and control over inhabitants for their own good. These dystopias are often perceived by the average citizen as a normal or unavoidable way of life, sometimes even a better way of life, yet there is often a single person or group of protagonists who question the justification of such living arrangements and threaten upheaval of the utopia sold by the ruling class.

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.

Roth’s, Divergent has elements of a dystopian setting, and it is a possible warning for our society. Though the novel primary reveals to be dystopian, there were originally good intentions of a utopian society. Harmon describes a utopian society as, “a perfect political state that is an imaginary ideal world,” (Harmon 492). No society is created to become the epitome of destruction. The Abnegation government created the factions to act as each working part of a successful society. They must have had a utopian mindset before the society shifted by elements that led to dystopia. Harmon also examines a dystopian society as a, “bad place.” He continues by describing, “Imaginary worlds, usually in the future, in which present tendencies are carried out

Imagine a society that arrests innocent people for owning a book. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury builds a world that firefighter’s burn down houses that have books instead of preventing fires from happening. In Montag’s society, burning book is a way to get rid of all the past knowledge because they don’t want their citizens to go against the society. In this utopia society, everyone looks exactly that same and they lack communication. Bradbury creates a futuristic community that doesn’t allow citizens to read books because they want all of their people to be content.

No two utopias societies are the same, although, they can have similarities. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a passionate attempt to get people to start caring about their thinking again. This utopian society is comprised of individuals that don’t think. In Bradbury’s iconic novel, set sometime in the near future, a protagonist by the name Guy Montag finds himself unhappy in a society that has banned books and that doesn’t care about anything or anyone. One day, a young girl, Clarisse, stumbles upon Mr. Montag and opens him up to this world of really noticing things. Before Clarisse, he only ever thought of nothing like most everyone else. He went through life without ever having questions or any important thoughts. After the death of Montag’s new friend, he becomes even more deranged by the idea that he has never been happy and the fact that he doesn’t know for sure what that word means. He sees that people are willing to die for their precious books. The most significant scene that really shows that he is changing is when Montag is telling his wife Millie about his self conflict. He tells her that he wants to read books because of a woman that stayed and burned in her house filled with books. “There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing”, (Bradbury 48). At this point he is really just clinging to his sanity, he wants to know what is so great

Different societies have risen and fallen in the continual search for the “perfect” society. The definition of this utopia is in constant flux due to changing times and cultural values. Many works of literature have been written describing a utopian society and the steps needed to achieve it. However, there are those with a more cynical or more realistic view of society that comment on current and future trends. These individuals look at the problems in society and show how to solve them with the use of control and power. Such a society is considered undesirable and has become known as dystopian society.

Have you ever wondered what life would be like if you lived in a place where you were always distracted by silly things like television and driving cars really fast, imagine books being illegal, would that be you utopian or dystopian society? The author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury made a world where a utopia was considered to have low standards of knowledge and education, people were distracted with things like tv, that they thought taught them, but Bradbury gave a turn to the book and made a concept where some people thought books weren’t bad. In Ray Bradbury’s book, Fahrenheit 451(F451), the society lacks morals and family values, but when you look at today's society, we are the in some ways the same but in many ways different.

“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.

Dystopian society is a way that this author shows what the future will be like when one person takes charge of a small large group. The elements of dystopian society in Divergent by Veronica Roth are limitations, corporate control, and the factions. The limitations presented in this story include the walls in which the city of Chicago is surrounded by; no one is allowed outside the fence. Another limitation is the factions, which are groups that you are put into based on your personality. You are given a test and one chance to choose a new faction that best fits your wants and needs and if you fail to choose or succeed in a faction, you become factionless. Factionless means that you don’t belong anywhere are are viewed publicly as a disgrace. The last element addressed in this story is corporate control.

What comes to mind when you imagine a utopian society? Few people will come up with relatively the same answer. This is because everyone has their own image of what a perfect community would look like. For instance, the novels Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Divergent by Veronica Roth, and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, all had their own takes on a

Dystopia and Utopia can be explored in many forms of media such as artwork, film, music, poetry and even dance. The easiest and most vivid way to depict these genres to the audience is in films. Films specifically incorporate visual symbolism through colors and settings and screenshot width and filters. Films may also incorporate a subliminal message to the reader through background music used in different scenes. Displaying utopian and dystopian societies through film leaves some imagination to the audience while allowing them to visually compare with the real world around them. For the purpose of exploring aspects of utopia and dystopia through films, I have chosen the films Metropolis by Fritz Lang (1927) and the episode Nosedive from

Have you ever wondered how life would be like if society was divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue ? What if you were different and did not belong in any of the given factions? Then you are a lot like Tris. Tris Prior is the main character in the dystopian novel Divergent, by Veronica Roth. She lives in a world where she must hide her true uniqueness as a Divergent individual, otherwise she puts her life at risk. Tris's aptitude test result was inconclusive, she has the ability to manipulate simulations and throughout the book she shows characteristics from different factions which concludes that she is Divergent. Divergence is to be special in the sense that you

A dystopia represents the polar opposite of a utopia. Indeed, it could even be considered a failed utopia, a failed ideal society. If one accepts this notion as fact, then it would lead to the logical conclusion that both must share some of the same characteristics. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 portrays one such dystopia that has emerged throughout the ages clearly depicting characteristics such as conformity, isolation from external influences, and an apparent lack of poverty, misery, and war.

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

The world in any society has two sides, Utopia which is defined as the perfect world and the peaceful life that is free from disasters. This word " Utopia " is derived from Greek roots by Sir Thomas More which means "a good place" (More 37). Merriam Webster defined Utopia as "an imaginary place, all life aspects are perfect, as the world suffers from nothing" (Webster 19). while Dystopia is defined as an imagined universe in which the unequal society controls the fancy of an ideal society which are maintained through technological, moral, corporate or totalitarian control " Beauty of dystopia is that it lets us vicariously experience future worlds but we still have the power to change our own" (Condie 75). in which the genre challenges utopia’s