Fiction has always been an important part of history. It allows us to record what
we imagine and provokes new ideas and concepts. One radical fictional concept
developed in the 16th century is a concept of a perfect society called a utopia.
The word utopia originated from Sir Thomas More’s book “Utopia” and nowadays
translates to two different yet intertwined meanings. Either οὐ [“not”] and τόπος
[place], for utopia; or εὖ [good or well] and τόπος [place], for eutopia. Utopia is
an ideal and cannot be reality. Utopias cannot exist in our reality as one man’s
utopia is another’s dystopia. A utopia is seen by most as a perfect ending to
societal evolution, hence the definition, it is a society that possesses highly
desirable or near perfect qualities for its citizens. An opposite of this is dystopia,
which translates to δυσ- "bad" and τόπος "place. However, they do not seem as
contradictory as one might think. This discussion will aim to challenge the
opposing definitions of utopia and dystopia and I aim to reveal that both are
identical their roots. Depending on the perspective, any utopian society is
dystopian, and vice versa. Utopia and dystopia are in essence, different sides of
the same societal coin.
Firstly, a utopia is essentially a dystopia, but we must establish the characteristics
for a utopian society. The first well known example is Plato’s Republic, but the first
modern western example can be found in Sir Thomas More’s book “Utopia” where
this concept is first introduced. In “Utopia”, the perfect society is an isolated
island. People do have religious freedom however they are not allowed to be
atheists as they might break the system with radical ideas. War is not liked but
utopians understand that it is required, and in the event of war, they will try to
detain enemies instead of to kill them, where they will likely become slaves. From
this narration we see that the original utopia possesses major traits such as: A
lifetime leader [the Prince], isolation [isolated island], bureaucracy [Syphograntus
and Traniborus], forced labour [farming and the requirement of jobs], forced
religion, [as being an atheist is illegal] and possibly intentional wars to obtain
more slaves. As a side consequence, there will be also civilian monitoring as
passports are required and that each Syphograntus is only responsible for little
numbers of households (More, Turner, 1972).
Second, a dystopic utopia is best explained by dystopian novels such as “1984” by
George Orwell, and “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, we gather some
characteristics of a dystopian society. In “1984”, the world is ran by ministries and
all citizens must worship a figure called “Big Brother”. The citizens are under
constant video and audio surveillance and “thoughtcrimes” are punished with
criminals brainwashed to worship Big Brother again (Orwell, 1989). “Brave New
World” describes again a futuristic society that revolves around science and
efficiency. In this society, emotions and individuality are conditioned out of
children at a young age, and there are no lasting relationships because “everyone
belongs to everyone else”. Huxley describes a society in which citizens are cloned,
assorted and then chemically conditioned into a certain socio-economic class.
“Fahrenheit 451” is not so different to these three. In “Fahrenheit 451”, books are
outlawed, and firemen are ordered to set books on fire instead of putting out
fires. Anyone who owns books or literature is considered a criminal and is
immediately arrest and books burned. From these famous dystopian society, we
can gather a few common characteristics. Propaganda is used to control the
thoughts of citizens (in 1984); information, independent thought, and freedom
are restricted (In 1984, and Fahrenheit 451); a figurehead is worshipped by the
society (1984, in the case of others is a council); citizens live under constant
surveillance and fear the outside world – society is isolated (all of these societies
are isolated); individuality is not promoted (in all); and society is highly
bureaucratic (also in all).
After explanation of the characteristics of both utopia and dystopia we can
connect these two together. First, both societies are in complete isolation. Utopias
and dystopias are by nature very easily disturbed by outside forces. This means
that the ideal situation for a utopian or dystopian society to exist is isolated
conditions with no outside influence. “Utopia” has the isolated island; “1984” is in
an isolated state of Oceania. Unification allows a regime, whether good or bad, to
withstand the test of time and can counteract societal evolution. Another
common quality of utopias and dystopias is its highly bureaucratic government.
Both states have essentially two separate parts, those who are the citizens, and
those who work in governing the system. For example, “Utopia” is separated into
citizens, and the governing characters (Syphogranti, Tranibori, and Princes), and
“1984” has the proles and ministry workers. Both utopias and dystopias have
lifetime leaders and religion, though sometimes they are the same thing. “Utopia”
has an obvious lifetime leader, the Prince, and all dystopian novels have a solid
regime that is not affected by its citizens and sometimes is worshipped by the
citizens (in the case of Big Brother). Religion is not usually practised by dystopian
societies, but their mind is always occupied. In the case of “Fahrenheit 451”,
television programmes are used to numb the minds of citizens instead of religion.
Forced labour is a debatable topic in utopias and dystopias. It can be argued that
the forced labour in dystopian societies is not ideal but to the individuals
themselves, it is not forced because they are conditioned to like it (obvious
evidence in “Brave New World” and conditioning in “1984” and Fahrenheit “451”).
So, to individuals in these societies, labour is not forced but rather they
themselves enjoy doing these jobs and would describe it as their “dream job” as
someone in a utopian society would describe their job. Freedom of thought and
information is also an important aspect of a dystopian society which is not seen in
utopian society. This is also not as clear cut as it seems. For example, people living
in the dystopian society of “1984” would not know if their thoughts were free or
not as they are conditioned into believe that they are. Similarly, a utopian man
might think that the cost of freedom is less dystopic that authoritarianism
because he has been conditioned to believe in freedom to the point where he will
rationalize any negative ramifications that may result from it. Who is anyone to
say that they are truly free if there is nothing to compare to in an isolated society
of either utopia or dystopia? Another questionable similarity is the usage of war
in both societies. In a utopian society, war can be used as tool to simply capture
more slaves as they die off; however, in a dystopian society like that of “1984”,
war is used simply as a tool to direct thought and spread propaganda. The
downside of a war in a dystopian society would simply be potential false
information spread as an act of totalitarianism and propaganda, and the
downside of a war in a utopian society would be to exchange foreigner’s freedom
for citizen’s freedom, which is not exactly “utopian”.
From the evidence presented above one might conclude that utopian society and
dystopian society is entirely subjective, which is the main point of this essay. The
fact that one living in such a society could not determine if its utopian or
dystopian is another solid proof of its subjectivity. As human beings, we are all
conditioned into believing those around us and draw conclusions from what we
know as true. The issue of utopian and dystopian societies is conveying more and
more relevance to us today as political tensions rise. Most western societies
critique China as lacking in human rights and freedom of information and media
and that the living conditions are getting worse. This is not true for Chinese
citizens living China as they believe that their lives are getting better and better.
This is simply because they are conditioned into believing that the cost of western
“freedom” is too much compared to the benefits of an authoritarian government
whereas Western society is conditioned into believing that freedom is the most
important aspect of life. There is no true utopian and dystopian to be argued here
because in essence, one man’s utopia is another’s dystopia. It is simply a matter
of perspective whether a society is utopian or dystopian.