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Dystopian Literature's function stems from the fear that a utopic change can cause a dystopian future. Novels such as Orwell’s “1984” and Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” present this concern over the present of their novel’s time but also for the present of modern readers.
Both Atwood and Orwell reflect the conditions of their time in their creations of totalitarian governments. In ‘1984’ Orwell creates “Ingsoc” which is an extreme example of fascism as the contemporary audience at the time would have been familiar with the actions that ‘Ingsoc’ had made and would have made parallels to Nazi Germany as World War Two had just passed. The creation of this novel was to warn the citizens to not allow a totalitarian government to dictate over language and infiltrate propaganda into the minds of the citizens. From a very young age children are supposed to join the Party’s youth group “Junior Spies,” and are open to violence by watching hangings and playing violent games that desensitize them. This is similar to the programs done in Nazi Germany, especially when Orwell mentions “hiking” and “drilling with dummy rifles” which are part of the activities the Junior Spies program does. He references the Hitler youth program’s idea that these young men would eventually become soldiers, so they were taught more about physical training. This is done to critique the way that the government is using children to establish their followers and to further brainwash the public into following the party. Atwood also critiques religious rights in the 1980s such as the New Right movement (which favored the more conservative approach) that allowed Ronald Reagan to win the presidency by accepting the principles of the New Right that allowed the anti-abortion movement. Her novels are rather “speculative fiction” than dystopian as she was predicting what would have happened in her present time when writing the novel, that the government would turn into theocracy just as Gilead is. So dystopian literature creates a government that parallels the governments and ideologies expressed at the time, to predict the outcomes if the issues were not dealt with.
Both Atwood and Orwell also reflect concerns over the present by including issues that are also prevalent in modern society. When Donald Trump became the US President, it fuelled debates on whether the events in the novel could happen in the future since similarly to Ronald Reagan’s tactic, Trump’s win had to do with his supporters who were similar to characters such as Serena Joy who advocated in removing women’s rights to be more traditional. She would promote her anti-feminist views that were “about how women should stay home” which would have garnered support from the far right just like Trump's supporters. The fact that the novel is currently made into a serial television show, “Handmaid’s Tale” just shows its importance to the 2019 audience. Orwell also expresses the issues of a totalitarian state which cross-links with the situation in North Korea who are currently ruled over by a dictatorship under Kim Jong Un. The Ingsoc and the Workers Party of Korea (Kim Jong Un’s party) both enforce programs that reinforce the greatness and ‘love’ for their leaders. After the “Two-Minutes of Hate” when Big Brother’s face is shown, the reader can see how the people worship him, by expressing hatred towards the enemies in the public. In North Korea citizens are forced to cry if their leader is dead, or else they are forced into labor camps, which shows a pattern of totalitarian governments that need to be deified so that order is maintained. Thus dystopian literature's concern over the present also applies to the current reader’s present time.
Yet both authors emphasize the importance of reflecting on the past to showcase the concerning elements of the present. Atwood inclusion of the “Night” chapters portrays Offred reflecting on her past life before the Gilead world, where she is significantly alone and is allowed to regain her individuality which during the day, she is unable to show. It not only expresses her desire to produce her thoughts but also presents the flaws her current government has although she has the “freedom from” any other dangers which Aunt Lydia expresses to justify and support the current treatment of the handmaids. Yet they are unable to divulge the “freedom to” do the actions they were allowed previously such as securing a job, which is exposed when Offred as it had become the law that women were not allowed to work.
Similarly, Orwell shows that the past is significant to create a pretense through manipulating the past. When Winston gets interrogated by O'Brien, “‘Then where does the past exist, if at all?” Winston replies that there are two ways it exists. Firstly it is present in “Written Records” in which Orwell showcases Ingsoc taking over by establishing the “Ministry of Truth” which rewrote history to showcase the government in a desirable light. This is similar to the tactics the Soviet Union had used by rewriting history textbooks to remove information about politicians who were no longer supported by the Soviet Union, which the Ministry of Truth does to politicians or people who are deemed as “unperson”. Another way that the past can exist is through “the mind”, specifically thoughts that the party can also eradicate by making it a “thoughtcrime” to think ill of the government. This therefore shows that the past is also another theme concentrated in dystopian literature.
In conclusion, Orwell and Atwood conare cerned with the present rather than the future to present the contemporary issues that need to be addressed and addressed. There are still issues that still relevant to the present of the 2019 audience and can be used to warn us that it should not become the future. However, Dystopian Literature as a whole could use the past as well to create a better outcome for the near future.
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