Dystopian Fiction

In 1516, Thomas Moore wrote Utopia about an ideal island. The term utopia came to mean a community where everything is ideal—a perfect society. Conversely, dystopia is where a utopia is attempted, but something goes terribly wrong. Many writers choose dystopian fiction for social commentary—they take one aspect of current society and twist, distort, and exaggerate it until they get a new disparaging, disheartening future. This genera, if done well, can be far stronger and more influential than a mere essay on the problem. There are two basic stances dystopian writers can take: everything sucks but we have the potential to make it better, or everything sucks and it’s all our fault and it will only get worse. Some of the best dystopian novels include George Orwell’s 1984, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, and Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange. Go here for a full list of dystopian literature.