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The genre of dystopian fiction has its roots as a response to the “utopian” fiction of the 16th century, which had stemmed from Utopia (1516) by English statesman and philosopher Thomas More. The text satirized feudal-based societies and governments of the time by depicting a communal society living according to Christian values on an island called Utopia. More’s work posited that human beings were perfectible and that alternate social and political structures could override human selfishness and antisocial behavior. Conversely, dystopian writers believed that inherent flaws in human nature meant utopias were an impossibility, and society was doomed to get worse, not better, if people didn’t actively resist the corrupting forces of power and greed.

Earlier Dystopian Novels that Influenced Orwell

Literary influences on Orwell and precursors to 1984, which was published in 1949, include Jack London’s Iron Heel (1908). In it, London portrays a future rise of fascism in the United States, played out in a similar way to the history of the revolution and the Party in 1984. Russian dissident Yevgeny Zamyatin’s 1921 novel We is a dystopian criticism of Soviet social engineering. The plot of 1984 closely resembles the plot of We in that a man known only by an assigned number lives in a futuristic totalitarian society characterized by mass surveillance, sexual repression, and control of the population, and he meets an alluring woman whose influence eventually inspires him to try to resist the society.

Orwell was also familiar with and influenced by Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932), especially drawing on its themes of social conditioning versus human nature and its vision of a rigidly controlled society. Like 1984, it remains relevant as a cautionary tale about the dangers of sacrificing individuality and critical thinking for the sake of stability and superficial happiness. Both novels raise important ethical questions about the role of science, technology, and government in shaping human society and serve as stark critiques of the potential consequences of unchecked technological and societal advancements.

Dystopian Novels Influenced by Orwell and 1984

In the decades since the publication of 1984, dystopian novels have become an increasingly popular segment of the wider science fiction genre. (A distinction between dystopian works and the larger contingent of science fiction works is that dystopian novels tend to focus more on social sciences such as psychology, sociology, and political science than science fiction works overall.) A range of writers have adapted the techniques used by Orwell and others to other countries and time periods, such as government control of free thought and expression, as in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (1953), or postwar youth culture, as in A Clockwork Orange (1962) by Anthony Burgess.

In The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) and in its 2019 sequel, The Testaments, Margaret Atwood adapted dystopian fiction to comment on political realities as experienced by women, drawing attention to gender inequities in society. In these novels, a totalitarian fundamentalist Christian movement has overthrown the United States government and suspended nearly all women’s rights, and limited fertility means that women who are able to bear children are randomly assigned to high-ranking men as property.

Other works of dystopian science fiction depicting nightmare societies of the near future include Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower (1993) and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go (2005). Both were published to great acclaim in the years leading up to and following the start of the 21st century and have remained popular and influential. Parable of the Sower describes a chaotic world in the wake of societal and environmental collapse and the efforts of a small band to adapt and change. Never Let Me Go, on the other hand, depicts a seemingly well-ordered society within an elite boarding school which masks the horror of reality.

Other writers have created dystopian scenarios to explore themes related to environmental concerns. The Road (2005) by Cormac McCarthy depicts a father and son trying to survive in a future America where the natural world is dead or dying and most animals are extinct. In Station Eleven (2014), Emily St. John Mandel explores the fragility of civilization as she presents a post-apocalyptic dystopian world in the aftermath of a devastating flu pandemic that wipes out much of the world’s population.

YA Dystopian Novels in the Tradition of 1984

Some of the best-known and most influential dystopian novels in the 21st century have been part of a substantial wave of dystopian YA books. The most recognized of these is probably the massively successful Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins that started with the 2008 publication of The Hunger Games. It is set in the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem where life, as in the Oceania of 1984, is bleak except for those at the highest levels. Another parallel between 1984 and The Hunger Games is that the governments in both novels orchestrate televised events to assert their control over citizens. In 1984, the Party organizes events like Hate Week to distract the non-elite from their miserable lives. The “hunger games” in Collins’s novel are brutal spectacles in which children must fight to the death. They exist as a punishment on the provincial districts for rebelling in the past, and to deter them from doing so again. The Hunger Games quickly became a cultural phenomenon, contributing to discussions about authoritarianism, media influence, and social disparities, and leading to numerous sequels and prequels as well as popular movie adaptations.

Another successful YA dystopian franchise, that commenced a few years prior to the Hunger Games series, is a series of books by Scott Westerfeld that began with Uglies in 2005. It follows a 16-year-old girl living in a post-apocalyptic society that is obsessed with beauty and uniformity. James Dashner’s The Maze Runner (2009) began another popular dystopian YA series. It chronicles how a group of teenagers trapped in a mysterious place called the Glade by a sinister government organization must work out how to escape through a maze, all while forming and maintaining their own society. Yet another popular dystopian YA series began in 2011 with Veronica Roth’s Divergent. It depicts a society that has been divided into factions based on personality traits and explores themes of identity and conformity. Like all dystopian novels, YA and otherwise, it also addresses the dangers of authoritarianism as a threat to individualism.

 

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