Dystopia Essays Examples

La Haine Post-Modern Dystopia in

The degree to which they are shown as incapable of doing so -- and to which French society is shown as being equally incapable of interacting with them -- illustrate the degree to which a certain cinematic panopticon has been placed around the subjects. From the omniscient perspective of the viewer, there is no apparent escape provided from this disposition.

And in this immobility and the resultant anger that drives the idle lives of the young men in the film, the Kassovitz film emerges as part of an increasingly saturated body of modern cinematic work dedicated to exploring the dystopian realities of modern urban life. While so many depictions of this experience center on the privileged experience of industrialists in generations past, post-industrial life has given way to the cinematic obsession with such experiences as those faced by Vince, Hubert and Said. According to Shannon-Jones (2011), we can define the dystopia as "a fictional society in which life has taken a turn for the worse -- the opposite of a utopia, or 'good place'. In contrast to a utopia, which celebrates individual freedom and well-being, a dystopia is poverty-stricken, subjugated and dehumanised. This sorry state of affairs is usually the…… [Read More]

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Russian Dystopia Some Dystopias of

Envy

In a somewhat more imaginative work, Yury Olesha explores more extreme actions and motives for rebellion against the new regime. His 1927 novel Envy is at once a critique of the lack of individuality and emotion in Soviet Russia and a lamentation for the failures of the human spirit in the face of the large Communist machine. Again, it is expressly and simply difference that leads to the primary conflict in this novel and the ultimate failure of the hoped-for-utopia, at least in the minds and lives of some. Kavalerov, the hero of the novel, at one point muses, "If I were a child…how many poetical, magical fabrications would flow out of my childish imagination…I'm a grown up now, and now I grasp only the general outline" (Olesha 1927, pp. 341). This can be seen as a comment on the Soviet way of making all minds the same, where individual imaginations are quashed under shared and generalized ideals.

We

In 1921, Yevgeny Zamyatin completed his hugely forward thinking novel We, which was similar to and several decades ahead of Brave New World and 1984. Difference is quite explicitly addressed and attacked by the government in this novel; all human…… [Read More]

Green Dostoevsky Christian Dystopia in

Like the Pope, he is cast off in isolation, but willingly so. Like the Pope he has lost his occupation -- but again, willingly so as he has been able to retire from his former civil service job. He has chosen to live underground, that is, away from other people. Over the course of the novel, he self-fashions himself as a superior person. He sees himself as well-read, cultivated, and above the minutia of everyday existence.

However, the reader likely sees him differently. Left with nothing to believe in, the Underground Man simply inflicts his purposelessness, bottled sense of rage against himself, forcing himself to suffer needless physical and psychological pain. He is physically constrained, like the Pope, but by his own will, and his decision to deny God has made him less mobile, less free, in contrast to what advocates of religious denial might suggest. The modern project of denying the supposed constraints of faith actually takes away all freedom of the human will, Dostoevsky suggests in his portrayal of the Underground Man.

Both short works begin, not in the middle of the action, but with a detailed character sketch. The tales only begin to shift to action in…… [Read More]

Kubrick the 'Droogian' Dystopian Vision

Obviously, as a way of retaliating against Burgess' alleged Socialist state, Alex and his

"droogs" have adopted a very old method which has been proven highly effective in relation to obtaining and dispensing power and influence, namely, a social phalanx known as a gang, a somewhat "loosely organized group of individuals who collaborate together for anti-social reasons" (Nawojczyk, 1997, Internet). In this context, Alex occupies the position of gang leader while Georgie, Dim and Pete serve as his underlings and as a sign of their collaborative relationship, Alex and his "droogs" wear distinctive clothing-white, pseudo-combat style shirts and pants, black combat boots and black bowler hats or billycocks, almost as if "aping" a typical English businessman or stuffy accountant. They also utilize a very distinctive form of communication which Burgess calls a Nadsat dialect, a private language composed of a "stream of gibberish, pop slang, onomatopoeic expressions" (Coyle, 66) which only Alex and his "droogs" can understand and appreciate while surrounded by the sexually-charged, psychedelic motifs of the Korova Milkbar.

Therefore, Alex and his fellow gang members see the world around them as a place overflowing with hypocrisy, a post or perhaps pre-apocalyptic society that is "incredibly imperfect (and) lacking…… [Read More]

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Dystopia the Idea of the

The actions of these collective groups lead only to frustration, a lack of responsibility, ineptitude, and inefficiency.

What sort of world does this lead to? The people who are most capable seem to be disappearing, while the least capable are left in charge. Dagny wants to know why the capable people are disappearing, and she has to find the answer to this question in order to understand what is happening throughout society. The old virtues, virtues that sustained the business community and that made America great in the past, are no longer in force. People once took pride in their work and in the act of earning their own way. These things seem to have disappeared just as have the capable workers. The consequences are all around as things keep breaking down -- systems, machinery, people.

The villains in this story are socialists, or more descriptively those who oppose individualism and free enterprise. Wesley Mouch is representative of this group. He is a collectivist who sees the need for social programs and welfare systems that in essence protect the workers from having to work at all. He sees the big factories and manufacturing plants as places whose ownership should be…… [Read More]

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Dystopia in the Movie in Time

Movie Dystopia

In Time (2011) is a dystopian satire set in the year 2161 in which the ability to increase the human lifespan by purchasing time has become the new currency and the entire basis of the capitalist economy. These life-years (living years) can be bought, sold or traded, although they are mostly available to the wealthy elites while the poor and the working class literally survive from one day to the next. New Greenwich is a wealthy gated community and an enclave for the old and rich, who live in a bubble completely segregated from the larger society in the ghettos. On the other hand, the poor also engage in time theft against the rich, and the film's hero Will Salas meets the elderly Henry Hamilton by saving him from a gang of robbers -- the Minutemen. Hamilton wants to die in any case because he is tired of life, and transfers 116 years to Will. Later, when he visits New Greenwich he wins over 1,000 years in a gambling game, although this is right after his mother has died because she did not even have enough time to pay for her bus fare. In this world, the police…… [Read More]

Utopia Dystopia Did Science Technology Bring

Many of the advances of science in the area of technology are at best quite fearsome for human beings until they become accustomed with these functions and applications. One can only imagine how strange the creation and development of all of this must have been ten, or twenty years ago and even more so in the earlier 1900's as all of this began to fall into place in the multidisciplinary study setting. What must be understood in attempting to gain comprehension of the dystopian views are that these views balance the utopian views of life in that while there are extremist views of each, that each of these tend to soften or minimize the other and as well provide some cognitive form of what is in between these two extremes in the real world.

Bibliography

Rheingold, Howard (1999) Tools For Thought - 1999 Chapter Five: Ex-prdiga.DYSTOPIANO THOUGHT - CYBERNETICSHoward Rheingold writes in the work entitled: Tools for Thought" (1999) and in Chapter Five entitled: "Ex-Prodigies and Antiaircraft Gunds" brief history of science, by Rupert Hall & Marie Boas Hall, published by the New American Library in 1964.

The History of Mr. Polly by H.G. Wells, Longman edition of 1959.

George…… [Read More]

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Comparison of Violence

Dystopia

Discussion on Perspectives of Violence Based on Three Readings

Violence and tragedy are a fact of life that the human condition has yet to rid itself off. Misfortune can come from many sources. It can come from within a person, from within a family, or from within a community. It is the way people explain and come to terms with such events that define the life that persists afterwards. In the three stories selected, violence is portrayed in each. However, the source of the violence is attributed to different causes. It is a natural human response to try to make sense of tragic events and people do this in different ways. In this analysis, three stories will be used to compare and contrast how some individuals cope, or fail to cope, with violence or misfortune. Each story provides a different perspective on this issue.

Flannery O'Conner

Flannery O'Conner was a controversial figure in her contemporary period. She perplexed and alienated some of her readers by being perceived as un-Christina or even anti-Christian in her philosophy. She believed in a spiritual world however she did not believe in free will, at least not in the common notion. Instead she believed…… [Read More]

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Two Science Fiction Films In Depth Critiques

Science Fiction Stories -- Comparisons / Contrasts

Wall-E & Blade Runner -- Utopia vs. Dystopia

The two well-known science fiction films that are critiqued in this paper -- Wall-E and Blade Runner -- will be critiqued and contrasted as to the following dichotomies: utopia and dystopia; technophobia and technophilia; and futurity and nostalgia. Thesis: these films both delve into the potentially disastrous environmental future for the planet, and each in its own way provides an alternative future.

Wall-E and Utopia: This ravaged planet is no utopia in the traditional sense, for sure, but Wall-E has evolved over the past 700 years; some kind of mutation perhaps is what has allowed him to survive in a highly radioactive environment. To survive alone with the exception of a cockroach (which is one of the few species that can survive horrendous polluting events like radiation) is proof of his survivability. After all, utopia is always a fictional place where everything is supposed to be perfect. In Wall-E's world, he has gone from a dumb robot to a conscious being capable of learning, self-repairing, and in addition to being adaptable to his environment, trashed though it is, he has developed human-like feelings. That is…… [Read More]

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Vogt Ellison and Arendt the Idea of

Vogt, Ellison and Arendt

The idea of a utopian society, a perfect Eden, has been a recurring theme in human literature, philosophy, religion, and commentary almost from the beginning of civilization. This recurrent theme is no accident: most cultures have, as a basis for their creation mythos, a utopian view of either the pre-human world or the post-human world. Sociological, this is a functionalist approach that serves to "validate, support, and imprint the norms of a give, specific moral order" and to authorize its moral code "as a construct beyond criticism and human emendation" (Campbell and Fairchild 221).

In opposition, a dystopia, becomes part of the anti-heroic paradigm in that all the benefits of an overall utopian society are almost backwards. What was good, now seems evil, what was light, dark. Political philosopher Hannah Arendt, in Ideology and Terror: A New Form of Government, sees one of the maxims of the 20th century to be a dissolution into dystopia. Totalitarian governments or organizations, themselves dystopian in nature, are certainly not new, they were commented upon by Plato and others in the Ancient World. However, according to Arendt, it is the explosion of totalitarian dystopia that so characterizes modernity -- almost…… [Read More]

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Extend the Lines if Necessary Without Being

extend the lines, if necessary, without being wordy.

Three specific instances of irony in "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" are:

a) ____The title: no one ever asks Connie these questions.

b) ____Connie is the one preyed upon in this tale, but she invites in this demonic provocation.

c) Arnold Friend's remark about holding her so tight she won't try to get away because it will be impossible, is an ironic remark as it represents much of the symbolism at work throughout the story.

In "Young Goodman Brown," a) Brown represents ____The easily corruptible human.

b) the forest represents ____The practice of evil.

c) the peeling, cacophonous sounds represent ____Temptation

3. Explain the mother's attitude towards Emily in "I Stand Here Ironing"; what specific EVIDENCE supports your position? ____The mother's attitude towards Emily in the story is one of distance, rather than motherly attention. She regards Emily as someone that she is watching from a distance, though consistently over time -- almost as if she is a neighbor from across the street. She conveys this via the sense of distance. This is asserted on the first page of the story when the narrator proclaims that her daughter has…… [Read More]

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Weapon Shop What Is the Difference Between

Weapon Shop

What is the difference between a modern utopia and dystopia in fictional writing? Perhaps that is the very theme of A.E. Vogt's The Weapon Shop. What is ideal to one might be a terrifying and reversal of ideal for another. In The Weapon Shop, originally published during the early years of World War II, focuses on a small businessman (Fara) who faces what is to him, a dystopian reality in that despite his complete devotion to the Empress of the Solar System, he faces a number of personal and professional troubles. In fact, he is livid when a weapon's shop that sells advanced and fantastic technology, but uncontrolled by his "government" materializes. He fails in his efforts to have the shop removed from the town, continues his downward slide, and is even personally humiliated when his son helps the other townspeople scam him.

At his wit's end, with no one to turn to for help, he surprisingly receives aid from the operators of the weapon's shop themselves. Fara finds out that the size, power and grandeur of their technology far out surpasses anything his…… [Read More]

Backward and We A Comparison When Writers

Backward and We: A Comparison

When writers think about the future it's often in dichotomous terms. Writers generally see the future in shades of black and white, with very little deviation between the two. This is particularly the case in the novels Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy and We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. The former is an optimistic tale about a socialist utopia which essentially describes a future full of improvements. The latter describes a futuristic dystopia where humans lack autonomy and privacy. In spite of these incredibly different descriptions and notions about the future, there's still a significant amount of overlap between these two novels. Exploring the different shades of each can provide a deeper understanding of each respective author's inner fears and wishes. As different as these two novels appear to be, they are both actually stories about societies which have made the ultimate (and wrong) sacrifice: they've given up their freedom for materialistic, societal, or organizational comforts. Both novels show without a doubt, that these societies have paid dearly for such seemingly safe choices.

Looking Backward's socialist utopia is a portrait painted of a world that has been seemingly improved upon, some might argue, as it describes a…… [Read More]

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Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Handmaid's Tale

Atwood Creation of Alternate World

About the Book

The book Handmaid's Tale' by Margaret Atwood is the tale of a woman named Offred who belonged to the Republic of Gilead. Some particular details were published at the time the novel that recommended Gilead's time frame to be in the current since the State of Gilead is now appears as the new form of a northeastern American State.

The story is a bitter mockery on the state of present day's culture, with alertness of what may happen if some particular extremist groups attain the strength and power. However, the significant and main theme of the novel is not only just on the liberty and freedom but also a debate as to whether the freedom from harm is more costly than the independence of ones own will.

Atwood Creation of Alternate World

The author has written the book on the long tradition and a near-future dystopias, which, since the early 50s has made up a great part of SF. Thus, the author, in the Handmaid's Tale gives to a certain extent an extrapolation of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, in order to picture what type of values may develop if environmental…… [Read More]

Orwell Nineteen Eighty-Four by George

The book even goes beyond this assertion because in Oceania Big Brother even controlled the thoughts of the people. This made it impossible for people to rebel because rebellion cannot be carried out without ideas and the cooperation of many people.

The novel also focuses the reader to consider the power of their thoughts. In the book a government believed that though was so powerful that it created a system in which free though was discourages and even punishable unto death. Big Brother understands that thoughts lead to action and rebellious actions could threaten the authority of the government. In addition, punishing people for thinking the wrong way was designed to deter others from having thoughts that were not sanctioned by the government. This was a fear tactic used to maintain control.

Interestingly enough Orwell had great difficulty publishing many of his novels because of the thoughts that he expresses. In addition, even when his books were published they wear often met with a great deal of controversy. For instance. "Nineteen Eighty-Four got an icy reception in leftwing circles and was violently attacked in the communist press (Meyers, 1)." Indeed people were vehemently opposed to his work because of the…… [Read More]

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Dark Angel the Concept of a Utopian

Dark Angel

The concept of a Utopian society is one in which everything is wonderful. It is literally the best of all possible worlds. The opposite of this concept is the Dystopia which, logically enough, is the worst of all possible worlds. In a Utopia, everyone has the ability to think for themselves but the individuality and difference of opinion never gets to the point of disharmony. Contrarily, a dystopian society usually has some sort of totalitarian government or overseer who is domineering over every aspect of that society. Individuality is celebrated in the former and feared in the latter. The television series Dark Angel is an example of a Dystopia. Set in the not-so distant future, the series shows a version of the United States in intellectual and physical ruin and where individuality is feared and hunted down.

Whereas the Utopia has a leader who is benevolent and kindly and whose personality is centered on a desire for peace and understanding, the Dystopian leader will be bent on control of the world. In the universe of the Dark Angel series, this dictator-like individual is the character of Lydecker. Even before the world crumbled into this post-Apocalyptic version, Lydecker had…… [Read More]

Carer and Donation Mean in

His most famous work is his Utopia, a book in which he created his version of a perfect society and gave his name to such conceptions ever after as "utopias." The word is of Greek origin, a play on the Greek word eutopos, meaning "good place." In the book, More describes a pagan and communist city-state in which the institutions and policies are governed entirely by reason. The order and dignity of the state in this book contrasted sharply with the reality of statecraft in Christian Europe at the time, a region divided by self-interest and greed for power and riches. The book was also an expression of More's form of Humanism (Maynard 41). The term can also have broader application as a reference to any plans of government or schemes for social improvement which present the possibilities of a good society.

The society depicted in Never Let Me Go can be seen as a utopia for some and a dystopia for others, and an objective analysis would find it to be a dystopia because it does not serve the needs of anyone in certain ways. For the majority of the population, of course, this is a society that offers…… [Read More]

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Discussion of Divergent Movie

Divergent Discussion

Themes

One of the themes that is present in the movie can be identified using a Marxist lens. Marx's belief was that there is a dialectical relationship between the owners of capital and of the laboring masses. His theory postulated that the owners of capital would continually increase their power through the accumulation of capital, which also gave them more power over society, until which point the relationship between capital (the means of production) and labor were so out of balance that there would be virtually no choice but for the workers to eventually revolt and try to disrupt the system. Marx based his theory on the historical analysis of many different societies that have followed such a trend and several examples of this can be seen throughout world history. The dialectical relationship was based on the relationship of power between the different classes.

The powerful members of society would continue to consolidate their power until the laboring class of society had a comparatively meager existence. The laborers would eventually realize that they had the power in numbers and overthrow the existing power structures in hopes of creating something fairer based on their class interests. Marx's theory is…… [Read More]

Rur and AI More Human

Kubrick himself suggested the baton be passed onto Spielberg due to that director's unique abilities.

The play was originally-based Brian Aldiss's short story "Supertoys Last All Summer Long," on which a.I. is based, in 1983 (Corliss 1-3). In the Kubrick formulation, the world is a lot darker and Gigolo Joe is much more aggressive. According to Corliss in the "Joe was much more aggressive, more twisted." Here he is, in Spielberg's word, David's "scoutmaster." Spielberg did this to solve many of the problems Spielberg had with the text, Joe being one of the biggest problems. By softening things and making them more human and less dark, he provided solution to the problem (Ibid 1). The Flesh Fair and Rouge City are vintage Kubric and remained a part of the body of the work. Garish scenery completes this menagerie Spielberg identifies himself with the abandoned child (ibid 2).

It is the contention of this author that the creations are not content to be the alteregos of their creators. The creators of the androids enslave their creations to control and bury their own fears and emotions. Such fictional tales are the cathartic release of a society that is suspicious of machines and…… [Read More]

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Margaret Atwood the Handmaids Tale

How different it was to be from the loose ungoverned part I had acted before, and how much happier a life of virtue and sobriety is, than that which we call a life of pleasure."(moll Flander, Chapter 38). By this choice of words, Defoe contrasts sobriety and pleasure and the conclusion could be that there is no pleasure for the virtuous. By "life of pleasure," he means, of course, rather the life a whore than anything else, but the ambiguity remains. At that stage, like Offred, Moll, who could also be called "Ofthebanker" lived through all the various possibilities a woman had at her time. By using her most powerful tool, her sexuality, she attracted all kinds of men and manipulated them into taking care of her, one way or another. She also used her intelligence to manipulate the women around her, but her success in doing it was also because those women were not as innocent as one might think. She remained an outsider just as Offred remained an outsider in Gilead. Both of them would he done almost anything to stay alive, in constant fear of being exposed for their real inner thoughts and severely punished for that.…… [Read More]

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Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood's Dystopic

Not only do the handmaids have no privacy; they sleep with their masters under the watchful eye of the wives. Their days are segmented and scheduled. Women lack autonomy and their bodies belong not to them but to the oppressors. One of the most poignant reminders of the low position of women in Gilead society is the invasive and coercive medical examination required for all handmaids. "When I'm naked I lie down on the examining table," begins Offred, retelling one of the many days in which male doctors probed her. "He deals with a torso only," (p. 67). The doctor's free reign and his dealing with her as a "torso only" underscore the position of women in Gilead. They are animals. They are machines. "My breasts are fingered in their turn," (p. 67). Using the passive voice, Offred senses the deep impersonality of the situation and just as she does several times throughout her narrative and especially in relation with the Commander, feels a modicum of compassion for men. Gilead is an oppressive totalitarian state that obliterates individual happiness and human joy but which leaves a particularly horrid mark on its female citizens. The doctor's sexual advances stun Offred, bringing…… [Read More]

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Earth a Symbolic Analysis of Another Earth

Earth

A Symbolic Analysis of Another Earth

Movies, for better or for worse, are a reflection of popular culture in one way or another; mainstream films tend to show exactly what a culture likes to consume, while more "independent" or at times "experimental" films reflect culture from other perspectives that are perhaps not the dominant voices in society. Either way, however, films cannot help but provide some insight into who we are, what we desire, and what our world looks like. Examining films in with this understanding and in this context provides some very interesting insights into our culture and ourselves, and how we are likely to respond to changing circumstances and possible realities. The film Another Earth does this quite explicitly, as the following analysis of the film in light of other social commentary shows.

The central conceit of this science fiction film from writer/director Mike Cahill (co-authored by lead actress Brit Marling) is that, as the title implies, another Earth has been found that mirrors the Earth we occupy. Over the course of the film, Marling's character Rhoda causes the death of a man's wife and son in a drunk driving incident -- something completely out of character…… [Read More]

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Kurt Vonnegut The Forward March

This is a fascinating commentary about how modernization and mechanization can impact individuals to taking on the attributes of the technology that they work with. This is definitely thought-provoking in this day and age, making one wonder how one is impacted by the speed and immediacy of the Internet and other forms of technology on this generation.

However, this is one of Vonnegut's more hopeful stories. "Though Vonnegut has a reputation as a black humorist, this is an unusual love story between the most timid of men and a lonely receptionist" (Smith, 274). While one can interpret this story in a cynical fashion, one can also appreciate it for the positive attributes it has to offer. "Yet, as in other Vonnegut works, art can be redeeming and transformative. Harry, when he is playing a character in a play, becomes larger than life. Helene, speaking with the narrator and Doris Sawyer at her audition, lights up when she begins to talk about the movie stars she admires" (Farrell, 418). This represents a positive outlook on the power of the arts that is somewhat anachronistic. The redemptive power of the arts is something which is eternal and not a specific byproduct of…… [Read More]

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Expository Dark Angel James Cameron's Television Series

Expository Dark Angel

James Cameron's television series Dark Angel is about a young woman who has been genetically engineered to be a strong weapon in the service of the military. During the pilot episode of the series, set in 2009, Max (they young woman) and eleven other similarly genetically-engineered children escape from the top-secret facility where they are being experimented on. For the next ten years, these children live and grow in complete anonymity trying to avoid capture by the man in charge of the experiment, Lydecker and his search hounds. In addition, there is limited technology or even basic means of communication because of an internal terrorist attack on the United States some time in between 2009 and 2019 where the present of the series is set. This does not sound like a Utopia. In a Utopian society, everything is wonderful. There are no genetically-engineered children trained as high-tech weapons because there is no need for weaponry at all. There are no wars and no disharmony. The opposite of the Utopia is a Dystopia. It is evident from the observations made that Dark Angel is most assuredly an example of a Dystopia.

In the series, an extremist left-wing political…… [Read More]

Fahrenheit 451' vs '1984' Several Conflicting Frames

Fahrenheit 451' vs. '1984'

Several conflicting frames of mind have played defining roles in shaping humanity throughout the twentieth century. Philosophical optimism of a bright future held by humanity in general was taken advantage of by the promise of a better life through sacrifice of individuality to the state. In the books 1984, by George Orwell and Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury have clear opposition to these subtle entrapments that was voiced in similarly convincing ways.

They first both establish, to varying degrees of balance, the atmosphere and seductiveness of the "utopia" and the fear of the consequences of acting in the non-prescribed way through character development. A single character is alienated because of their inability to conform - often in protest to the forced conditions of happiness and well being. Their struggle is to hide this fact from the state's relentless supervision of (supposedly) everything. This leads them to eventually come into conflict with some hand of the state which serves as the authors voices presenting the reader with the 'absurdity' of the principles on which the society is based.

The similar fear of the state's abuse of power and technology at the expense of human individuality present within…… [Read More]

Sustainability Is Development That Meets

They want to maintain that livelihood. And for 90% of the world, being sustainable is a matter of life and death (Agnew n.d.)." To that end in 2007 they Architecture for Humanity launched the Open Architecture Network "an online, open source community dedicated to improving living conditions through innovative and sustainable design" where designers, engineers, and anyone else, professional or otherwise can share their ideas, designs and plans, collaborate, manage design projects from concept to implementation and build a more sustainable future (Open Architecture Network n.d.)

In addition to Sinclair and McDonough there are a wide range of architects and designers who are beginning to understand that their role is not simply to satisfy their own egos or curiosities but rather to help facilitate the sustainability of communities and human society at large. The New York-Based consulting firm Terrapin Bright Green, for example, was started by four architects who recognized the need for policy makers, designers, architects and government to work together to help create more sustainable consultants.

The Rocky Mountain Institute, started by, Amory Bloch Lovins "work in the built environment takes an integrated approach by seeking to increase energy efficiency while simultaneously addressing building and community design, comfort,…… [Read More]

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Kindred the Device of Time-Travel

This is the view taken by Salvaggio (1984), who observes that "Butler places her heroines in worlds filled with racial and sexual obstacles, forcing her characters to survive and eventually overcome these societal barriers to their independence. Sometimes her black heroines are paired with white men who challenge their abilities; sometimes they are paired with powerful black men who threaten their very autonomy and existence. And always, the society in which they live constantly reminds them of barriers to their independence." (Salvaggio, 78) This is to make the case that Butler's use of time travel is as a way of reminding Dana not just of her past but of the way that these dynamics remain relevant to the present, even where the conditions of her life have allowed her to assume otherwise. As other black women continued to live lives of inequality and subjugation even late into the 20th century, Dana's previous state of blissful ignorance to the real travails of her ancestors would help to personalize these struggles for her.

Certainly, she has herself freely admitted in the text of the book that she generally wished to avoid any explicit awareness of the suffering which came before her. For…… [Read More]

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Perfect Society in Gulliver's Travels

There are several examples in the text, like when Gulliver must urinate on a fire to put it out or when the scientist in Lagado attempts to turn human waste back into food. Swift is showing us that we can preach what we want to about mankind and his spirituality, but the bottom line is that mankind is dirtier than all of that, we just choose not to see it; or rather, we come up with theories to ignore the realities of life.

Earlier, it was mentioned that the Houyhnhnms were the closest to a utopian society in the text, so it is interesting to consider the fact that this is a society that is made up of non-human creatures. This point is important in understanding Swift's message, as well as his criticism of England: only non-human creatures are capable of creating and living in a utopia. He seems to be implying that there is something in the human race that will always breed conflict and thus unhappiness.

Though Swift had changed from the Whig party to the Tory party, he still manages to criticize the monarchy in Gulliver's Travels. Recall that there was conflict that erupted between Lilliput and…… [Read More]

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Cognitive Styles Cools' 2010 Review

Whereas cognitive dissimilarity may breed conflict. In short, Cools' (2010) collections of research results indicates that cognitive styles influence general aspects of one's life and recognizing one's cognitive style will invariably help the employee and employer.

It seems to me, however, that whilst there may be much truth in the matter, the concept of cognitive styles may also be overrated in (a) that many other elements (such as socio-emotional factors and task-related aspects in terms of social relationships) may intrude, and b. there are diverse theories of cognitive styles with some conflicting with others. Research is inconsistent and inconclusive in various areas, aside from the fact that there is a lack of qualitative and longitudinal research, and a lack of contextualization.

Furthermore, it seems to me that people are too diverse and too 'plastic' for them to be arbitrarily molded in one specific category. The concept of cognitive styles may have some benefit in that it may direct a person to a certain field of employment and show him way of connecting with others but it may prove dangerous when individuals (employee or employer alike -- and particularly the latter) rely uncritically on the system and pigeon-hole people according to…… [Read More]

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George Orwell's Dystopic Visions and

In Animal Farm, Orwell more directly satirizes real world events, as the overthrow of a farmer by his animals and the progression of the new order established there to a totalitarian dictatorship closely mirrors that of Russia's sudden transition to Communism and Stalin's iron-fisted rule. Whereas 1984 drops the reader immediately into the world of a government gone wrong, Animal Farm shows the emergence of such a government. Things begin happily once the farmer has been chased off, the animals all pitch in to accomplish the necessary work and "every mouthful of food was an acute positive pleasure, now that it was truly their own food, produced by themselves and for themselves" (Chapter III, par. 3). But eventually one of the pigs -- the species that had started the revolution -- wrests power from the other by having him driven off, and things on the farm enter a steady decline where the animals end up overworked and underfed.

In a strange way, the government in 1984 is almost more honest than that portrayed in Animal Farm. Although Big Brother's Party watches and controls everything that goes on, including rewriting history and "fact" to suit its own political purposes, it does…… [Read More]

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Female Man Russ Joanna The

' Thus the novel is just as unsparing in the way that it shows the limits of a female-dominant perspective that simply reverses the dominant paradigm of male dominance. For example, when Jael suspects a male still believes in the inequality of women, she kills him, and hopes that all of the main characters, whom she sees as 'the same' as herself, all part of the same woman yet existing in different universes will adhere to her own society's goals to create all-female worlds. Jael does only live in a society that is absent of men, like Janet, but she is openly hostile towards males.

One of the most striking aspects of the complexity of the novel is evident at the end, when Jael tries to mobilize the women to do away with all of the males in their respective worlds. Janet refuses. Then Jael reveals that, rather than a natural plague, an effective similar campaign to the one proposed by Jael is the reason that there are no males in Whileaway. Jael is triumphant, but Janet's regret about this fact explain a comment she made earlier in the novel, that she no longer fits into the all-female Whileaway. It…… [Read More]

Taylorism and Fordism Have Been

If it has, how has it? If it hasn't, how much is it left?

Fordism thus remains. It remains in worker surveillance, to guard against morality and time theft. It remains in the increased bureaucratization of the global economy, as multi-million dollar conglomerates dominate the world. It remains in the modern emphasis on productivity, rather than training in franchises. It also remains in the developing world, where the poor with little hope of mobility, labor for the rich. And it remains at companies that invest little in worker training like Wal-Mart.

If it is a combination of both? (Recommend to choose this)

Fordism has given the world many benefits -- affordable goods, particularly technological goods that would be prohibitively expensive without mass production. However, companies such as Google that strive to maximize efficiency, create a corporate culture and climate that permeates every facet of employee's lives, yet still makes an investment in employee training, ultimately emerge as the more ethically upstanding, humane model of business for the future. Ironically, it is Google that most closely resembles the Fordian model of a 'total corporate environment' that pervades every facet of its employee's behavior, from the way they eat, conduct their social…… [Read More]

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Worn Path and the Storm

Phoenix is however closer to a saint in her dedication to a cause, while Calixta is a human being who abandons herself at some point to the voice of desire and allows a few moments of surrender to the carnal pleasure that takes hold, regardless of her and her accidental companion's marital status.

Welty's story is full of imagery, thorny bushes come to life and grab old Phoenix' dress, she dreams of a little boy bringing her a slice of marble cake, at a moment of rest, a scarecrow, in the "dead cornfield" is believed to be a ghost, cabins are compared with "old women under a spell sitting there," the road going down is described as being "dark as a cave" (Welty, a Worn Path). In Chopin's story, there are a very few things left to imagination; everything is down to earth, real life is pulsating through every scene. There are the chickens who "huddled on the porch, moments before Alcee's arrival, the "plows and a harrow piled up in the corner" that suggest life with its every day activities, the cotton sheets on the floor, Calixta was gathering "nervously" while "Alcee flung himself into a rocker," all signs…… [Read More]

Sources:

Gilman Melville and Houston Short

"We're leaving,' he hissed. "I'm taking you straight to the hospital." When Susan rose shakily to her feet, uncontrollable diarrhea had stained her dress and dripped from the chair. White with fury, Charles Hay took her by the arm and led her slowly from the hall." (Melville 134)

The work again intones an incredible journey through what a women sees a man thinking. The disconnectedness of Susan from her husband is so complete that her voice is only marginal in the work, but the message is clear in the literary expression of her secreted activities. The masculine is represented as the feminist idea of greater association with industry than home, to the peril of loving relationships. The writing demonstrates a character who is wholly disconnected from ethics in love and life, and in s sense is a demonized masculine archetype.

Conclusion:

Among these three works are three completely differing context and writing styles, though they can be drawn together through two divergent and connected sets of feminist literary criticism to be shown to demonstrate communication barriers in relationships between men and women. This work creates a sense of the whole of the works value by assessing each work with both…… [Read More]

Bibliography:

Holly Bilski English 130b Dr

" Instead of establishing a set rhythm as with his rhyme scheme, he punctuates in order to delineate an end of a particular episode within the poem which also helps the audience understand when and where his narration changes. Each period concludes an establish section of the poem, the first period ends on "Over her, thrashing and thrusting until he was spent." (ln 8), which importantly ends his narrative of Victorian sex. The following breaks each connote the ending of one thought tangent and the beginning of another. The implication on narrative voice occurs through the shifting of his speaking tone and message after periods. In his first address the narrator is informative, the second he is reflective and the third he places mockery on contemporary standards. Thus, punctuation in this case is use to delineate what specific theme and audience he is address. The use of commas is also extremely important within the narrative style. In the first case it is used as a tool to cause rhythmic breaks within the poem such as the use of commas before and after "ahem" in the first line. It is also used to separate distinct metaphors and imagery, after each particular…… [Read More]

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Repo Men 2010 Is a

Science fiction and horror both offer narrative closure and "the restoration of the social order," as does Repo Men, only in this case the social order being preserved is completely amoral and evil (Grant 21). It does not end with the monster or alien menace defeated, like Independence Day, Star Wars, Terminator or The War of the Worlds, but just a literal return to the

6

status quo and business as usual. Repo Men is definitely not an adolescent or 'infantilized' film, with heavy reliance on special effects and light and magic shows, nor do the good guys win in the end -- insofar as there are any good guys at all. It has no real hope or comport to offer, and n this absolutely dehumanized world of the future that lacks redeeming features of any kind, Remy's fantasy existence might actually be preferable to 'reality'. Thus the film is also reminiscent of the Matrix and Total Recall, in which the main character's identity is not real at all, but rather prosthetic or artificial. Postmodern theorists like Jean Baudrillard postulated the "death of the real" twenty years ago, and its replacement by electronic images and symbols (Landsberg 288). Technology is…… [Read More]

Works Cited:

Power and the Use of Language Orwell's

Power and the Use of Language, Orwell's 1984 And Beyond

George Orwell's 1949 dystopian novel 1984 has become almost iconoclastic in its meaning for contemporary society. Almost like the term Machiavellianism, 1984 evokes images in popular culture, along with the author's name as an adjective, and phrases that were used in the book. Even the term "Orwellian" denotes a certain type of society; phrases like "Big Brother," "Newspeak," "Thought-Police," etc. are now part of the vocabulary when describing totalitarian regimes. The novel's premise has become part of a modern archetype, imitated on television, popular music, movies, and even one of the most popular advertisements ever made, the 1984 launch of Apple's Macintosh.

Nineteen Eighty-Four focuses on a new type of society -- repressive, totalitarian, staunch, all-powerful, all knowing, oligarchical, and pervasive. The novel's main character, Winston Smith, is a simple civil servant assigned to the daily task of perpetuating the regime's history (i.e. propaganda). Smith grows increasingly disillusioned with the concepts of society, forms a rebellion against the system, and is eventually arrested and tortured. Society is hierarchical, controlled by "Big Brother," and the irony of dystopia is epitomized when Winston is sent to the "Ministry of Love," for reeducation…… [Read More]

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Banning Books in High School

Banning Books in High School

Book Banning and Censorship

Social groups, including religious organizations, parents, and school administration among others, make decisions daily about what material will become a part of the regular school curriculum and what material will be excluded. Many decisions are made based on the educational value of text books and other learning material. However, many decisions are unfortunately made without educational potential in mind, but rather on the basis of what is considered to be profane or proper based on the opinions of certain people that feel they have the moral authority to make such decisions. American schools have always been built on the principle that children must be protected from that which is inappropriate for them to see, hear, or experience. "American schools have been pressured to restrict or deny students access to books or periodicals deemed objectionable by some individual or group on moral, political, religious, ethnic, racial, or philosophical grounds." (NCTE) Although strict ruler-wielding classroom control freak teachers patrolling student activities from a moral high-horse may be considered a trend of the past, recent decades have actually been full of trends allowing for strict banning or censoring of books and other material. Teachers…… [Read More]

Zamyatin We 20th Century Russian Literature

paradox of the perfect selfless citizen O-90

On one hand, the soft, unified and always feminine presence of O-90 in Yevgeny Zamyatin's novel We stands as an idealized example of unquestioned obedience to the authority of a unified and totalitarian state. The future dystopia of We in the form of One State in We has entirely erased the concept of human individuality and independent thought. It has produced a citizen body that is entirely permeated by its beliefs, of which the spherical O-90 is perhaps the most obvious physical and psychological example. However, O-90's existence in a state of emptiness and her willingness to become a psychic void lacking a sense of self also means she is paradoxically capable of embodying the ideal of unconditional love, more than anyone else in the novel.

Of course, unconditional love is something hardly tolerated as a product of a unified state ideology. Love is not a value that successfully propagates the notions that enable the totalitarian institutions of One State to flourish. But because of the mindlessness and unity encouraged by the state, O-90's is capable of utterly unconditional love for the object of her affection. She has no self and no sense…… [Read More]

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Margaret Atwood's Theory of Natural

As Canada has become less wild, many of these obstacles have been recognized by writers to exist internally, as Atwood says: "no longer obstacles to physical survival but obstacles to what we may call spiritual survival, to life as anything more than a minimally human being."

Grim survival is that sort of survival which overcomes a specific threat which destroys everything else about one, such as a hurricane or plane crash. One supposes that survival in a war setting, or even survival of a serious personal tragedy (such as rape) might also qualify. Of this sort of survival, Atwood writes: "The survivor has no triumph or victory but the fact of his survival; he has little after his ordeal that he did not have before, except gratitude for having escaped with his life."

Cultural survival is also a vital issue. French Canadians struggled to retain their language and religion under the rule of an anglophile government. Today all Canadians are struggling to maintain their independence under the cultural and economic global hegemony of America. Survival can in this sense be either quite positive, as in the maintenance of a valued cultural integrity, or refer to what Atwood calls: "a vestige…… [Read More]

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How Positive and Normative Economics Relates to the US Government

POSITIVE AND NORMATIVE ECONOMICS RELATES TO THE U.S. GOVERNMENT

The objective to the success of a specific science is the capability to identify and delineate opinions on 'what is' from 'what ought to happen'. This includes providing a demarcation between positive statements and normative statements. Positive statements deal with 'what is, was or what will be' but the normative statements deals with 'what ought to be' and are based on value judgments regarding what is good or what is bad. The positive conclusions could be considered as those which are extensively applicable throughout the whole world and they are testable whereas the normative instructions are not testable but constitute the basis for formulation of positive statements. Positive statements are for example, when we ask economists to inform us regarding how the price system operates, we are asking them to travel us along the road of positive economics. The following statement "if the price of petrol increases the demand for petrol falls" is a positive statement that could be either agreed or refuted. The normative economics on the other hand deals with the prescriptive statements, to illustrate, how the price system would function. Normative statements could generate positive hypothesis regarding the…… [Read More]

Works Cited:

Automated Banking in Our Future

In either case, privacy issues were known to be much more complicated than mere issues of personal secrecy. In fact, as Richard Posner suggested more than 20 years ago, there is a fundamental economics of personal privacy -- an economics that is in large part responsible for, and untiringly organic to, our Constitution.

It is feasible, therefore, that there are rudimentary, biological, economic bases at the very roots of humankind's insatiable desire and need for privacy and security. (Posner, 1983)

As McBride's research further indicates, "In 2002, the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies initiated Project Guardian: Maintaining Civil Liberties in the Information Age. The effort is aimed at shepherding discussion from all qualified voices on issues central to the tradeoff between privacy and security, particularly as this balance is threatened, or is perceived to be compromised, by advances in technology. Guardian is enriching the discussion by establishing a rigorous, multiway forum for scholars, policy professionals, and everyday citizens by distilling opinions to reveal core facts, laying bare unchallenged assumptions, and by honoring but qualifying disparate attitudes. The program will seek meaningful policy options so that appropriate decisions can be made -- not at all absent opinion -- but by building…… [Read More]

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Neo-Confucianism Is a Philosophy Which Was Born TEST1

While the winner gets a huge amount of money for supposedly being the strongest human, in fact, the strongest human is merely the one that uses the greatest amount of self-centered cunning and brute strength. If one is going to define humanity, especially in the post-Darwinian age, then it would seem that humanity, to be set apart, would depend on altruistic feelings and use of intelligence rather than selfish feelings and use of brute force alone. In this respect, there is little to separate the producers of TV reality shows from Dr. Moreau, and, by extension, little to separate the participants from the man-beasts. While it is certainly a cynical viewpoint, it would seem that those who participate in the reality shows might be assumed to be as dimly aware of their condition as the man-beasts after their reversion to the more animal state.

Graff compares Dr. Moreau to Mary Shelley's Dr. Frankenstein; both set about upsetting taboos concerning "hybridity, miscengeny and degeneration" (2001, p. 33+). Both are mechanistic in the extreme, viewing individuals as no more than a collection of animal parts to be reconstructed as a human of genius sees fit.

Graff notes that "Science has provided Moreau…… [Read More]

Bibliography:

Technoculture Jodi Dean Makes the

547-548).

The problem is stated clearly by Graham: "The legal community has paid little attention to the consequences for individual privacy of the development of computers" (Graham 1987, p. 1396). Graham does say that the common law has the capacity to protect privacy rights from invasion of privacy just as it expanded to combat threats in the past, but he also says that privacy law has lagged behind technology: "Privacy law has failed to respond, as it has in the past, to technological changes that influence the degree of privacy to which we are accustomed" (Graham 1987, p. 1396).

Technology has changed the nature of "privacy" according to some because technology has altered the meaning of "public." In an earlier age, people possessed greater anonymity than in the computer age, given that information is increasing with vast stores of data about everyone accessible by computer. The old concept of privacy is thus disappearing, though computer users are realizing this fact more and more and so seek ways to prevent any further erosion of privacy. While it remains true that massive amounts of information may be gathered in one place, analyzed, and disseminated, users still try to remain anonymous to as…… [Read More]

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Ursula Le Guin in the Story The

Ursula Le Guin

In the story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," author Ursula Le Guin has created a dystopia wherein the majority of the population lives in eternal states of joy and happiness. These people have to encounter no distress, no hard work, and no discouragement. Every part of the person's life is designed so that they know nothing but perfect happiness and joy. For those who live in Omelas, life is completely perfect. They are all young and happy and healthy. Their children are never underfed. Their harvests always come in on time and in abundance. In short, for the majority of the people of Omelas, there is nothing on this Earth which they have anything to complain about. However, beneath the joy of the majority population is the secret of the people and the town, the knowledge that one person must have absolute torment throughout their lives in order to make the lives of all other others so wonderful. The theme of the story becomes how the people allow this one person to suffer in order to please them and how, although this is a work of fiction, often people in the real world allow others…… [Read More]

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Ethics of Human Cloning in 1971 Nobel

Ethics of Human Cloning

In 1971, Nobel Prize winning-scientist James Watson wrote an article warning about the growing possibility of a "clonal man." Because of both the moral and social dangers cloning posed to humankind, Watson called for a worldwide ban on any research leading to cloning technology (Watson 8).

Until then, cloning had been largely relegated to the realm of science fiction. Scientific research concerning cloning and in vitro fertilization was obtuse and technical, and hardly written about in the news. Watson, however, was a highly-respected scientist, a Harvard professor famous for his discovery of the double helix structure of the DNA. The article he wrote sparked an intense debate over cloning, a debate that was renewed with the 1996 birth of Dolly the lamb, the first cloned mammal.

The argument no longer centers on whether cloning is possible, but on whether cloning is ethical. This paper examines the ethical arguments of those who advocate the use of cloning technology, in the light of Ronald Dworkin's ethical writings on "the sanctity of life" and John Rawls' "theory of justice."

In the conclusion, this paper argues that because the present state cloning technology violates the intrinsic value of human life,…… [Read More]

Brave New World and the Island

Brave New World and the Island

The Need for a "Way Out" in Brave New World and the Island

The future looks grim for mankind in the dystopian novel Brave New World and the film The Island. In both works, a terrible dependency upon technology and "science" has caused mankind to lose its "soul" and forget the transcendental values that make life worth living. Both works are effective in displaying the negative aspects of this sort of dystopia. But neither offers an effective alternative to such a future: John the Savage hangs himself in despair, and the heroes of The Island merely go boating (on what appears to be a permanent holiday). This paper will explain the satirical points of both and show how each is only partially effective in communicating a moral/social message that can elicit people to think and change.

E. Michael Jones states that the only life worth living is the moral life that focuses on man's ultimate end goal. He calls that goal the exercise of the "free use of the will" in union with the divine source of all life (Jones 6). This message, although not explicitly stated in Huxley's novel or Bay's film, is…… [Read More]

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Big Business in America

Christina Cui

Ethics in Business

The Nature of Corporation

The evolution of democracy is such that it periodically conditions the environment to "create a system that makes the participation of some citizens count more than the participation of others" (Shriffin as cited in Alzola, 3). Today, a wealthy elite and the deep pockets of corporations have unduly influenced the checks and balances on which the American version of representative government was established. Even though each American citizen is entitled to one vote, citizens of ordinary means and circumstances have essentially been decoupled from true representation. Massive amounts of money are poured into lobbying and electoral activities, hobbling any effort to ensure equality in voice or vote. This paper will first argue that the current political and judicial climate is incompatible with the ideology of the demos or common people. Following, the discussion will provide a counterpoint argument in which the current political and judicial environment provides benefit to the citizenry. The third section of the paper will address the objections posed regarding the moral impermissibility of allowing powerful individuals and corporations to overtake the intent of the law and individual rights. Finally, conclusions will be drawn to definitively demonstrate how…… [Read More]

References:

Orwell vs Huxley

Brave New World

The two books 1984 and Brave New World reflect futuristic views that are quite different and dichotomous. Indeed, 1984 reflects a world of dystopia and punitive government while the work Brave New World reflects one of more utopian conditions but is no less controlled and crafted by a master plan. The noted social critic Neil Postman postulates that Huxley's version of the world in Brave New World more closely matches that of our current actual world. However, while there is some grain of truth to that, there are some facets of Brave New World that are not in place now and the chances of that changing in the foreseeable future is practically nil in the view of the author of this report.

Analysis

First up on this report will be a compare and contrast of the two works in general terms. First off, an obvious difference between the two books is that 1984 is a dystopian view while Brave New World is utopian. In 1984, suffering and struggle is the norm and the oppressive government is in complete command and control. There is also command and control in the Brave New World system but it is manifested…… [Read More]

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Planning Strategic Foresight People and

Communications of future development

Factors regarding future developments can be effectively structured with the creation of scenarios. Potential recipients of such information would be, government decision making organs including department of defense, department of commerce and even institutional managers of organizations (Hammond 1998).

Stimulation of strategic thinking

The process of creating scenarios would make strategic organs in the government to think objectively about the future. Scenario building would therefore act as a catalyst for future thinking (Hammond 1998)

Creation of orientation knowledge

Creation of future scenario blocks acts as a knowledge base for future governments. This usually does not always equate to instant decisions for successive governments regarding certain national issues, but the body of knowledge is always availed to decision making organs when the real need arises. Scenario forecast can there fore be termed as a way of piling stocks of knowledge for future considerations (Hammond 1998)

Disadvantages of Strategic Foresight and future warning model

The biggest problem made by most organizations is the assumption that through following the strategic model effectively, the desired outcomes are going to be realized automatically. Strategic foresight models are built in unique circumstances and might not apply to all situations.

Conclusion

Strategic foresight…… [Read More]

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