Promulgating the Dystopian Blueprint: Control, Language, and Espionage in Dystopian Societies

Abstract

Through the changes from the utopian to the dystopian genre, themes in their respective media have changed drastically – yet have kept their original base. This base sits at the foundation of fear and caution. Authors write stories for a reason and choose the themes of their stories to express themselves. This thematic analysis will analyze the themes found in three dystopian novels: Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Knife of Never Letting Go through the themes of control, language, and espionage. The aim of this research is to fully grasp and attempt to investigate and respond to the overarching research question, “How does dystopian literature reflect upon and aim to critique the current fears and anxieties individuals have of society?” Additionally, the sub-research questions: “In what way do events such as uprisings, wars, and other current events influence writers to release dystopian novels?”, “How has dystopian literature changed over time and what factors contributed to its change?”, and “How has the openness and variety of the dystopian genre appealed to young adults around the world?”, will be answered through a series of source research and interviews of high school teachers and students. This thematic analysis takes you through the analyzation of those three dystopian novels – set in different times – and through the methodology for the research of the sub-questions.