My Smaller Question
Utopia
An imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.
Dystopia
An imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically one where the government is completely corrupt, possibly a dictatorship (e.g. Hunger Games), where the environment is extremely damaged and exploitation
is common. Utopia is an optimistic view of a perfect world, which is often imagined and
can't be achieved. In most sources of literature utopia is the ultimate goal to achieve, but due to human imperfections and human nature we never really reach it.
The Hunger Games
Many purported utopias reveal a dystopian character by suppressing justice, freedom and happiness. An example of this is the Hunger Games trilogy. Their world was supposed to be a perfect one where everybody lived in equal conditions, had the same proportion for everything, but due to corruption of government the majority were thrust into poverty.
In most dystopian scenarios, The rich and powerful are the ones who live in a form of utopia. When the districts went to war the capitol stepped in and took control. Their world was supposed to be perfect but because of human manifestations and government corruption those who fit a certain criteria: The rich, famous and beautiful received everything, while those who couldn't afford it didn't get anything.
Relationships
We can relate this situation to almost all parts of human history. For example communism started as a goal for a bright future, where all food was equally shared, no matter what job you had your pay would be the same as everybody
else's. Unfortunately greed and jealousy stopped this utopia from being set in stone as those who were in charge of distributing the money started taking extra for themselves. This is an example of how literature reflects human society and culture
Novels written about utopia often use this idea and reflect our culture. Although we set our sights towards a world free of war, poverty and starvation those with all the power are tempted by money and jealousy to corrupt the society we live in.
These novels shape our culture by making a social comment on how we live out our lives, and aim to make people aware that if we treat humankind in an equal and fair way then maybe we can reach something close to utopia.
An imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.
Dystopia
An imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically one where the government is completely corrupt, possibly a dictatorship (e.g. Hunger Games), where the environment is extremely damaged and exploitation
is common. Utopia is an optimistic view of a perfect world, which is often imagined and
can't be achieved. In most sources of literature utopia is the ultimate goal to achieve, but due to human imperfections and human nature we never really reach it.
The Hunger Games
Many purported utopias reveal a dystopian character by suppressing justice, freedom and happiness. An example of this is the Hunger Games trilogy. Their world was supposed to be a perfect one where everybody lived in equal conditions, had the same proportion for everything, but due to corruption of government the majority were thrust into poverty.
In most dystopian scenarios, The rich and powerful are the ones who live in a form of utopia. When the districts went to war the capitol stepped in and took control. Their world was supposed to be perfect but because of human manifestations and government corruption those who fit a certain criteria: The rich, famous and beautiful received everything, while those who couldn't afford it didn't get anything.
Relationships
We can relate this situation to almost all parts of human history. For example communism started as a goal for a bright future, where all food was equally shared, no matter what job you had your pay would be the same as everybody
else's. Unfortunately greed and jealousy stopped this utopia from being set in stone as those who were in charge of distributing the money started taking extra for themselves. This is an example of how literature reflects human society and culture
Novels written about utopia often use this idea and reflect our culture. Although we set our sights towards a world free of war, poverty and starvation those with all the power are tempted by money and jealousy to corrupt the society we live in.
These novels shape our culture by making a social comment on how we live out our lives, and aim to make people aware that if we treat humankind in an equal and fair way then maybe we can reach something close to utopia.