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Quest for the Impossible: Conformity andSameness in Two Science Fiction Dystopias:
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932) and
Lois Lowry’s The Giver (1993)
Radwan Gabr El–Sobky
ABSTRACT: This paper is a comparative study of the quest for the
impossible: conformity and sameness in two science fiction dystopias:
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (Britain in 1932) and Lois Lowry’s
The Giver (America in 1993). It is an attempt to demonstrate the two
novelists’ ideologies of the quest for perfection through achieving
conformity and sameness in two dystopian societies; such a quest
is a quest for the impossible. The methodology of this study is
based mainly on the concept of dystopian science fiction and on the
characteristics of the dystopian society depicted in science fiction
literature that are stated in M. Keith Booker’s Dystopian Literature:
a Theory and Research Guide (1994), and in M. Keith Booker’s and
Anne–Marie Thomas’ “Dystopian Science Fiction” in The Science
Fiction Handbook (2009).
KEY WORDS: utopia, dystopia, conformity, sameness, Aldous Huxley,
Lois Lowry.
Introduction: Replacing Utopia with by Dystopias
M ost utopias written in the twentieth century tended to be
replaced by ‘dystopias’, a term suggesting negative utopia.
Dystopia as a term and concept appeared clearly in the first half of
the 20th century as a result of the appearance of various dictatorships
that caused two disastrous World Wars; these dictatorships
150
, El–Sobky: Quest for the Impossible 151
manipulated people and robbed them of their freedom, will and
dignity. Dystopias tend to criticize all forms of totalitarianism and
to expect what may happen in the future. Janet Witalec delineates
the reasons for appearance of dystopia in the 20th century:
Some of the finest dystopian works were produced during the
Nazi era in Germany, during the Stalin era in Russia, in response
to various wars over the decades, and as a commentary upon
various totalitarian regimes (Witalec 1).
So the dystopian fiction of the 20th century criticizes the dictator
political regimes that manipulate citizens by every possible means. In
his book Dystopian Literature, Keith Booker sees that the dystopian
society is characterized by problematic and political practices as a
result of an entire control:
Dystopian literature generally constitutes a critique of existing
social conditions or political systems, either through the
critical examination of the Utopian premises upon which these
conditions and systems are based or through the imaginative
extension of those conditions and systems into different
contexts that more clearly reveal their flaws and contradictions
(Booker 3–4).
Major Characteristics of Science Fiction Dystopia
According to Booker and Thomas there are major characteristics
of the society depicted in dystopian science fiction. First, the authority
imposes various types of control on citizens’ lives by using various
ideologies such as corporate control through products, advertising,
mottos and/or the media; mindless bureaucracy through a tangle
of red tape, relentless regulations, and incompetent government
officials; distorting or eliminating past history; complete censorship
and surveillance; scientific and technological control. Second,
people in the dystopian society lose basic human traits such as
freedom, individuality, love, family and identity. Third, the authority
misleads people by claiming quest for perfection through achieving
conformity and sameness among all people. Fourth, preoccupying
,152 HARVARD SQUARE SYMPOSIUM 2/2016 | The Phenomenon of Migration
people with constant entertainment provided by the state (Booker
and Thomas 65–74).
Utopias and Dystopias vis–à–vis Science Fiction and Fantasy
Both utopias and dystopias share characteristics of science
fiction and fantasy; and both are usually set in a future in which
technology has been used to create perfect living conditions.
However, once the setting of a utopian or dystopian novel has been
established, the focus of the novel is usually not on the technology
itself but rather on the influence of science and technology on the
minds, psyches, emotions, and behaviours of people who live under
such conditions.
Most writers view utopia as a place, state, or condition that is
ideally perfect in respect of politics, laws, customs, and conditions.
In their views, utopia symbolizes a perfect world. It denotes to a
visionary or ideally perfect state of society whose members live the
best possible life. In utopias, there are no problems like war, disease,
poverty, oppression, discrimination, inequality and so forth. In his
book, The concept of utopia, Ruth Levitas cites Moritz Kaufman’s
definition of utopia as follows:
What is utopia? Strictly speaking, it means a ‘nowhere Land’,
some happy island far away, where perfect social relations
prevail, and human beings, living under an immaculate
constitution and a faultless government, enjoy a simple and
happy existence, free from the turmoil, the harassing cares,
and endless worries of actual life (Levitas 12).
The Early History of Utopia
The early history of utopia began with Plato’s The Republic (380
B.C); and after that came Thomas More’s Utopia (1516). In their book
Utopian Thought in the Western World, Frank E. Manuel and Fritzie
P. Manuel see that Plato’s The Republic is one of the earliest utopian
texts which served as “a plan for an ideal society in which laws were
non–existent, and where static perfection and immutability were
vital” (Manuel 158).
, El–Sobky: Quest for the Impossible 153
The influence of Thomas More’s Utopia on the genre
The influence of Thomas More’s Utopia on the genre has been
immense, not only because it is as the earliest work mentioning the
word “utopia,” but also because it presents contemporary issues
within the context of an ideal society. It is said that “Thomas More
was the discoverer of the Greek word ‘Utopia’ which is translated to
mean ‘no place’” (Claeys 77). Thomas More’s Utopia emphasizes the
construction of the utopian society upon the principle that “nobody
owns anything, but everyone is rich” (More 28). In this novel More
shows an ideal society close to perfection in almost every way. His
main focus is to show a world without poverty, greed, or crime. He
presents a utopian society that shares the same language, customs,
institutions, and laws.
Dystopia is a futuristic, imaginary world in which nothing
is perfect
On the contrary, dystopia is a futuristic, imaginary world in
which things have gone wrong and in which everything is unpleasant
or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one.
Dystopia is a world in which nothing is perfect. The problems that
cause worry and distress to people in the real world are often even
more extreme in dystopias. The dystopian world is characterised
by various oppressive societal controls with the plea of questing
for a perfect society free from pains, diseases and poverty. In other
words, “dystopia represents the fear of what the future may hold if
we do not act to avert catastrophe” (Levitas 165).
The idea of dystopia in the 20 th century fiction and
“carceral city”
The idea of dystopia in the 20th century fiction was influenced
by the idea of “carceral city” discussed by the French philosopher
Michel Foucault (1926–1984) which he dates to 1840, the date of
the opening of Mettray prison colony in France. It was a private
reformatory open prison without walls; it was established in 1840
for the rehabilitation of young male delinquents. In this open
prison there were various ways of control used by authoritarian
governments that extend to the private affairs of people’s lives.
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