Blog #3: Dystopian Characters

Ross Schonberg

Ms. Gubanich

English

February 12, 2016

Dystopian Characters

Throughout dystopian novel history there is always a world in which everything is either really good or really bad. No one seems to do anything about it, until we meet our main character, our hero, our protagonist, who acts differently than the normal citizen, wanting their to be change within the society. In Brave New World there are two protagonists, Bernard Marx and Lenina Crowne. There seems to be a pattern that in all dystopian novels that every main character shares the same traits. Some examples of these characters in other work could range from V, from V For Vendetta (book/movie) to Max, from the Mad Max series.

First, one trait that is recognizable throughout dystopian stories is that the main character doesn’t stand out a “protagonist” in the beginning of the story. They are usually just going along with the world they are in, trying not to stand out and be noticed, even though they know that they feel different. Like in the beginning of BNW, when Bernard is in an Orgy-Porgy and he doesn’t feel the same way about the sex and believing in Ford. Another dystopian character similar to that is Neo from The Matrix. In the beginning he is a nobody who, as the story progresses, becomes “the one”, the savior, who topples the controller's. Another good, but slightly different, rising character is Max, from Mad Max, because in his film Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. In the beginning of the movie he walks into a town and tires to draw as little attention to himself as possible, but as the story progresses he get involved in a plan with the leader of the town and becomes an important figure in a fight between him and the townspeople. On the other end of the spectrum there is the main character who is already wanting change and starts to set plans in motion on how to go against his/her suppressors.

Another trait that these dystopian pieces share is how the society reacts to what the main character is doing. In Brave New World when Lenina is talking to Fanny and Lenina says that she doesn’t want to have constant sex with other people Fanny looks at her as if she needs to see a psychologist. Also, with Bernard how he feels the same way, everyone starts to make fun of him and even fanny says that he is strange for not acting the normal way. Also, in the novel/movie V For Vendetta, the main protagonist V, who instantly goes against the norm feels that the people are being suppressed by a controlling govt., much similar to 1984’s govt. So V begins to destroy buildings and kill important figures from his past life, and giving passionate speeches to the people. This freaks out the government, who tries to stop him, but the society actually begins to rally around V and they see him more as an everlasting idea.

Lastly, within almost all of these stories there is a slogan that is repeated. In Brave New World there slogan is “community, identity , stability”. In other novels there are slogans similar, like in V For Vendetta the slogan is “Strength through unity, unity through faith” or in 1984 the people say “War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength”. Within all of these stories the people believe that these slogans mean good things and are meant to keep them on the right path, and believe in the society. Really they are saying the exact opposite with a much deeper meaning in the slogan, and sometimes is meant to subliminally instill fear into the people, so that individuals like our main protagonist don’t try and revolt.

In conclusion, there is clear pattern within the stories and characters that dystopian literature and films seem to follow. It is obviously a very good way of writing a story, otherwise it wouldn’t be as popular as it is today. I find it a very interesting story, following this character through their journey, seeing them transform into the rebel they were meant to be.