The Dystopia Conundrum

Since 2021, the dystopian classic 1984 topped Amazon’s bestseller list despite being written in the 1940s. Dystopian narratives are common these days due to escalating geopolitics and the conspiracy theory rife COVID-19 pandemic. But why would we want to conceptualize worst-case scenarios? Angela and Jessica explore this narrative's origins and how, despite being fiction, it encourages us to reimagine moral views often justifying real acts of violence and rebellion. While most contemporary mainstream dystopian narratives envision the fall of the United States, others present critical themes echoing throughout human history: central authoritarian control in 1984, oppression of women in The Handmaid’s Tale, forced plastic surgery in the Uglies series, and a re-imagination of the Second World War’s outcome in The Man in the High Castle. Will we learn from past atrocities or will the historical pendulum swing us ever back?