At the beginning of the semester, I defined dystopia as a dreadful place where no one wants to live and where one’s rights and liberties have been taken away. After completing this course, my definition still remains the same. However, I have learned more about the aspects of society and human nature which contribute to making it seem like a dystopian society. The limitation of freedom, knowledge, and independent thought is the most important aspect of dystopia, which can be found in every dystopian literature. It’s a large topic that has connections to propaganda, censorship, and other types of control. Citizens’ everyday activities are often rigorously regulated in order to improve societal discipline. We incorrectly assume that social structures promote and safeguard our rights, but in reality, they limit them, causing immense unhappiness, according to Freud. I also evaluated how oppression may manifest in society in various ways. According to Iris Young, the different forms of oppression are exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence. Finally, I learned about Thomas Hobbes’ idea of human nature and how it pertains to dystopian societies. According to Hobbes, individuals in nature have no desire to be in the company of those over whom they have no influence. As a result, fighting is in human nature as a means of ensuring our own safety as well as gaining fame and notoriety.
