Dystopia /disˈtōpēən/
adjective
The concept of trying to pursue a perfect society through some type of control that eventually creates injustice and tragedy
Why is my definition of dystopia based around a perfect society? The reason I state that dystopias are trying to be an ideal society is that most dystopian stories have the intent of creating an equal and just society. The main problem is that controlling people in certain aspects is too complicated since humans are naturally different in many aspects. Dystopias portrayed in the media try to control one aspect in extreme conditions for the whole society and that act in itself is not equal. If humans are created in varying capabilities, people would think that there would be varying amounts of aid given to each person to make the situation equal. However, dystopias in the media completely rule out a characteristic of their lives (like freedom of thought or speech) instead of finding a balance in between. That extreme condition causes even more problems because it ends up taking away the privileges a human should have. Humans were never perfect from the beginning and should not be tested through extreme conditions.
A prime example is Fahrenheit 451, the government’s goal was to control people’s thoughts and ideas by censoring books, but it ended up promoting self-destruction and violence. It was thought that ideas gained from books would corrupt people’s minds and create an unprincipled society, one that is not “perfect” in thoughts. Many of the characters ended up mentally unstable in the continuous presence of destruction as all they see are houses getting burned down every day for possessing books. They feared for their lives and were not allowed to confide with others, since that could also create bad thoughts. Humans are unable to be perfect, so the concept of trying to reach perfection will always backfire and instead cause the creation of a dystopia instead.
