Introduction
By Paul Anderson
My son's favorite book is 1984. He had to give it to me twice to get me to read it. I left it on the airplane once. I thought there would be a lot more on Van Halen in the book, but I was more into hard-rock, music than dystopian, social science fiction novels.
dys·to·pi·an
adjective
relating to or denoting an imagined state or society where there is great suffering or injustice.
Dystopian is often treated as an antonym of utopia, a term that was coined by Sir Thomas More in 1516 as the name of an island with minimal crime, violence, and poverty. There is no private property on Utopia, with people requesting what they need from warehouses, and the island includes a welfare state with free hospitals, euthanasia permissible by the state, priests being allowed to marry, divorce permitted, premarital sex punished by a lifetime of enforced celibacy, and adultery being punished by enslavement. Every household has two slaves that are either from other countries (prisoners of war, people condemned to die, or poor people) or are the Utopian criminals. Sometimes Utopia isn't utopia.
Famous examples of dystopian literature include George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932), and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 (1953). I chose to start with Brave New World since I remembered the phrase from a song by Iron Maiden. Again, I was more into hard-rock, music than dystopian, social science fiction novels.
Was many years ago that I left home and came this way
I was a young man full of hopes and dreams
But now it seems to me that all is lost and nothing gained
Sometimes things ain't what they seem
No brave new world, no brave new world
No brave new world, no brave new world
Iron Maiden, Stranger In A Strange Land
In all, my son had me read 7 dystopias. So, here are our reviews using a Fahrenheit 451-style system of recommendation (Steal = read; Burn = skip).
Also, it was interesting to notice that I saw more dead animals on my walks while reading dystopias than I saw live ones. I wonder if that is a sign of the future to come?
1. We (1924)
- Paul: Burn 🔥
- Matthew: Burn 🔥
We is a future, human society where the One State is attempting to engineer a peaceful society by building a spaceship to conquer the galaxy. The population has just survived a great war, have numbers instead of names, live in glass houses to be watched by the Bureau of Guardians, live every hour according to "The Table," and have to apply to have sexual relations with each other. Also, the One State has enclosed the society by a Green Wall and mandated the "Great Operation" to remove imagination and emotions.
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| July 18, 2023 photo by Paul Anderson |
Man ceased to be a wild animal the day he built the first wall; man ceased to be a wild man only on the day when the Green Wall was completed, when by this wall we isolated our machine-like, perfect world from the irrational, ugly world of trees, birds, and beasts . . .
2. Brave New World (1932)
- Paul: Burn 🔥
- Matthew: Steal 📚
Brave New World is a future, human society where the World State is attempting to engineer a peaceful society by replacing viviparous reproduction with artificial means and creating strict classes. The population has just survived the cataclysmic Nine Years' War and great Economic Collapse, have a limited number of names, and is controlled with a drug called soma and the hypnopedic (sleep learning) message "everyone belongs to everyone else" to encourage people into promiscuous sex. The World State exiles non-conformists for reading heretical material to the Falkland Islands. When the protagonist tries to flee the society and live a solitary ascetic lifestyle in order to purify himself of civilization, he is hounded by crowds of people and media until he hangs himself.
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| July 24, 2023 photo by Paul Anderson |
"But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin."
"In fact," said Mustapha Mond, "you're claiming the right to be unhappy."
"All right then," said the Savage defiantly, "I'm claiming the right to be unhappy."
3. Animal Farm (1945)
- Paul: Steal 📚
- Matthew: Steal 📚
Animal Farm is an imagined, animal society where the Animal Farm is attempting to engineer a peaceful society using the Seven Commandments of Animalism. The population has just survived a revolution and the Battle of the Cowshed, and are not allowed to wear clothes, sleep in a bed, or drink alcohol. The Seven Commandments are painted on a wall of the barn. However, over time the commandments are altered to favor the elites, as few of the animals can read.
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| August 4, 2023 photo by Paul Anderson |
"It ran: "No animal shall kill any other animal WITHOUT CAUSE." Somehow or other, the last two words had slipped out of the animals' memory."
4. 1984 (1949)
by Matthew Anderson
- Paul: Steal 📚
- Matthew: Steal 📚
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| June 4, 2023 photo by Paul Anderson |
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.”
“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”
“To die hating them, that was freedom.”
5. Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
- Paul: Steal 📚
- Matthew: Steal 📚
Fahrenheit 451 is a future, human society where the government is attempting to engineer a peaceful society by burning all books to keep the population unthinking and happy. The people entertain themselves watching the "parlor walls" to distract themselves from the imminent, nuclear war. Mechanical Hounds and Firemen are dispatched to seek and destroy any book or collector. The protagonist is forced to burn his own house and flee for his life when it is discovered he steals a Bible and memorizes Ecclesiastes.
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| June 28, 2023 photo by Paul Anderson |
“Cram them full of noncombustible data, chock them so...full of ‘facts’ they feel stuffed, but absolutely ‘brilliant’ with information. Then they’ll feel they’re thinking, they’ll get a sense of motion without moving. And they’ll be happy, because facts of that sort don’t change. Don’t give them any slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy.”
6. A Clockwork Orange (1962)
- Paul: Burn 🔥
- Matthew: Burn 🔥
A Clockwork Orange (1962) - is a future, human society where the government is attempting to engineer a peaceful society by eliminating violence with the Ludovico Technique: drug and aversion therapy where one cannot commit violence without getting sick.
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| July 30, 2023 photo by Paul Anderson |
“If he can only perform good or only perform evil, then he is a clockwork orange—meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour and juice but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil.”
7. The Handmaid's Tale (1985)
- Paul: Burn 🔥
- Matthew: Burn 🔥
The Handmaid's Tale (1985) - is a future, human society where the Republic of Gilead is attempting to engineer a peaceful society by creating strict classes of women for viviparous reproduction. The population has just survived a revolution, uses slave names instead of their own names, lives in training centres to be watched by the Eyes of God, has a color-coded dress code, and has to participate in "The Ceremony" for sexual relations to reproduce for the Commanders. Also, the Republic of Gilead forbids women from reading or playing Scrabble and uses compuserve numbers to keep them from buying and selling. Bodies of executed dissidents hang from the Wall that runs around the city.
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| September 1, 2023 photo by Paul Anderson |
I wish this story were different. I wish it were more civilized. I wish it showed me in a better light, if not happier, then at least more active, less hesitant, less distracted by trivia. I wish it had more shape. I wish it were about love, or about sudden realizations important to one’s life, or even about sunsets, birds, rainstorms, or snow.
However, it dawned on me that the Bible might just be the original dystopian literature. So, I decided to see what elements are included in the Scriptures.
Here are my top 12 verses on Dystopian:
Jesus On Dystopian
Matthew 13:10-13 King James Version
10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mark 13:5-10 King James Version
5 And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you:
6 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
9 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations.
Luke 8:17 King James Version
17 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.
John 8:31-36 King James Version
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
33 They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Dystopian In The New Testament
Romans 6:17-19 King James Version
17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
1 Peter 2:19-23 King James Version
19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
Revelation 13:16-18 King James Version
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
Revelation 21:10-14 King James Version
10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Dystopian In The Old Testament
Genesis 11:3-4 King James Version
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
Exodus 2:21-22 King James Version
21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.
22 And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
Ecclesiastes 2:26 King James Version
26 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Jeremiah 51:58-64 King James Version
58 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.
60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.
61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;
62 Then shalt thou say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.
63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:
64 And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Conclusion Of The Whole Matter
"Dystopian" is one of those words which is too modern to find in the pages of the Bible.
0 Bible results for “dystopian” from King James Version.
So, I found some elements that seemed to be common in the seven books we reviewed:
- War (1,2,3,4,5,6,7)
- Numbers (1,3,7)
- Constant surveillance (1,2,4,5,6,7)
- Life control (1,2,3,4,5,6,7)
- A wall (1,3,5,7)
- No reading (2,3,4,5,7)
The Bible contains all these dystopian elements. It speaks of future wars and rumors of wars in Mark 13:5-10 before the coming tribulation and Christ's return. It speaks of numbers in Revelation 13:16-18 to prevent buying and selling. It speaks of constant surveillance in Luke 8:17. In addition, the Bible touches on life control when it speaks on freedom and slavery. In John 8:31-36, Jesus promises freedom from sin for his disciples. However, this freedom is a bit illusionary. As Paul points out in Romans 6:17-19, freedom from sin is slavery to righteousness. Even in the Bible, anyone trying to build a great society will begin with a wall of some sort (Genesis 11:3-4, Jeremiah 51:58-64, Revelation 21:10-14). And finally, while reading isn't specifically prohibited in the Bible, Jesus does use parables to hide the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 13:10-13).
The future may seem dark, and it is. Wars are coming. There will be a dystopia. However, the Bible offers a choice. A utopia is being prepared, as well. The walls in Revelation 21:10-14 are from a new heaven on a new earth. Hell may not have a wall, but it does appear to be an island of dystopia, from which there is no escape. So, while you may not be able to avoid the constant surveillance and control of your life in any future location, you do get to pick between the utopia (slave to righteousness) or the dystopia (slave to sin).
I choose utopia. At least, they have books there (Revelation 20:12).
Notable Quotes:
1. We (1924)
- Paul: Burn 🔥
- Matthew: Burn 🔥
There were two in paradise and the choice was offered to them: happiness without freedom, or freedom without happiness. No other choice. Tertium non datur. They, fools that they were, chose freedom.
And the natural road from nothingness to greatness is to forget that one is a gram and to feel that one is one millionth of a ton!
A real physician begins to treat a patient when he is still well but on the way to becoming sick tomorrow, day after tomorrow, or within a week. Prophylaxis! Yes!"
She was no Number any longer; she was only a human being
They knew that resignation is virtue, and pride a vice; that "We" is from "God," "I," from the devil.
Man is like a novel: up to the last page one does not know what the end will be. It would not be worth reading otherwise.
It is clear, therefore, that happiness is when there are no longer any desires, not a single desire any more. What an error, what an absurd prejudice it was, that we used to mark happiness with the sign 'plus'! No, absolute happiness must be marked 'minus'—divine minus!
2. Brave New World (1932)
- Paul: Burn 🔥
- Matthew: Steal 📚
"Words can be like X-rays, if you use them properly - they'll go through anything. You read and you're pierced. That's one thing I try to teach my students - how to write piercingly... Besides, can you make words really piercing - you know, like the very hardest X-rays - when you're writing about that sort of thing? Can you say something about nothing?"
"Did you eat something that didn't agree with you?" asked Bernard.
The Savage nodded. "I ate civilization."
"What?"
"It poisoned me; I was defiled. And then," he added, in a lower tone, "I ate my own wickedness."
"There was a gasp, a murmur of astonishment and horror; a young girl screamed; standing on a chair to get a better view some one upset two test-tubes full of spermatozoa. Bloated, sagging, and among those firm youthful bodies, those undistorted faces, a strange and terrifying monster of middle-agedness, Linda advanced into the room, coquettishly smiling her broken and discoloured smile, and rolling as she walked, with what was meant to be a voluptuous undulation, her enormous haunches."
5. Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
- Paul: Steal 📚
- Matthew: Steal 📚
“With an effort, Montag reminded himself again that this was no fictional episode to be watched on his run to the river; it was in actuality his own chess game he was witnessing, move by move.”
But even when we had the books on hand, a long time ago, we didn't use what we got out of them. We went right on insulting the dead. We went right on spitting in the graves of all the poor ones who died before us.
7. The Handmaid's Tale (1985)
- Paul: Burn 🔥
- Matthew: Burn 🔥
“It means you can’t cheat Nature,” he says. “Nature demands variety, for men. It stands to reason, it’s part of the procreational strategy. It’s Nature’s plan.” I don’t say anything, so he goes on. “Women know that instinctively. Why did they buy so many different clothes, in the old days? To trick the men into thinking they were several different women. A new one each day.”
Scripture contributions for July 2023 by: Paul Anderson, Matthew Anderson
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