Compare And Contrast Divergent And 1984

Superior Essays
Dystopian societies are usually described by many as seemingly perfect. Unfortunately, to achieve this perfect image, leaders must restrict the independence of their citizens and warp views of the outside world to make their way of living the only way to live healthy and happily. A dystopia may have the outlook of perfection, but their ways of achieve perfection are less than ideal. The leaders control propaganda shown to the public, the jobs they work in, and even the history to their taught. Although most people in the society are unaware of the changes, a few can see through the white lies of the dystopia. The protagonist in both “Divergent” and “1984” are faced with the harsh reality that their perfect home may not be what it seems. They …show more content…
1984’s society barred a strong resemblance to what Russian society was like in the 1940s. Citizens’ jobs were chosen for them to lower unemployment, propaganda was controlled to look fondly on Russian leaders, children were turned into tiny soldiers for communism, and people who spoke against it were either tortured, killed, or both. Though, we may not go to such extremes as much now, we still hold small hints of dystopian views. In schools, we’re split into groups; regular, honors, AP, and magnet. Students in higher levels are given newer books, better technology, better kick starts for college, and more sanitary areas for work. While regular students are given what’s left and are already told that higher leveled students will most likely have better chances then they will. Kids in certain groups whether it is educational, racial, age or gender related, tend to communicate and work with those who they see as equal to them. Where you live determines what propaganda you see. If you’re in the U.S.A, you may be familiar with Uncle Sam saying he “wants you”. You would have a different story if you grew up in Africa or England. We as a society, always want to make our way of living seem more appealing to other, we even go so far as to put down others to bring ourselves up. Whoever our country is at war with, we as people now hate those from that country. The bias will …show more content…
Are we awake enough to catch on if the government slowly started to introduce these views onto us? Or, would we become the dystopia to read about it book? You never know in our ever changing world we live in. Every day, we are given new educational rules to go by, new laws to follow, or new standards to live by. It makes you wonder if we are just a watered down version of 1984 or Divergent. Are we already killing our creative divergents in school by making them care more about a letter on a report card then their creative dreams? Are we using the fear of failing against them to emotionally kill them? Is society scared of kids who look outside the box? We can only watch and find out but, even then it might be too late for

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Due to the intricacy of the English language, many words, such as stationary and stationery, are commonly confused. At first glance, it is hard to decipher a difference between the two words, as a miniscule letter exchange is all that separates them. However, even though they share similar aspects in regards to spelling when analyzing their definitions it becomes apparent that they share no commonalities. Likewise, iconic protagonists, Winston Smith and Randle McMurphy, and antagonists, Big Brother and Nurse Ratched, have qualities that are both obviously comparable and, upon analysis contrastable. While the protagonists both rebel against the rules that they are expected to follow, receive harsh punishments for their actions and are subsequently broken in the end, they differ in the fact that McMurphy is not crazy yet fakes it in order to use to his advantage, while Smith was in fact crazy but not aware until the…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    It is a beautiful, fair, and dazzling morning. The artificial sun shines softly on the metallic, dense city benches that hover ever so slightly. A pair of identical female twins dressed in light gray, fashionable jumpsuits hastily make their way to a lonesome bench, and swiftly take a seat. The winsome twin to the far right wiggles her perfectly sloped nose, and begins to repeat the phrase, "Everyone belongs to everyone else..." This is what a dystopia may represent; repetition, repetition, repetition.…

    • 1049 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Dystopias: How Leaders Attempt to Achieve Stability Throughout history, many leaders have tried with varying degrees of success to create various utopian societies in an effort to ensure a stable way of life. This is no different in the film The Island or the novella Anthem, where the leaders desperately attempt to reign ultimate power and control over their citizens to create a strong society. Despite The Island being very technologically advanced compared to the community in Anthem that is trapped in the dark ages, both circumstances allow the leaders to have complete control, achieving stable societies where information is withheld from the citizens. Additionally, through different means of propaganda, the leaders of both dystopias are…

    • 1959 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In recent decades, dystopian society has become an exceedingly common fear in society. Two literary works that forebode of a coming time where freedoms are taken away are 1984 and “Harrison Bergeron”. These two dystopian plots convey warnings to society to pay attention to those in power. In 1984, George Orwell uses an ironic and haunting tone which communicates heavily through propaganda as well as literary devices. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. also uses irony and propaganda to promote a satirical as well as sarcastic tone.…

    • 1648 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Have you ever peered into the mirror and sensed that you did not appertain to the world in which you are a part of? Within a dystopian society, it is conveyed that your world is ideal, however this is a phantasm hiding the fact that we are living in an oppressed reality. On page 42 of “Harrison Bergeron”, it is expressed that even in a seemingly impeccable society; those who embody imperfection are ladened unequal to those who do not. In Harrison Bergeron, page 44, it is expressed that those who oppose the rules of such a society are met with an inhuman punishment. In addition, after reading “A Tale of Two Countries,” I found that occasionally, the mirage of living in a utopia can often make the bourgeois people blind to the circumstances…

    • 903 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Imagine growing up in a world where all you feel is fear and hate, where you have no choice but to live in isolated community and be forced to believe in things you would not normally believe in. Imagine living in a community where they start teaching at an early age to hate something by force. For example, in the book 1984 they are forced to grow up believing in what the party wants them to believe in an obeying the rules the isolated community has for the people, just like it has/is occurring and will occur throughout the world for as long as human exist. Real world examples would be like the Ku Klux Klan, North Korea, The Nazi Party, and the Al-Qaeda organization prove the existence and possibilities of such societies. Firstly,…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There was fear of cold, of sickness and hunger. There was fear of beasts.” (Lowry, 2) Because fear is a powerful emotion, many dystopian societies attempt to appeal to fear in populace to prevent independent, logical thinking. Provided that propaganda is instilled subtly, citizens often times view the governing body as the protagonist of their commonality, rather than the corporate control seeking rulers readers often see. This allows societal leaders to essentially control the independent thought of citizens, which produces the lack of education.…

    • 1105 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While there are many things alike between Aldous Huxley's book "Brave New World" and George Orwell's book "1984", they are just as similar as they are different. These two books are both dystopian novels giving warnings about the future. They portray a society that if given the choice, nobody would want to live in them. In both novels, the main characters are rebellious against the government and both societies take major control of their citizens. On the other hand, in "Brave New World" the people are separated into different classes based on skill and in "1984" everyone is on the bottom, living in poverty.…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Reagan Schatz Ms. Slagle English White 1 January 17, 2017 Definitional Analysis Essay Many events in the 20th Century such as Industrialization and a Great War brought out the opinions and concerns of several authors about the future direction of society. Authors, George Orwell and Aldous Huxley both used literature to form a dystopic novel to describe what they saw as society’s ignorance about the path they were on for the future and what it would be like if they continued in this direction. They used the novel as a method of warning people what could happen because of their choices.…

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Divergent and 1984 essay Since the beginning of government rule there have been many different types that have been created. Not only have there been governments with the rule of the people, there are also governments that are run by one leader or dictator. In the story 1984 the government is run by an organization called Big Brother. This government is like a dictatorship as they are able to watch over and listen to everything you say and do. In the movie Divergent the people are divided up into 5 different factions that are controlled by the government.…

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dehumanization Picture a world where common courtesy was a foreign term or empathy and love no longer exist. Now envision a place where one might call home, where every man and women is exactly the same just another number. All of these things are happening all around us, all it takes is the right angle to see the true horror of it all. Today is mirroring so many aspect from the book 1984, from government control to the truly spine chilling fact of dehumanization. Dehumanization is exactly what it sounds like, the bits and parts that make everyone who they truly are, are being stripped away at an alarming rate.…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are many similarities in Divergent and 1984. Both stories are based on different factions , communism, and supreme government power. Divergent is all about factions. A faction in divergent is a group that you are put with based on your personality and skill set. This is very similar to the different ministries in 1984.…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Dystopian Literature

    • 1682 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Dystopian literature has seen drastic changes since the 1980s, the main change being the shift in target audience. Dystopias have been increasingly written for…

    • 1682 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The definition of dystopian society is described as a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding ("Dictionary.com - The World's Favorite”). This society is a very prominent in both story lines of 1984 and Divergent. Although our society today is nowhere near the ones in 1984 and Divergent, there are similarities. The book 1984 was written by a man who predicted what he thought the future world would be like. His prediction was a dark world where people were controlled by a central government, called Big Brother.…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “Restrictions of a Totalitarian Society” What if our government kept complete control over our society and how we live our everyday lives? What if I told you that’s how it is today? In 1949, author George Orwell wrote a dystopian science-fictional novel about how the future of our society will be ran by a government who prevents all individualism on a private land known as Oceania. The fictitious idea of “Big Brother” is always watching you allows the party to preserve idea of ignorance with the people.…

    • 1269 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays

Related Topics