DYSTOPIA ESSAY PLANNING
THEME: HUMAN EXPERIENCE – FEAR, SUFFERING, FREEDOM.
‘Violence and physical suffering are central to many dystopian novels.’
P1 Both writers Orwell and Atwood present violence and physical suffering
as central mechanisms to control: Orwell presents it as a desensitisation
tool, enabling The Party to gain greater power. Atwood presents it as a
method of fear to ensure submission.
AO1: Orwell utilises violence as a desensitisation tool. Hangings become
a public spectacle, with figures like Syme within ‘The Party’ enjoying a
‘good hanging’ taking joy in the ‘kicking’ legs of the victim. Their
enjoyment of hangings reflects a society desensitised by perpetual war.
AO3 & AO5: In Orwell’s essay ‘You and the Atom bomb’ written shortly
after the bombings of Hiroshima, Japan – a time when the world was
first confronting the destructive potential of nuclear weapons. He argues
that it will create a stable yet oppressive ‘peace that is no peace’, as the
expense of these violent weaponry means that only a few superpowers
can possess it. This mirrors the description the three super states in 1984
(Eurasia, Eastasia and Oceania) to maintain a permanent, low-level war
to keep their populations enslaved.
AO1: Orwell’s essay suggests that when war is continuous, it creates a
background of violence that citizens ignore, reflected in the Party’s
slogan ‘WAR IS PEACE’. This suggests how the desensitisation of
physical suffering through war enables The Party to accumulate greater
power.
AO3: This may remind readers of continued modern-day conflicts such
as Russia and Ukraine who may recognise how such exposure can lead
to desensitisation, making violence and suffering appear normal –
mirroring a ‘peace that is no peace’. Israel/Gaza and social media-tisation
of war. “Since October 2023 and Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza strip,
brutal images documenting the violence of war have become
commonplace, and many have become desensitised to such images”.
AO4: However, whilst Orwell explores how the desensitisation of
violence leads to greater control of ‘The Party’ over its members. Atwood
explores how violence is a tool to create a culture of fear to enforce
greater conformity.
AO3: Atwood was inspired by the Puritan New England theocratic
regime that mirrored Gilead’s: a Utopian society where the religion
shaped the law and their use of public punishments mirroring the
, ‘Salvagings’.
AO1: The Wall displays bodies of ‘doctors’ with a drawing of a ‘human
foetus’ (people who had given abortions) and ‘Gender Traitors’
(homosexuals). ‘The Wall’ serves as a reminder to the collective that
deviation from the states Godly law results in physical annihilation.
Particicution would be good to reference here.
AO3: When Atwood was writing, it saw a rise of right-wing
fundamentalist religious figures such as Jerry Falwell the founder of the
Moral Majority. He promoted staunchly anti-abortion policies and was
against homosexual relationships. By presenting how theocratic regimes
promote physical suffering against these groups of people, it warns the
readers of the dangerous effects of right-wing fundamentalist policies.
Army of God Christian terrorist organisation known for anti-abortion
violence (originated in the early 80s just before Atwood wrote the novel)
P2 AO4: Both Orwell and Huxley explore suffering, but with different
purposes: in ‘1984’ it highlights how violence as punishment totally
inhibits resistance, whilst BNW highlights how physical suffering is an
act of resistance against the ‘World State’.
AO1: Orwell present’s Winston’s physical suffering at the end of the
novel in Room 101 reveals how violence makes rebellion futile. O’brien
manipulates Winston’s fear of rats to ‘leap on to [his] face and bore
straight into it’, with the ultimate aim for Winston to surrender his “own
free will”.
AO3: This mirrors Stalin’s ‘Great Purge’ during the 1930s involving
torturous methods using false evidence and confessions to eliminate
political enemies. Mirrors North Korea absolute leadership style - using
violent methods like public executions to ensure control. Other 21st
century far right populists using violence for control include the former
Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte who during his war on drugs has
been accused of being responsible of multiple killings.
AO5: In Orwell’s essay the ‘Prevention of Literature’ where he notes the
truth is often deceptive in totalitarian regimes and argues that
“organised lying” is “integral to totalitarianism” – this could mirror the
depiction of Doublethink the process of accepting two contradictory
beliefs.
AO1: Winston’s eventual acceptance of Doublethink and the “organised”
lies of Party like the constantly shifting enemies that “Oceania had
always been at war with Eastasia” and “2+2=5” signifies how violence
and suffering induces complete surrender to the regime.
, AO1: John rejects the “false lying happiness” of the World State, and the
Soma use which Coughlin argues is the “perfect form of mind control”.
John views it as “poison”.
AO3: Mirrors Huxley’s fears of widespread drug use in the 1930s using
Morphine and opioids for pain relief in medicine – leading to over-
reliance on these drugs sedating masses of people. This may remind
readers of the Oxycontin epidemic: a drug claiming to be non-addictive
and led to widespread opioid addiction – mirroring the manufactured
dependency on Soma in BNW.
AO1: John’s acts of self-inflicting pain by “voluntary crucifixion” is a
rejection of the sedative nature of Soma. The other World State members
treat this performance as a “stunt” and “performance”, rather than a
spiritual ritual. This lack of understanding of his physical suffering leads
to his eventual suicide at the end of the novel: with his feet dangling
“like two unhurried needles”.
AO4: Both texts demonstrate physical suffering to highlight the strength
of totalitarian regimes. Ultimately, in BNW John’s self-inflicted pain
doesn’t cause meaningful rebellion. Similarly, in ‘1984’ O’brien’s
torturous methods meant he “loved Big Brother” at the end of the novel.
P3 However, in dystopias in BNW and THT writers demonstrate alternative
forces for control. For example in BNW physical pain is largely
eliminated and replaced by sensory distraction. By comparison, arguably
in THT less violent methods like conditioning are central for control and
legitimise the use of violence against the Handmaids.
AO1&AO5: For example, in BNW control is exerted through sensory
distraction like the Feelies (an immersive 3D sensory form of cinema)
which as Posner notes induces “complete political passivity”. The feelies
have “tactual effects” and the images that are more “solid-looking” than
in real life and have an “extremely simple” plot. The use of sensory
distraction rather than suffering leads the World State citizens to believe
that they “love their servitude”.
AO3: This reflects an exaggeration of Huxley’s fear of the rise of ‘mass-
culture’ with the first ‘talkie’ film being introduced in 1927 which he
believed would cause society to become passive and lead to less
engagement with intellectual forms of media like high art or literature.
This could reflect modern fears of passive consumption of short form
simple media like social media -mirroring the Feelies, encouraging
society to not engage in intellectual forms. This highlights that sensory
distraction is a more prevalent form of control today rather than
violence.
THEME: HUMAN EXPERIENCE – FEAR, SUFFERING, FREEDOM.
‘Violence and physical suffering are central to many dystopian novels.’
P1 Both writers Orwell and Atwood present violence and physical suffering
as central mechanisms to control: Orwell presents it as a desensitisation
tool, enabling The Party to gain greater power. Atwood presents it as a
method of fear to ensure submission.
AO1: Orwell utilises violence as a desensitisation tool. Hangings become
a public spectacle, with figures like Syme within ‘The Party’ enjoying a
‘good hanging’ taking joy in the ‘kicking’ legs of the victim. Their
enjoyment of hangings reflects a society desensitised by perpetual war.
AO3 & AO5: In Orwell’s essay ‘You and the Atom bomb’ written shortly
after the bombings of Hiroshima, Japan – a time when the world was
first confronting the destructive potential of nuclear weapons. He argues
that it will create a stable yet oppressive ‘peace that is no peace’, as the
expense of these violent weaponry means that only a few superpowers
can possess it. This mirrors the description the three super states in 1984
(Eurasia, Eastasia and Oceania) to maintain a permanent, low-level war
to keep their populations enslaved.
AO1: Orwell’s essay suggests that when war is continuous, it creates a
background of violence that citizens ignore, reflected in the Party’s
slogan ‘WAR IS PEACE’. This suggests how the desensitisation of
physical suffering through war enables The Party to accumulate greater
power.
AO3: This may remind readers of continued modern-day conflicts such
as Russia and Ukraine who may recognise how such exposure can lead
to desensitisation, making violence and suffering appear normal –
mirroring a ‘peace that is no peace’. Israel/Gaza and social media-tisation
of war. “Since October 2023 and Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza strip,
brutal images documenting the violence of war have become
commonplace, and many have become desensitised to such images”.
AO4: However, whilst Orwell explores how the desensitisation of
violence leads to greater control of ‘The Party’ over its members. Atwood
explores how violence is a tool to create a culture of fear to enforce
greater conformity.
AO3: Atwood was inspired by the Puritan New England theocratic
regime that mirrored Gilead’s: a Utopian society where the religion
shaped the law and their use of public punishments mirroring the
, ‘Salvagings’.
AO1: The Wall displays bodies of ‘doctors’ with a drawing of a ‘human
foetus’ (people who had given abortions) and ‘Gender Traitors’
(homosexuals). ‘The Wall’ serves as a reminder to the collective that
deviation from the states Godly law results in physical annihilation.
Particicution would be good to reference here.
AO3: When Atwood was writing, it saw a rise of right-wing
fundamentalist religious figures such as Jerry Falwell the founder of the
Moral Majority. He promoted staunchly anti-abortion policies and was
against homosexual relationships. By presenting how theocratic regimes
promote physical suffering against these groups of people, it warns the
readers of the dangerous effects of right-wing fundamentalist policies.
Army of God Christian terrorist organisation known for anti-abortion
violence (originated in the early 80s just before Atwood wrote the novel)
P2 AO4: Both Orwell and Huxley explore suffering, but with different
purposes: in ‘1984’ it highlights how violence as punishment totally
inhibits resistance, whilst BNW highlights how physical suffering is an
act of resistance against the ‘World State’.
AO1: Orwell present’s Winston’s physical suffering at the end of the
novel in Room 101 reveals how violence makes rebellion futile. O’brien
manipulates Winston’s fear of rats to ‘leap on to [his] face and bore
straight into it’, with the ultimate aim for Winston to surrender his “own
free will”.
AO3: This mirrors Stalin’s ‘Great Purge’ during the 1930s involving
torturous methods using false evidence and confessions to eliminate
political enemies. Mirrors North Korea absolute leadership style - using
violent methods like public executions to ensure control. Other 21st
century far right populists using violence for control include the former
Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte who during his war on drugs has
been accused of being responsible of multiple killings.
AO5: In Orwell’s essay the ‘Prevention of Literature’ where he notes the
truth is often deceptive in totalitarian regimes and argues that
“organised lying” is “integral to totalitarianism” – this could mirror the
depiction of Doublethink the process of accepting two contradictory
beliefs.
AO1: Winston’s eventual acceptance of Doublethink and the “organised”
lies of Party like the constantly shifting enemies that “Oceania had
always been at war with Eastasia” and “2+2=5” signifies how violence
and suffering induces complete surrender to the regime.
, AO1: John rejects the “false lying happiness” of the World State, and the
Soma use which Coughlin argues is the “perfect form of mind control”.
John views it as “poison”.
AO3: Mirrors Huxley’s fears of widespread drug use in the 1930s using
Morphine and opioids for pain relief in medicine – leading to over-
reliance on these drugs sedating masses of people. This may remind
readers of the Oxycontin epidemic: a drug claiming to be non-addictive
and led to widespread opioid addiction – mirroring the manufactured
dependency on Soma in BNW.
AO1: John’s acts of self-inflicting pain by “voluntary crucifixion” is a
rejection of the sedative nature of Soma. The other World State members
treat this performance as a “stunt” and “performance”, rather than a
spiritual ritual. This lack of understanding of his physical suffering leads
to his eventual suicide at the end of the novel: with his feet dangling
“like two unhurried needles”.
AO4: Both texts demonstrate physical suffering to highlight the strength
of totalitarian regimes. Ultimately, in BNW John’s self-inflicted pain
doesn’t cause meaningful rebellion. Similarly, in ‘1984’ O’brien’s
torturous methods meant he “loved Big Brother” at the end of the novel.
P3 However, in dystopias in BNW and THT writers demonstrate alternative
forces for control. For example in BNW physical pain is largely
eliminated and replaced by sensory distraction. By comparison, arguably
in THT less violent methods like conditioning are central for control and
legitimise the use of violence against the Handmaids.
AO1&AO5: For example, in BNW control is exerted through sensory
distraction like the Feelies (an immersive 3D sensory form of cinema)
which as Posner notes induces “complete political passivity”. The feelies
have “tactual effects” and the images that are more “solid-looking” than
in real life and have an “extremely simple” plot. The use of sensory
distraction rather than suffering leads the World State citizens to believe
that they “love their servitude”.
AO3: This reflects an exaggeration of Huxley’s fear of the rise of ‘mass-
culture’ with the first ‘talkie’ film being introduced in 1927 which he
believed would cause society to become passive and lead to less
engagement with intellectual forms of media like high art or literature.
This could reflect modern fears of passive consumption of short form
simple media like social media -mirroring the Feelies, encouraging
society to not engage in intellectual forms. This highlights that sensory
distraction is a more prevalent form of control today rather than
violence.
