Utopias, Dystopias, and Somewheres In Between: Utopia, The Blazing World, We, The Hunger Games, Divergent, and More

 

I've been reading more dystopian stuff than usual lately, not just in the news, but because I'm currently teaching a class on Utopias and Dystopias. I'm also teaching my Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy class, and depending on who you ask, Plato's Republic is a utopia, dystopia, or both.

What's the point of utopias and dystopias? Utopias seem, well, utopian and unobtainable. And boring, but I think the "boring" label is more a result of lack of imagination than anything inherent to utopias. I think we'd still have plenty to keep us busy if everyone's basic needs were met--we could finally go about figuring out what this whole human experience is supposed to be. But I digress.

Dystopias are either never going to happen, or depending on where and when you look, have been or are already happening. Especially as I write this on Indigenous Peoples Day, I'm reminded of a comment from Indigenous creator Dale Deforest at a panel at Worldcon in August that a lot of Native Americans have been living in various states of dystopia for hundreds of years and still today (I'm hoping for a swift and effective response to a typhoon in Alaska that has affected mostly Indigenous people).

But I think the "could it happen?" question is the wrong question, or at least not the most interesting question to ask. (Not that this stopped me from asking this last week when I showed my students an episode of The Handmaid's Tale). Sure, dystopias might remind us that things could get worse, and utopias might remind us that we could do better, but I think they do something even deeper.

As Mary Midgley said in her essay "Practical Utopianism," utopias and dystopias show us possibilities, often quite exaggerated, of where we could go, roadmaps of roads we may never travel, all to change our sense of the terrain. And I'd like to think this type of story can also expand our sense of possibility as what Ursula Le Guin called "realists of a larger reality."

Exploring the terrain of dystopias and utopias helps us to explore what we think about ourselves, our societies, and more, to find the many utopias, dystopias, and somewheres in between.

Toward that end, here are my reviews of some of the terrain of utopias and dystopias that I've been exploring lately: Utopia by Thomas More, The Blazing World by Margaret Cavendish, We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, The Hunger Games by Susanne Collins, Divergent by Veronica Roth, and Authority by Jeff VanderMeer.

If you are ever stuck in a dystopia or an ambiguous utopia, dear reader, may the odds be ever in your favor!

Utopia by Thomas More

Thomas More may not have invented utopian thinking, but he invented the word "utopia" (which is a pun that can mean either "the good place" or "no place" in Greek). I figured I should read this for some historical background, and here's what I thought in my Goodreads review.

Much funnier and sarcastic than I expected. Aside from the slavery, strict marriage laws, and a few other weird bits (like their distain for one of their neighboring countries), Utopia actually sounds pretty nice. And if you're unsure whether Star Trek is utopian, consider that both the Federation and Utopia have no money!

The Blazing World by Margaret Cavendish

This one has been on my to-read list for several years: a 17th-century utopian exercise that might be an early form of science fiction (or at least proto-science fiction) by one of the most interesting people in 17th century England! Here's my Goodreads review, but I also recommend this short video with drawings by my late colleague Helen De Cruz.

A weird, wild, wide-ranging ride through several worlds, including the Blazing World of the title, written by a 17th century woman who could be described at the very least as eccentric. She must've been fun at parties. Also, there's plenty of philosophy (and philosophical satire of people Cavendish had met in person like Descartes, Hobbes, and Gassendi) and some feminist (or at least proto-feminist) elements. I particularly enjoyed the intriguing thoughts on the creative process and the fun and value of utopian (and dystopian) imaginary worlds.

 We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

If I were teaching a literature course on the history of utopias and dystopias, We would definitely be on my syllabus for reasons I get into in my Goodreads review.

I first heard of this book in a science fiction class over 20 years ago, and it's been on my list ever since. I finally got around to reading it!

Not only is it indispensable for anyone trying to understand 20th century dystopian fiction (many plot elements of later works like 1984, Brave New World, A Handmaid's Tale, The Hunger Games, etc. are already here), but it's an interesting book in itself with interesting ideas. The One State thinking it has all the answers would be like a mathematician thinking there's a highest number. In both cases, the nature of reality just does not fit the official party line, and never will. Reality is always too big for human-made prisons like that. And there's something liberatory about that even when liberation itself seems far away.

The Hunger Games by Susanne Collins

Even though I had my students watch the movie rather than read the book this semester, I figured I should probably finally read the book. And I did! Here's what I said about it on Goodreads.

I've been a fan of the movies since they came out. I've also been telling myself I should read the books all along. And now I finally have!

I thought the first-person, present tense narration would bother me, but I got used to it quickly and was drawn into Katniss's point of view and the world of Panem. The first movie is a strikingly faithful adaption of the plot of the first novel. If you've seen the movie, the plot of the book is essentially the same (the book is a bit more brutal than the film's PG-13 rating would have allowed).

One big difference is that you get Katniss's internal monologue. She does not trust Peeta at first much more than the movie lets on. She's also, if anything, even more no-nonsense in the novel than in the films, which is probably the result of her struggle for survival. Her struggles with hunger scar her personality in deeper ways than the movies tend to let on. On the other hand, I think Jennifer Laurence brought a lot more warmth and personality to the character than she has in the book (so far... we'll see how her character develops in the sequels).

All in all: It's easy to be curmudgeonly about a mega-popular series like The Hunger Games, but having read this, I totally get it. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

The first time I saw the movie version of Divergent I couldn't help but think of Plato's Republic ... all those factions and noble lies and whatnot. I've probably mentioned Divergent every time I've taught the Republic ever since, so I figured I should read this one, too, and here's what I wrote on Goodreads.

I love the world building, especially the idea of the factions. It's cool how Tris's story fits into the factions (or, rather, how she doesn't fit in). I admit I found the few hundred pages of Tris's trials and tribulations in the Dauntless faction to be a bit repetitive, but the plot picks up toward the end and makes me interested to continue reading the series. And of course you have typical YA fare of an awkward teen romance and the pain of fitting into the world, which is nicely dramatized through the concept of the factions. 

I also appreciate the interviews, quizzes, and faction manifestos at the end of the book, which is just the kind of supplemental material I love (even if it's not quite as complete as the ultimate nerdery of the glossary at the end of Dune or the appendices at the end of The Lord of the Rings). 

Like any good utopia or dystopia, this one also encourages deep thoughts about what kind of society we should be striving for here in our reality. It also really reminds me of Plato's Republic in that way (a thought I had the first time I saw the movie in 2014!). At the end of the day, I still think The Hunger Games was the best of the 2010's YA dystopia craze, but I enjoyed this world enough to try to figure out what faction I would choose: I'm still not sure whether it's Abnegation or Erudite... oh, no, maybe I'm Divergent!

Authority by Jeff VanderMeer

Is Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach series a dystopia? Maybe? I don't know. These books are a kind of weird science fiction and/or cosmic horror, but mostly they're just hard to characterize. One thing I can say: I did read the second book recently, so here's the inscrutable evidence I left on Goodreads.

This sequel didn't grab me like the first one did, but neither did I find it to be a totally different experience as everyone else seems to say. Rather, to me it melded the atmospheric weirdness of the first one with more concrete details of a traditional book, but in a mixture that leaves both sides wanting: too much detail to be atmospheric, too atmospheric to get a firm handle on the details. I may change my tune after I think about it a bit more...