England was once one of the most powerful empires on the planet with colonies all over the globe.
Now, with its cities burning in response to racial and class repression faced by some of the grandchildren of the formerly colonized, we thought we’d look at the dystopian literature that put the UK on the map as ‘Paranoid Island Number 1.’
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Books like George Orwell’s 1984, William Golding’s Lord of The Flies and Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange all come to mind.
Why did England produce these novels about youth and society in revolt? Were its authors prescient? Was it something in the water?
Whatever the case may be, it seems odd that these books talk about a future where people are being watched, profiled, hunted and controlled.
GlobalGrind can’t believe these tomes would be left out of the conversation as the UK faces an uncertain future with its policed young. Crazy, huh?
After the break, more English dystopian futures!
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What: 1984 by George Orwell
Published: 1948
Synopsis: In the future Britain is ruled by an oligarchical dictatorship, war is constant and everyone is watched and recorded. Plus there’s all sorts of mind control.
Big Brother, doublethink, thoughtcrime, Newspeak and memory hole, all came from this book. The adjective Orwellian, which refers to lies, surveillance and manipulation of the past in the service of a totalitarian agenda, came from the publication of this book.
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What: Lord of The Flies by William Golding
Published: 1954
Synopsis: A group of British school boys crash on an island and when they try to govern themselves, disaster strikes. The story takes place after and/or during a nuclear war and explores dueling themes of savagery and sophistication.
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What: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Published: 1932
Synopsis: Huxley described his fifth novel as a negative utopia, published in response to H.G.Well’s utopian novel Men Like Gods. When the novel opens up in London 632 (AD 2540) the world is permanently limited to a number of 2 billion people who are divided into castes. Everyone is happy and knows their place. Until something goes horribly wrong.
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What: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Published: 1962
Synopsis: Alex, a 15 year-old boy is the narrator of this novel set in near future England. Gangs roam the street, milk is laced with drugs and the language used is a mixture of Russian and Cockney English. Alex leads a small gang of teenage criminals — Dim, Pete and Georgie — through the streets, robbing and beating men and raping women. That is until he gets caught and is “rehabilitated” during a painful procedure.
