-By Nirali dabhi
Dystopia Vs
Utopia

Introduction
Name: Nirali Dabhi
Roll number: 13
Enrollment Number: 4069206420220006
Sem: 2 M.A
Paper number: 107
Paper Name: The Twentieth Century Literature: From
World War II to the End of the Century
Topic: Dystopia vs Utopia
Submitted to: Smt S.B. Gardi, Department of English,
M.K.B.U
Email: niralidabhi95@gmail.com

01
Introduction of
Dystopia and Utopia
TABLE OF CONTENTS
02 Characteristics of
Dystopia
03 Differences of
Dystopia and Utopia
Real-world
Examples of
Dystopia and Utopia
04 Characteristics of
Utopia
05

Introduction of Dystopia and Utopia
Utopia is the ideal state of
society, where no distress
prevails. Society there is full of
prospects and opportunities,
and no one is unhappy or
hopeless there. Utopian
society possesses almost
perfect qualities for its
citizens.
Money is abolished, and
citizens do the work they
enjoy.
(Smith)
Dystopia is the opposite of
Utopia, where everything is
chaotic and disordered,
nothing is good there, and it is
not desirable at all. Dystopia
shows the declination of
society. Dystopian society is
dehumanized, filled with
tyrannical governments, and
faces environmental
disasters.(Smith)

Characteristics of Dystopia
● A dystopia is an imagined community or society that is
dehumanizing and frightening. A dystopia is an antonym of
a utopia, which is a perfect society.(Anderson)
Characteristics
1. Government control: Government plays a significant role
in dystopian literature. Generally, there is either no
government or an oppressive ruling body.
2. Survival: The oppressive powers and destruction in
dystopian worlds often leave the inhabitants to fend for
themselves.
3. Technological control: Advanced science and technology
in dystopian works go beyond tools for improving everyday
life—technology is often depicted as a controlling,
omnipresent force and is often a fear-mongering
tactic.(Anderson)

● Novel by Aldous
Huxley - 1932
● Movie - 1998
● Explores the danger
of technology.
Brave New
World
1984
● Novel by George
Orwell
● The world is under
complete government
control.
● Novel by Suzanne Collins
● Also a film series
● The fictional world of
Panem, a future nation
on the ruins of North
America. Panem’s
totalitarian government.
The Hunger
Games
Examples of Dystopia

Characteristics of Utopia
● The term “utopia” was coined by Sir Thomas More in his 1516
book Utopia, which was about an ideal society on a fictional
island.(Anderson)
Characteristics
● Ecological utopia stories present worlds where climate and
natural resources no longer face the dire crises they do today.
● Feminist utopias offer worlds where women and men are fully
equal.
● Technological utopias depict advancements in computing,
robotics, and transportation that are mere dreams in the
present world. (Brown)

● Novel by
Thomas More
Utopia
The Giver
● Novel by Lois Lowry
● The Giver is
American utopian
science fiction
movie, directed by
Phillip Noyce.
● Novel By H. G.
Wells
Men Like God
Examples of Utopia

● Utopia is an imaginary society
that is in perfect order.
● Utopia is guided by
communism.
● Citizens are free from fear.
● Utopia is a disciplined society. It
symbolizes paradise.
● Utopia is a systematic society. It
is not controlled by constructed
government systems.
● In a Utopia, citizens preserve
nature.(Smith)
● Utopian fiction is set in a perfect
world—an improved version of
real life. (Brown)
Dystopia
● Dystopia is a society that is
disoriented and chaotic.
● Dystopia is under the control of a
tyrannical government that keeps the
citizens under constant surveillance.
● Citizens are frightened, and the
situation is dreadful and horrible.
● Dystopia lacks discipline completely.
It symbolizes hell.
● Dystopia is governed by a tyrannical
government.
● Dystopia, nature is destroyed.(Smith)
● A dystopian novel drops its main
character into a world where
everything seems to have gone wrong
at a macro level. (Brown)
Utopia
Differences

Differences…
● Both utopianism and dystopianism blur
the boundary between fiction,
philosophy, and political science.
(Brown)
● Utopia and dystopia are two opposite
concepts that are used to describe
different types of societies.
● Utopia refers to an ideal society while
dystopia refers to an imaginary place
where life is extremely bad.
● Utopian societies have been proposed as
a way to solve the problems of real-
world societies while dystopian societies
are often used in fiction as a warning
about the dangers of unchecked
technology or government power.

Real-world Examples of Dystopia and Utopia
Dystopian Societies:
● North Korea
● Saudi Arabia
● China
Utopian Societies:
● Bhutan
● Denmark

Work Cited
● Anderson, MT. “What Is Dystopian Fiction? 20 Examples of Dystopian
Fiction - 2023.” MasterClass, 21 September 2022,
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-dystopian-fiction-learn-
about-the-5-characteristics-of-dystopian-fiction-with-examples. Accessed
11 March 2023.
● Brown, Dan. “What Is Utopian Literature? Examples of Utopia Fiction -
2023.” MasterClass, 29 September 2021,
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-utopian-literature. Accessed
11 March 2023.
● Smith, Emma. “Difference Between Utopia and Dystopia.”
AskAnyDifference.com, 24 February 2023,
https://askanydifference.com/difference-between-utopia-and-dystopia/.
Accessed 8 March 2023.