Year 8 English
Year 8 students have been studying the dystopian genre this term. Here are some student articles on their favourite dystopian text of the unit so far.
Ms Smith
Kitty: My favourite dystopian extract was of ‘1984’ by George Orwell. The extract describes a society built on hate and control. 
The book is told in third person from the perspective of the protagonist Winston Smith. Already in the first sentence, the clocks are described as ‘striking thirteen.’ This is strange as analogue clocks only go up to twelve. This is the first instance of numbers being manipulated by the state, a recurring theme throughout the book that ties in closely to the idea that in this dystopian future, people instantly believe anything the state says, including impossible statements (2+2=5) because of propaganda and a threat of punishment. The first thing that Winston does is enter his apartment complex, Victorymansions. His chin ‘nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind’, he enters his building, ‘though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust to enter along with him’. The use of words and phrases such as ‘escape’ and ‘not quickly enough’ are reflected late in the book with Winston’s attempts to rebel from the cruel system and ultimately fail.
The Two Minute Hate is definitely one of the most disturbing features of the book. For two minutes each day, every member of this society is forced to sit in front of a screen and partake in a hateful frenzy as the face of a man titled ‘the enemy of the people’ appears and speaks on the screen. Even the most mild-mannered of people, such as Winston, seem to enter an animalistic rage at the sight of his face. I think that Orwell was probably influenced by the state of the world at that time, the Second World War having just ended, and people looking for a person, or a group of people, to blame. His vision of people directing their hate and fury at one man, possibly to draw attention away from the state, would have seemed realistic at the time.
Kaila: The Parable of the Sower is set in the year 2024 where climate change plays a large role. The main character in this dystopia has a condition called hyperempathy 
syndrome which allows her to feel others’ pain really strongly. The narrator talks with her stepmother and finds out there used to be street lights but they were taken away as they produced light pollution. I liked the way Butler set this out as the world currently isn’t that far away from reaching this point. Another key feature I enjoyed was the fact Butler shows the inequality in our world and the dehumanisation homeless people are faced with today. Inequality is hown by the fact a large wall devices the wealthy and the poor. I also find it extremely unfair that some people have enormous houses and amazing facilities, whilst others struggle to put food on the table each day which is a common problem across the world today.
Butler also conveys a true sense of hierarchy and dehumanisation as the narrator and their after compare the homeless people to ‘maggots’ which are filthy creatures that can’t survive without other peoples’ waste. This implies how poorly wealthy people think of the poor and how hierarchy plays a huge role in this dystopian text. Unfortunately, today is quite similar as lots of stereotypes about homeless people really change people’ views on them and spread lots of false information about homeless people. I feel Butler has done a brilliant job correlating this world to her dystopian using real world problems.
Amelie: Set in a dystopian future, Fahrenheit 451 revolves around the protagonist 
Guy Montag. Unlike in today’s world, Montag is a firefighter that burns books for the government. This is a very well written book, with all the metaphors and descriptions really bringing an overwhelming sense of oppression. The opening line of the book ‘It was a pleasure to burn’ immediately strikes you as disturbing. The sadistic nature of the phrase ‘pleasure to burn’ comes across as quite hellish and quite evil, as if Montag gains some sort of power from burning. I enjoy this line as it brings in a huge contrast later on, when Montag begins to question the government’s actions and starts to rebel against them. I believe this contrast works well, as it begins to show Montag’s disillusionment towards his world and how an overload of censorship can become fatal.
