Lesson 24
You may have noticed that lately there have been a lot of books and movies that answer the question, "What would happen if the government gained too much power ?"
For this lesson you are going to analyze 5 movies and books that explore this topic. You've already learned about how the Founding Fathers were afraid of having too much power. You've also looked a little bit at what has happened in other countries when a person gains too much power. Today you're going to look at what authors think will happen if a government gains too much power. Basically where the government tries to create a Utopia, but it ends up being a 'Dystopia'.
For this lesson you are going to analyze 5 movies and books that explore this topic. You've already learned about how the Founding Fathers were afraid of having too much power. You've also looked a little bit at what has happened in other countries when a person gains too much power. Today you're going to look at what authors think will happen if a government gains too much power. Basically where the government tries to create a Utopia, but it ends up being a 'Dystopia'.
1984
The first source you're going to analyze is a book called '1984' written by George Orwell. I'm not going to make you read the book, though you probably should. The book was actually written in the year 1949 about the future. George Orwell was imagining what the world would be like 35 years in the future.
Here's what the book is about: The main character is a man named Winston Smith who lives in a society where there is one political party. This political party is simply named 'The Party' or 'Big Brother'. Winston's job is to go through historical documents and change them so they fit with the ideals of 'The Party'. 'The Party' has placed telescreens in every home in their society. These telescreens transmit party messages and they can also see into your home. Everyone in the society is constantly under observation. The main character Winston, hates the party and the party spies on him and figures out that he secretly hates the party. 'The Party' tortures people to 're-educate them' and make them loyal to 'The Party'. You may have heard the saying "Big Brother is watching", it comes from this book. A movie was made of the book, watch this clip that gives a 3 minute summary:
FAHRENHEIT 451
This book was published in 1953 by Ray Bradbury. In this book, books are illegal. The reason the government burns books in this book is to control the information people have access to. This novel is also set in the future. The government doesn't just control books, but they do other things to control their people. There was also a movie made for this book, watch the trailer to learn more about it:
Hitler also had his Nazis burn books when he was in power, in an attempt to have more control over what people were learning.
But the book is also bringing attention to what was happening in America in the 50's. People were extremely afraid of Communism, and so the 'Red Scare' happened. The 'Red Scare' was when Senator Joseph McCarthy started accusing Americans of being Communists, even when he had no proof. These people weren't killed but they were put on trial. So although American government is set up to prevent one person from gaining too much power- a Senator from Wisconsin was able to 'rule by fear'. People didn't want to oppose him, because they were afraid of being accused of being a Communist.
The giver
'The Giver' is another book where the government controls its people. This was written in 1993 by Lois Lowry. In this book though the government can't control thoughts, they do have their citizens take an injection every morning that suppresses their emotions. This book is interesting because the government controls everyone's knowledge, but they still feel it is important to have one person that has all the memories and stories of history. The movie came out last year, watch the trailer:
Divergent
This book was published in 2011 and is about the government sorting people by their personalities. It's a little more complex than that, but for the rest of the information I'm going to have you watch the movie trailer:
The Hunger Games
This book was published in 2008, again about government control. This book is a little different from the others in that most of the society is oppressed, while the elite few have all the benefits. You may have already read this book or seen the movie, but watch the trailer anyway:
Assignment 24
Now that you've read and watched a little bit about each of these 5 books/movies I want you to answer the seven questions below and then submit your answers in the submission box.
1. The book 1984 was written four years after World War II ended. George Orwell was criticizing Hitler and the Nazis. From what you know about the Nazis, how does the book 1984 reflect what really happened in Germany during World War II ? ... if you don't know much about Nazi Germany then you're going to have to do some research...
2. The book 'Fahrenheit 451' was also written just a few years after World War II. Do you think that the war affected the way people thought about government control and dystopias ? How ?
3. What would some of the consequences be if our society didn't have any books like in Fahrenheit 451 ? Name at least 7 consequences that you can think of
4. What are the differences between the five books/movies we talked about ?
5. What are the similarities between the five books/movies ?
6. Why do you think these movies and books are popular ?
7. Do you think that government control to that extent is plausible or realistic ? Why or why not ?
2. The book 'Fahrenheit 451' was also written just a few years after World War II. Do you think that the war affected the way people thought about government control and dystopias ? How ?
3. What would some of the consequences be if our society didn't have any books like in Fahrenheit 451 ? Name at least 7 consequences that you can think of
4. What are the differences between the five books/movies we talked about ?
5. What are the similarities between the five books/movies ?
6. Why do you think these movies and books are popular ?
7. Do you think that government control to that extent is plausible or realistic ? Why or why not ?