LITR 4632: Literature of the Future

Sample Student final exams 2007

Cheryl Voskamp

One Person’s Utopia is Another’s Dystopia

            Everyone strives toward a personal utopia, though I did not realize the extremity of such until taking this class.  It never dawned on me to consider gated communities, homeowners associations, and/or isolated neighborhoods as indicators of utopian living; now I know I am just as guilty as the next person of positioning myself in my own slice of paradise, such as it is, in the form of a gated apartment community.  I moved here for the assurance of quality maintenance and sturdy architecture, but I have to wonder, after this class, if there was not more to my decision.  This led to considering all we have discussed concerning utopias, dystopias, and ecotopias, how this applies to the rest of my thinking, and how my utopian visions match up to those of others.  It is evident humans yearn for the ultimate utopia, as we attempt to eradicate disease, prolong death, and create safe living environments through work today and visions of the future, but how much will be sacrificed for our dreams to become reality?  Just as yin and yang must coexist in harmony for peace to be achieved, utopia cannot exist without dystopia, and I find it is imperative to include this concept in my future classroom to warn my students of the dire consequences that can arise when the vagaries of human nature, basic emotional needs, and cultural standards are not considered in the quest to create a global utopia. 

            From birth, every human struggles to create a paradise for his/herself, starting with a yearning for the safe enclosure of the mother’s arms and leading to creating a safe home for his/her children later on.  This quest for safety may be individually or globally driven, depending on the person, and is evident in our class readings as an intrinsic and inescapable human motive.  In “The Onion and I,” a cyber world is created that gifts people with personal bodily safety, an end to pollution, and unlimited resources that are rapidly diminishing in the “real world.”  Similarly, the people in “Drapes and Folds” and “Newton’s Sleep” are safe from disease, aging, and/or criminal activity, and the natural depletion of earthly resources is reversed as people no longer have a need for them.  Even in “Speech Sounds,” Rye prepares to create her own utopia with Obsidian “with what she had scavenged, what she had preserved, and what she grew” only moments after she considered him a possible threat to her survival when she realizes he is the answer to easing her loneliness.  Even Lauren and her group in Parable of the Sower strive for such despite the very real concern that any children they may have could suffer regardless of their intentions to recreate a peaceful world.  No matter what the situation, humans are going to try to create an optimal living situation for themselves and possibly others.  As a future instructor, I want what is best for my students, so these texts will definitely make their way into my classroom instruction to explore the necessity of recreating Eden and how such creation is inherent in human nature. 

            Unfortunately, with utopia comes dystopia, as you may not have one without the other.  What one person believes to be imperative to existence may be considered otherwise by the next person.  Mine and my father’s views are a perfect example.  He lives a minimalist lifestyle and believes happiness is not found in a new, trustworthy car or an air conditioned home whereas I am much more inclined to such things.  When, at one time, his vision of utopia was forced upon me, I was miserable, and he is ill at ease when visiting me.  Though we care for each other and want each other to be happy, we will never find a compromise that would make living in the same home acceptable.  Because of situations similar to this, any utopia crafted on a grand scale must sacrifice basic human emotional needs to function.  We lose sight of the necessity of accommodating the senses, as in “Onion,” when the boy panics at the idea that he is not real and must smell the pungent reek of pickled onion to realize his true existence.  Similarly, Pryer in “The Logical Legend of Heliopause and Cyberfiddle” finds peace in the “living wooden voice” of the violin he creates by hand to escape the hell of his purely virtual utopia, and Pearl finds solace in the soft swish and stroke of an elegant cloth against her body in “Drapes.” 

            So much emphasis is put on utopian living that we lose sight of these needs; we consider them inconsequential to basic survival, therefore they are not necessary to existence.  As a future educator, it is crucial to emphasize these seemingly small wonders that help us retain our humanity.  In “Cyberfiddle,” “Pryer imagines he has a soul” when he creates real music with the violin.  Human reality is that we must have these moments to verify our true existence, and future generations must be taught to keep this in mind as they work to craft a better world.  Though eradication of disease, criminal behavior, and inadequate living situations are ideal, we cannot allow such to be realized without accommodating the basic tenets of humanity.  As Lori Nolen stated in her 2005 final exam, “we have our own genetic code which contributes to our human personality.    We have inherent qualities that repeat themselves through time.  Some of these characteristics are good while others lead to our own demise.  If we do not learn to temper some of these qualities, as well as enhancing or suppressing some of them, we will doom ourselves.”  When the basics of humanity are sacrificed, we create our own dystopias, and students must be reminded of this. 

            Despite our best intentions, what we may think we are doing to help human growth and development very well may be hindering our quality of life rather than helping.  In “Chocco,” the storytellers discuss the end of civilization as we know it today because the mechanization and virtualization of society caused mass death.  Situations like cyberlife in “Onion” and the disposal of individuality in “Johnny Mnemonic” create lethargy and depression; therefore the human race will cause its own extinction.  Just as the family in “Onion” has to have the small patch of growth to visit in front of their bungalow to keep the father and son sane, we must impart a sense of worth to the tie we have to the natural world and our basic emotional needs.  In my future classroom, these narratives will be used to show the possibilities inherent in the exploration of ideas, the consequences of ignoring the communal good, and the necessity of tempering our intentions with an awareness of human need.  Dana Stephens’ future vision presentation this semester shows this implicitly when even clones, whom we consider soulless, desire more than compartmentalized living. 

            It is obvious that our integral human desire toward utopian living will never be completely satisfied without sacrifice, but we must condition future generations to consider basic human motivators as they work to craft a better world.  Utopia cannot exist without dystopia since no one person’s future vision aligns exactly with the next person’s.  Many will parallel and may complement each other, so it is imperative we find a compromise if such a lifestyle becomes the norm for our global community.