Russ Lanier

Is There Truth in Utopian Fiction?  A question from the eyes of a dreamer

Coming into this class, I had a vague distinction of what a dystopian genre or style consisted of.  At first guess (and if questioned under a hot lamp), I would have described dystopian literature as more science fiction that paints futuristic worlds with  apocalyptic narratives that involve conflicts such as man versus machine…much like scenes out of the movie Escape from New York(1981).   Like movies, literature can not only entertain but also can have tremendous impact on the individual and their psyche when it comes to painting the world that’s around them.   One of the most influential novelists of the twentieth century, Ayn Rand (1905-1982), was one of those authors.  With her theory that blurred the lines between fiction and reality, Rand stood for the individual over the collective and that according to her foundation’s mission statement was “to exist is to be something, to possess a specific identity……and…that reality is not to be rewritten or escaped, but, solemnly and proudly, faced.”

Ok so I admit it.  I’m sentimental.  Maybe it’s fatherhood or middle age or some of both, but the callousness that supposedly comes with age has not sunk in yet and, while as naïve as it may sound, I believe in being “just.”  Having children makes you that way, I suppose. So at the start of my undergrad, I was enamored with The Republic by Plato.  The idea of a society that works together instead of competing while developing foundations of truth, justice and nobility was a beautiful utopian concept and a virtue that I wished would continue.  Interestingly enough, in my research I found that what I like most about this style of literature is that while it (the story) is supposedly fiction, the truth about our degrading circumstances—depicting the downfall of humankind as a species—is all too familiar and presents images that are easily applicable to current events.  In my research I’m compelled to shine some light on many subliminal relationships between the fictional dystopias as portrayed in Ayn Rand’s Anthem (1938) and the 21^st Century.  To consider what dystopian ideals in Sir Thomas More’s Utopia (1516) seem to be recurring themes in the current capitalistic framework of Europe and the United States of America.  And lastly, if the definition for fiction (according to Webster’s dictionary), which defines it as “something that is not true”—why does the utopian/dystopian genres seem to predict future social issues with such historical accuracy? Doesn’t this seem a bit coincidental? 

It’s a fair assumption to claim that the philosophies of Plato or Socrates for that matter would be too far removed from 20th Century rhetoric, but surprisingly enough after two thousand years apart, Rand and Plato’s viewpoints on “ethics” are almost identical, but their views about the individual clash severely.  According to the Lawrence University Students of Objectivism conference the following paper was presented titled, Ayn Rand vs. Plato: Two Philosophies, A World Apart (1997) which highlights the differences between the two intellectuals, namely the idea of existence versus consciousness.  Rand opposed the idea that the quest for knowledge took two paths or “realities”, for in her eyes, “reason is the only means of knowledge, but reason is not detached from the real world. Reason is the faculty that integrates and identifies the materials provided by man’s senses.”  But those principles of epistemology have long been replaced by a more selfish longing for power at the expense of others.   While Plato adopted a more altruistic theory in which “the individual must sacrifice himself for the whole”, Rand opposed this theory by perceiving that “man can achieve happiness by acting in his long-term, rational self-interest, neither sacrificing himself to others, nor sacrificing others to himself”.

The most common theme in dystopian literature is the oppressive state of propaganda and its use to control a popular opinion through controlled media outlets.   In the ongoing battle of autonomy versus the collective, George Orwell published an article titled The Prevention of Literature (1946) whereby he states that “from a totalitarian point of view history is something to be created instead of learned…….and that the enemies of intellectual liberty always try to present their case as a plea for discipline versus individualism and that the issue of truth versus un-truth is as far as possible kept in the background”.   Do fictional narratives play a bigger part in shaping the current reality then we realize and how does the media (i.e. radio, publications and television) convert its subliminal messages into the thought of the populace.  In More’s Utopia, Alan Nagel describes this phenomena in Lies and the Limitable Lane:  Contradiction in More’s Utopis, (1973), as ‘central to art and imitation is this contradiction that occurs in the case of words themselves” (173)

Works Cited

1. Title: Lies and the Limitable Inane: Contradiction in More's Utopia Author(s): Alan F. Nagel Source: Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Summer, 1973), pp. 173-180 Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2858734

2. http://www.aynrand.org/ideas/philosophy

3. Lawrence University: Ayn Rand vs. Plato: Two Philosophies, A World Apart” October 1997. Website https://www2.lawrence.edu/sorg/OBJECTIVISM/oldINDEX.HTML
4. Orwell, George: ‘The Prevention of Literature” First published: Polemic, No. 2 – GB London- 1946 Web http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/prevention/english/e_plit
5.  Rand, Ayn “Anthem” 1938 Millennium Publications, New York Copyright 2014