The Once And Future King Literary Analysis

‘Everything not forbidden is compulsory’ as wrote by the 20th-century writer, T.H. White in his Arthurian novel, The Once and Future King, displaying the authoritative rule of many totalitarian governments. Totalitarianism has been a central theme in many notable dystopian novels such as Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale, Ray Bradbury’s, Fahrenheit 451, and John Wyndham’s, The Chrysalids. Perhaps the reason why totalitarianism is featured heavily throughout literature is perhaps because these novels are acting as a warning to mankind and - in a world rife with political change - we would do well to heed their advice. Possibly the most powerful warnings ever issued about the danger of totalitarian governments can be found in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four where the protagonist – Winston – despises the forced oppression of the Party on the otherwise oblivious citizens of Oceania, yet, by the climax of the novel Winston is punished for his disloyalty to Big Brother and is obliged to become the epitome of ignorance which he so strongly detested at the beginning of the
Similarly, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World illustrates the peril of an all-powerful state in harsh reality, demonstrating the dangers of such a governance on the human psyche through the protagonists’ decline in mental health, which ultimately results in his eventual