Human Dystopia Essay
If utopia was conceived as the ‘no place’ capable of marking humanity’s many failures against an unattainable paradise, then the antithetic dystopia was allotted the task of illuminating humanity’s defects by modelling its logical extreme. The Children of Men, by English novelist P.D.James, presents a landscape cursed with the ultimate apocalypse for the human kind: Omega, or gradual extinction by mass infertility. Its landscape compels individuals to interact within a world thronged with faults and challenges, and ultimately speak “not only of human capability, but of human weakness and limitation” (Booker, 1994). Through her dystopia, James demonstrates how a society of “human mules deprived of posterity” would lose itself in collective apathy,
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Despite seismic changes in the nature of humanity, individuals who hold absolute power are nevertheless incapable of resisting its corruption. With the citizens of England in perpetual indifference, Faron’s cousin Xan Lyppiatt rose to power, taking advantage of the fact that “its people are…tired and scared” (Ruby, 2011). Faron likened England to a “ripe plum for (Lyppiatt’s) picking”, a concept not uncommon in history as dictators often seize control during times of turmoil. Intoxicated by power, Lyppiatt embellished his status with the title of ‘Warden’, and gradually secured his position as supreme leader by first establishing the Council as the chief governing body, then instating the Grenadiers as his private militia. His actions correspond with the two structural factors which influence a dictator’s survival: “elite membership in a unifying institution…elite access to troops and weaponry” (Ezrow and Frantz, 2011). The corrupting faculty of power is again proven when Faron murders Lyppiatt and strips the “Coronation Ring, the wedding ring of England” from his cousin’s hand and subsequently slips it onto his own. Despite proclaiming that he would “take it off in time”, it is unlikely that he would be able to defy the intensity of the power which would “gradually extirpate for the mind every humane and gentle virtue” (Burke, 1780). The corrupting ability of power is in this case compounded by a gullible population, again proving that resisting power is extremely arduous under any circumstances.
The Children of Men, by providing an acute portrayal of an absurd landscape haunted by imminent oblivion, highlights the weaknesses of humanity. By depicting the extensive apathy towards virtue, religion as well as a general futility in the face of corrupting power, James indicates that humanity’s defects are many,
Despite seismic changes in the nature of humanity, individuals who hold absolute power are nevertheless incapable of resisting its corruption. With the citizens of England in perpetual indifference, Faron’s cousin Xan Lyppiatt rose to power, taking advantage of the fact that “its people are…tired and scared” (Ruby, 2011). Faron likened England to a “ripe plum for (Lyppiatt’s) picking”, a concept not uncommon in history as dictators often seize control during times of turmoil. Intoxicated by power, Lyppiatt embellished his status with the title of ‘Warden’, and gradually secured his position as supreme leader by first establishing the Council as the chief governing body, then instating the Grenadiers as his private militia. His actions correspond with the two structural factors which influence a dictator’s survival: “elite membership in a unifying institution…elite access to troops and weaponry” (Ezrow and Frantz, 2011). The corrupting faculty of power is again proven when Faron murders Lyppiatt and strips the “Coronation Ring, the wedding ring of England” from his cousin’s hand and subsequently slips it onto his own. Despite proclaiming that he would “take it off in time”, it is unlikely that he would be able to defy the intensity of the power which would “gradually extirpate for the mind every humane and gentle virtue” (Burke, 1780). The corrupting ability of power is in this case compounded by a gullible population, again proving that resisting power is extremely arduous under any circumstances.
The Children of Men, by providing an acute portrayal of an absurd landscape haunted by imminent oblivion, highlights the weaknesses of humanity. By depicting the extensive apathy towards virtue, religion as well as a general futility in the face of corrupting power, James indicates that humanity’s defects are many,