Utopian literature through the time of World War II Essay

utopian literature through the time of World War II - Essay ExampleThis research pass on begin with the definition of utopia, by the very sense of the word, is the fantasy of a non-existent society and it could not baffle crept into literature as far it did without the help of its pivotal device called science fiction, which, in the dustup of Darko Suvin, is characterized by cognitive estrangement. Understandably, the literature produced through the period of World War II and after(prenominal) was more dystopian in nature than utopian, considering the pessimism generated (by the events in the contemporary introduction) among intellectuals giving rise to the portrayal of spendthrift societies as in H. G. Wellss The Time Machine. Often, the pessimism manifested in the title itself like Chad Walshs From Utopia to Nightmare (1962), New Maps of Hell by Kingsley Amis and The Future as Nightmare H. G. Wells and the Anti-Utopians (1967) by ticktack Hillegas. Utopian literature, its su ggestive nature notwithstanding, is interesting only because it reflects mankinds worst fears at a crucial point in hi tale and not because it contains anything that has the potential to make the world a interrupt place. The dystopian predictions of doom by a host of writers, from thaumaturgy Brunner to Margaret Atwood, never came true. It is worth recalling here, however, that Ray Bradburys apprehension (that television would kill books) in his 1953 iconographic work Fahrenheit 451, was not entirely misplaced.... It points out how knowledge can be harmful unless it is combined with wisdom by the example of a scientist who studies the composition of section from a disinterested desire for knowledge and incidentally places it in the hands of powerful lunatics (Yardi 103). Interestingly, Lost skyline written by James Hilton in 1933 prophesies a devastating war that engulfs most parts of the world in less than a decade. In the classic, Hilton envisions a utopian civilization with O riental character in a remote monastery, Shangri-La, in the Himalayas where wonderful throng live. The faith of the Shangri-La monks is a combination of the features of Christianity and Buddhism, the guideword being everything in moderation the rule is moderately strict, only moderate obedience is expected and masses are moderately sober, moderately chaste and moderately honest. The book, for most part, is a deep meditation on noble ideas like pacifism and philosophy, instead of being a perfect adventure story. Shangri-La people teach us that exhaustion of passions is the key to the beginning of wisdom and that the most impossible things in feel become possible if we believe in them. Nevil Shutes On the Beach (1957) portrays a massive nuclear war and the resulting radioactive dust marking the end of the world. Another post-apocalyptic masterpiece The Day of the Triffids (1951) by John Wyndham, with its ever-present threat of walking plants and blinding comets, is more like a ho rror novel than mere science fiction. Without any mention of nuclear warfare, this book still deserves to be labeled apocalyptic for its story is centered on rebuilding the society after a devastating