1 Stories have always had a large degree of power within society.

They are records of the past and dreams of the future. Today stories are told through film and books, and these like the oral stories of the past have come to define our societies. In some instances stories personify the things that we fear the most. Dystopian stories mirror societys fears of the future, and are often based on the events occurring in the world at a specific time period. These stories exist not only show the fears expressed in society, but more significantly serve as a warning of the impending future if we are blind to what is currently occurring. They often suggest solutions that can be enacted in order to ensure that these events do not occur. However, while some fears are eternal there are also specific fears that arise out of specific important events in out cultural consensus. Such events underscore a deep seeded emotional response on both a conscious and unconscious level.

In this paper we will discuss dystopian societies as presented in literary novels and films arguing that these stories are minfestations of specific cultural fears. In order to do this we will firstly discuss the novels, The Sheep Look Up, Children of Men and the film Soylent Green will be arguing that these works are exemplifications of the fear that environmental catastrophe may rise out of the advent of environmentalism in the 1970s and 1990s. Secondly, we will discuss the novel, 1984 and film, V for Vendetta arguing that the images of political dystopia shown in these two works are exemplifications of fear that grew out of the post Cold War period and the post September 11th period respectively. Thirdly, we will discuss the novel, Neuromancer and the film, The Matrix arguing that the images of technological dystopia exemplify a larger fear of technology in two important periods of technological innovations.

Dystopia is defined as the opposite of utopia, a civilization that is characterized by misery and hardship. It is a society that demonstrates a humanity only barely surviving with the basic necessities of life. A dystopian society is usually distinguished by human misery, poverty, violence, and pollution. Dystopia consists of visions of dangerous and alienating future societies that explore social and political structures. Often government oppression is widespread and a lack of basic rights and freedoms exist. These societies are often highly stratified between the have and the have-nots, be it based on economic status of racial status. The reasons for these dystopian societies are as varied as the fears that create them. Of these reasons there are several dominant themes: environmental in which society fears the destruction of their humanity to environmental degradation; political in which society fears oppression and the loss of their rights and freedoms; and technology in which society fears their loss of humanity and their loss of control over their own creations. These fears are fueled by a belief that all things we have come to cherish in society will be lost, including our own of humanity. These three dystopic visions all display an intrinsic fear of the unknown future and the misery that it may be associated with them.

Chapter 1: Environmental Dystopia Destruction by our own hands is a critical factor in the world of Dystopia, this global destruction has in many cases occurred because of the very nature of man. The earth is the one resource that all, regardless of any distinguishing factor, depend on for survival, with its destruction the world is sent into chaos and the Dystopic vision is realized. A variety of dystopian novels and films have exemplified such societal fears. In this chapter we will

3 discuss the societal fears which have been exemplified through the 1972 novel The Sheep Look Up and the 1970 film, Soylent Green. We will then examine a novel from a different time period, the 1990s, Children of Men.

The Sheep Look Up and Soylent Green Introduction The Sheep Look Up was written by British author, John Brunner and published in 1972. John Brunner was a prolific British author of science fiction novels who contributed short stories and novelettes to all leading Science Fiction magazines in Britain and America. His dystopian novel, Stand on Zanzibar, which was based on the overpopulation of the earth, won a Hugo Award in 1969, for best science fiction novel. It was described as perhaps the most important work to emerge from the science fiction ghetto since it was formed in 1926. 1 The novel, The Sheep Look Up deals with the deterioration of the environment and was also nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1973. The Sheep Look Up is a story framed within a world that has fallen into environmental crisis. This has led to the formation of a corporate sponsored government, as a major pollution situation has risen in the cities and most people's health is in jeopardy, because of the conditions they are forced to live in. The Sheep Look Up, paints a picture of a not-so-distant future, when our food, air and water have been polluted as a consequence of corporate greed.

Soylent Green is an American film that was released in 1973 directed by Richard Fleischer. Born in Brooklyn, Fleischer began his career by directing short animated productions by his father: Betty Boop, Popeye and Superman. Fleischers early films were

4 thrillers and later on worked for Walt Disney productions. He also directed many action adventures, and serial killer series which focused on the theme of capital punishment. Soylent Green was based on the 1966 Harrison novel Make Room! Make Room! This novel has a similar theme of overpopulation and over consumption of resources, leading to social disorder and maximum poverty. Its 2022, and New York City is overpopulated with 40 million people. Society finds itself under the dependency of the Soylent Corporations, who has created a new food product; Soylent. A New York police detective is assigned to investigate a brutal murder of a corporate official of the Soylent Corporation, and in doing, so he begins to dig deep into a state secret involving the truth about Soylent Green.

Counter Culture The Sheep Look Up is set in the beginning of a civil war between the government and an environmentally conscious population, who refer to themselves as the Trainities. The Trainities are a group of environmental activists who live off the land in small agrarian societies awaiting the end of civilization. In addition they carry out bombing and commit acts of terror against industrial complexes for environmental reasons. The conservative elitists focus most of their time and money denouncing the environmentalists, as a group of socialists who aim to destroy the nation. The story depicts the view that the world is ruled by the business/government elite who are largely to blame for the existing environmental problems.

The Sheep Look Up was written in the early 1970s which was a seminal time that would change the focus of the American view towards environmentalism. The space

5 program had allowed pictured to be seen of our planet from space, which in addition to showing the beauty of our planet demonstrated that the earth was a continuous interconnected ecosystem.2 At this period in time the hippie movement was in full swing and with the bloody wars going on in Vietnam and Southeast Asia this movement was markedly anti-establishment. One of the tenants of this movement was a deep seeded respect for the earth and the natural planet as a whole. It was felt that the government did not care about the planet in the same way it did not care about the soldiers it sent to Vietnam of the innocent Vietnamese killed in the fighting3. The Environmental movement in turn grew out of the hippie movement as a movement that was also anti-establishment. Within the novel we see that this exact situation occurs where the government is at odds with a group of environmentalists, however this is only after their planet has been destroyed. This hippy movement was an anti-government movement, just as how the Trainities rallied against their government. This issue exemplifies a fear that the government will collude with business interests and ignore the interests of the planet.

Environmental Degradation The Sheep Look Up begins with a discussion of the environmental hazards present in the world. The novel describes a wide range of environmental problems from acid rain and air pollution to anti-biotic resistant bacteria, and a variety of diseases. The air pollution is so tremendous, that wearing gas masks is a natural part of life. In this nightmare society infant mortality is rapidly increasing and everyone seems to be suffering from some sort of illness. The water as well is extremely polluted, and only the rich are able to afford unpolluted, filtered water, while the poor drink water from the tap.

In Soylent Green the cities are overpopulated, most housing is rundown and overcrowded, and the impoverished homeless fill the streets and line the fire escapes and stairways of buildings. In such a society in despair, natural foods like vegetables, jam and meat are now a rare commodity and people are starving. A jar of real strawberry jam costs $150, and only available on the Black Market since supermarkets no longer exist. Temperatures in city have risen due to the greenhouse effect and people are forced to live in such unbearable regions. The citys infrastructure has broken down and the conditions of living have become extremely intolerable. In such a society an average person only gets an opportunity to see a blue sky and green forest in a video during the last 20 minutes of their life in a government euthanasia center. Thorns friend Sol, is an older man who lived in the world when there conditions were not so dire. He vividly remembers the world before the famine struck, when I was a kid, you could buy meat anywhere!4 He is our link to such a sordid future, as he is as horrified as we are at the view of such a horrid society

This fear that is exemplified here is that our society will crumble if the importance of the environment is not recognized. Awareness must exist that the tendencies of over consumption and the consumer culture may lead to the destruction of our very standard of living and way of life. With this should be a recognition that decisive actions must be taken in order to avoid a general environmental disaster. The base fear is that through our actions we will destroy our world. These actions include a disregard for the valuable life on the planet and the essentiality of these resources for our very survival.5 A number of legislative acts were introduced in this time that demonstrate the growing awareness and recognition of

7 environmental issues, such as the Clean Air Act (1973) and the Clean Water Act (1974).6 The Clean Air Act further built upon the 1972 The Clean Air Amendment was and was aimed at preventing or reducing water pollution. It also laid a foundation for future efforts to preserve water, that would become The Clean Water Act. Section 101 of the act emphatically states, The objective of this Act is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Nations water.7 The establishments of these Acts demonstrate the societys awareness to improve the way they treat the earths resources so that they may live a long and healthy life. In 1960s American president, Theodore Roosevelts words, the nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value, further shows societal recognition of the growing importance of maintaining a sustainable environment.8

Corporate Governance The novel, The Sheep Look Up is based in a world in which the corporate sponsored government tries to keep the utmost control of their society. These corporations are motivated by greed and seek to make profit under the poor health and environmental conditions. They attempt to take advantage of the health security situation by charging people for health equipment and services. Some of the signs posted throughout the novel read such absurdities as, Filter-mask Dispenser : Use Product once only- maximum 1 hour, Oxygen 25 cents.9 The elitist community tried to demonstrate that the environmentalists were simply terrorists and criminals. It is clearly in the corporate-governments interest to keep the level of environmental degradation as it gives them a level of social control and they are able to profit off the dire situation.

In the film Soylent Green, people are dependant on water rations and a mysterious food called Soylent that has been supplied by the Soylent Corporation. The Soylent Corporation controls the government and everyone else. The government gives out the rations of food: Soylent Yellow, Soylent Red, and the newest product, Soylent Green which they claim is "made from the finest undersea growth."10 Due to the chaos when distributing the Soylent, riot police are always dispatched by the government as people tend to get violent when the food runs out. It is evident that our over consumption has lead to the current lack of resources. The Soylent Corporation however seems to profit from this set of circumstances in both a power and financial sense, as is seen through the opulent living conditions of Soylent executives who eat meat and have apartments that are furnished with prostitutes. With the help of Sol, Thorn conducts some further investigation and uncovers the conspiracy, where he discovers the truth about the Soylent Corporation and its newest product, that Soylent Green is actually made out of people who undergo Euthanasia at the government sponsored euthanasia clinics and the corpses are processed into the edible green wafers.

Thus the fear expressed is that governments will increasingly be influenced by corporations whose modus operendi is that of profit and not the best interests and protection of the people. On January 1st, 1969 the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), was established and signed into law by President Richard Nixon. Under this law all federal agencies were required to monitor, evaluate and control, their actions in order to protect and enhance the quality of the environment and set the stage for much of the environmental

9 legislation that was passed in the 1970s. 11 However many argued that it did not go far enough in terms of corporate responsibility. This led to establishment of such provisions in both aforementioned Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. This was proof of mans recognition that the impacts of his actions were interrelated with the profound influences of population growth, industrial expansion, resource exploitation and further recognition of the critical importance of restoring and maintaining environmental quality in their society. This was a sign that the environment could not longer be abused in search of profits and that companies were responsible for their actions in respect to the environment.

The Sheep Look Up ends with of the minor character Dr. Grey, stating that the only way their society may be saved from this nightmare is if 200,000 of the most wasteful citizens of the world, the Americans, are eliminated. Soylent Green, ends with seriously wounded and nearly hysterical Thorn screaming out to try and warn people about the horrible secret behind Soylent Green, "Soylent Green is people! We've got to stop them somehow!" In both the book and film we may see negative views of environmental degradation and a fear of societal degradation; however a sense of hope is implicit, as we still have power to change the direction in which we are headed, and have not yet reached that point.

Children of Men Introduction Children of Men was written by P. D James, in 1992. This British novelist began writing in the mid-1950s and is known for her mystery novels based on the UKs

10 bureaucracies such as health services, and the criminal justice system. Her popularity in this genre is based on her insider knowledge and experience within the bureaucracy, as she worked in the government service until age of retirement. James was not familiar with writing science fiction, however she wrote an invigorating science fiction novel, Children of Men. This novel was written from the perspective of the main character, Dr. Theodore Faron. Part of the story is narrated from Dr. Theodores diary, in a near futuristic British society, set in 2021. Children of Men is written in both the first and third person, and is a glimpse of possible future results if we do not modify our behavior, in which pollution has the potential to cause the end of our civilization.

Environmental Degradation Dr. Theodore Faron, known as Theo, the main character of the novel, is a doctor of philosophy and a historian of the Victorian age at Oxford University. He is living in a society where the human race itself is coming to an end. In Theos first entry he writes that the last man to be born on earth, a young Argentina man has just been killed, making it virtually impossibly for the human race to survive. He continues to write in his diary, "The four billion life forms which have existed on this planet, three billion, and nine hundred and sixty million are now extinct. It really does seem unreasonable to suppose that Homo sapiens should be exempt. Our species will have been one of the shortest lived of all, a mere blink, you may say, in the eye of time." 12 In the novel, Theo takes us back to 1994, when, for some reason men were unable to reproduce, and there is an epidemic due to mass infertility. It is implicitly understood that people are unable to procreate because of health

11 degradations caused by environmental destruction, and this will lead to the very extinction of humanity itself.

The fear reflected by Children of Men is that humanity may indeed cause its extinction through its abuse of the planet. While pollution has since the Industrial Revolution threatened our planet, the threat that global warming poses is one which actually threatens our very future of humanity. Many would argue that environmentalism has become a part of our lives to an extent never seen before. The implications of global warming with the possibility of ending human existence mirror the situation in the film.13 Infertility in Children of Men is an analogy to climate change, as there is an implicit recognition that climate change has the power to affect our world in a disastrous way and this may lead to a devastating future. This recognition led to the development of the Kyoto Protocol, which is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The world came together to establish a treaty to achieve stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic inference with the climate system14 The Kyoto Protocol was arguably only partly successful as the United States, the worlds largest polluter, never ratified it. Thus the question of climate change remains unanswered and the dire consequences of inaction increasingly seem more likely, In the end, in thing is certain: The future will be changing.15

Religion

12 In the novel, Children of Men James describes sharply a social disorder and pessimism, in which science has failed to explain, or even cure, the infertility, that may bring about the extinction of humanity. Science in the novel could not solve or explain the infertility problem, even though procedures such as natural and artificial hormones or in vitro fertilization were utilized. In the novel a torrent of religions has sprung up hoping to fill the void of hope that existed within the populace. Though we live in a modern advanced society, we like those of the novel, cannot solve our problems through the use of Science. In present time, science was more than just a policy tool or a profession16. Like theology, science reveals transcendent truths about a changing world, however this is not the case in Children of Men.17 Religion is a solace to some individuals but not to others. Through this society has surrendered their control to such authority.

Conclusion of Children of Men Children of Men bring to light the contemporary fears of environmental destruction, nuclear warfare, terrorist attack, and the sense of cultural loss that accompanies rapid globalization. There is also the threat that humanity is coming to an end with the inability of human beings to reproduce. Civilization itself is crumbling as suicide and despair become commonplace. Even though societal fears of extinction exist, the novel ends with a sense of hope through the birth of a child. This sense of hope transcends the novel and demonstrates that it is at extreme moments that the will of man to survive exists and that humanity will find some way to survive.

Conclusion of Environmental Dystopia

13 A constant theme present in The Sheep Look Up, Soylent Green and Children of Men is the idea that the devastation of the planet causes a deep seeded sadness and loss of hope within the people. Not only has their planet been destroyed but they seem to have nothing to live for, and the conditions are impeccable. There is an implicit societal fear that has been exemplified in these three stories, one of which people are afraid that environmental degradation, and misuse of our natural resources, may lead to the ruin of our society and the very end of humanity. The novels and film do reflect such a fear of humanities destruction, however there is still a sign of hope present for our society. If humanity is to act together and maintain the value and appreciation for the environment, they may never have to reach such an environmental disaster.

Chapter Two: Political Dystopia Our societies are governed by a group of individuals and institutional structures vested with specific powers. We depend on these individuals and structures to represent our interests and protect us, however it is the very power associated with these organizations that often make us fear the very potential for corruption and misrepresentation. In this chapter we will examine the novel, Nineteen Eighty Four and the Film, V for Vendetta and explore how these stories are exemplifications of the fears felt due to specific historical events and time periods. For each narrative we shall begin with a brief description of the work followed by a reference of specific events within the narrative that relates to a specific societal fear expressed.

1984

14 Introduction 1984 is perhaps one of the most famous novels in existence today. It was written by George Orwell in 1948 at the conclusion of World War 2. Orwell was himself a former solider, having fought in the Spanish Civil War and railed against both Communism and Totalitarianism. 1984 tells the tale of a dystopic society governed by a totalitarian regime and its effects on the populace of the nation. It takes place in England, now part of a larger nation known as Airship One which is locked in a never ending war. The story is framed against a backdrop rife with themes of propaganda, war, misinformation and misrepresentation in the lived experience of the main protagonist.

Soviet Influence Airstrip One, is the mainland of a huge country, called Oceania, which consists of North America, South Africa, and Australia. The Party in control is led by an entity known as Big Brother which is as commonly known as always watching18. The population of Oceania is deeply stratified and is divided into three groups, the Inner party (1%), the outer party (18%) and the Proles (81%). The Inner Party is the controlling government whose members live luxurious lives, while the Proles live lives of poverty and squalor, constantly working to feed the never ending war effort. The Proles are those who are mainly employed in industry and on farms, and without their labor Oceania would break down. However even members of the Inner Party were not free from Big Brothers influence. The last three survivors of the original leaders of the revolution, Jones, Aaronson and Rutherford, were arrested in 1965 and were made to confess to all kinds of sabotage during their trial. They were pardoned, and a while later they were arrested again and executed.

15

These elements of the plot exemplify the fear of what we shall term the Soviet Influence that began to occur at the conclusion of World War 2. It would become exemplified by the Communist witch-hunt and Commissions of the McCarthyist Era. In Red Scare or Red Menace, John Earl Haynes documents the overwhelming fear that had began to develop in the minds of the American people over a possible Soviet invasion in that in many ways the communist way of life was the prototypic anti-American way of life and in their minds stood in stark contrast to the intrinsically personal set of values that an individualistic America stood for19. Oceania is a perfect mirror of the Soviet Union. The setting of the narrative occurs in what is unmistakably the former democratic world, the city of London, one of the bastions of the democratic freedom implying that the world of democracy has fallen to the Soviet Influence. The world itself is structured in the image of the former USSR with its large working peasantry and its dominant party elite. Just as in the former Soviet Union a gap between rich and poor exists between the party elites and the peasantry who represent the mass of the population. The original leaders of the revolution who were arrested and executed mirrors the exact situation that occurred under Stalin in which the intellectuals, who initiated the Revolution and were members of the party, were summarily arrested and executed on the direct orders of Joseph Stalin20. Thus the novel brings to light the very real fear that the Soviet Union would gain control of the West and that the very nature of Western civilization would be forever altered.

Conflict

16 The world of 1984 is one in which a perpetual never ending war is being fought between three equally powerful nations. The purpose of the war is to consume human labor and resources so that a high standard of living cannot be reached in each nation. The nations are so powerful that even when two nations join forces they cannot defeat the third. In the 1950s all three nations used atomic bombs but have since ceased to do so, possibly because of the sheer level of destruction that they caused. It has been hinted that the conflict itself may not have even existed and may simply have been created by the Party, the simple fact is that it remains unknown because of the Partys control of information.

The idea of an unending conflict mirrors the post-war period in the United States in which two equally powerful nations arouse from the ashes of World War 2. With a devastated Western Europe there arose two superpowers in the Post War period with two very different ideologies. The United States and The USSR who were ideologically opposed would soon engage what would come to be known as the Cold War21. The fear was that these two equally powerful nations would go to war and that this war would not only cause hardship and strife but also be a perpetual war with both sides so ideologically grounded that loss was simply not a viable option. A hypothetical war between the Soviet Union and the United States would be as equally un-winnable as the wars seen in the novel 1984. At this time the Korean War, a proxy war between The Soviet Union and the United States had already begun. As the United States saw the expansion of Soviet Influence after the Second World War it became apparent that the growing power of these two states with the prospects of a large conflict growing and if so the prospects of a short conflict shrinking.22Thus it is

17 clear that the establishment of bi-polar superpowers led to a deep seeded fear of a protracted global conflict. [[Cold War Martin Walker]]

Propaganda and Control An interesting aspect of the novel is the way in which truth and information are handled by the party. Winston Smith, the protagonist of the novel, is a member of the Outer Party, and works in the Records Department of the Ministry of Truth. He rewrites and alters the records of the past, as the Party changes history constantly to their own benefit. One interesting note is that Winston finds it hard to remember anything just after the World War, when the party came into power, due to the party constantly altering history. Another impact of the recently fought war was that of propaganda. In the novel the government is an agent of mass propaganda and often feeds its people false information about the war and the economy and often re-writes history when it sees fit. One prominent example of this is when it changes war allegiances and asserts that their former enemy has always been their ally.23 The party tries to control everything, even thought and emotion. For example Winston is punished for thinking unorthodox thoughts about the Party and is tortured until he admits that he loves Big Brother and will continue to work for Big Brother without resistance24. In this story about a bleak future, personal freedoms are heavily curtailed and the government has ultimate control over its citizens. Everyone is under complete surveillance by the authorities, mainly by telescreens, and are constantly reminded that, Big Brother is watching you.

18 The fear expressed here is related to the never ending war in that it is a fear that a protracted war will lead to campaigns of mass propaganda with little regard for the truth. Within World War 2 there was a great deal of military based propaganda used by both sides, now that the war had come to an end the salient question existed that with the advent of a seemingly protracted conflict with the Soviet Union, how would propaganda and information be used by the government. As the horrors of WW2 demonstrated an entire group of people could become so loyal to their government that they no longer question them or have a moral imputes towards right or wrong.25 The German people were part of the old European empires of so called civilized people, if a so called civilized people could enact a campaign of genocide with the support of the people. Also evident is the fear that in such a conflict what level of control would the government implement and what level of loyalty would they demand. In all major conflicts we have seen an increase in government control and authority but these end with the conflict, in a protracted war the fear is that these forms of governmental control would simply become institutionalized structures.

1984 Conclusion Thus 1984 brings to light a number of fears of society during the immediate post world war 2 time period. The first of these is that with the advent of communism vs. capitalist war where capitalism would lose that a communist government would destroy all individual freedoms in the name of a greater collective society.26

V for Vendetta Introduction

19 V for Vendetta was released in 2005 to critical acclaim and was directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers. The Wachowski Brothers have also directed the critically acclaimed Film The Matrix. The film is set in a near future Britain, in the year 2038. Where a Far Right party known as the Norsefire Party has risen to power and rule as a totalitarian regime. The protagonist V, is a freedom fighter who seeks to simultaneously free Britain from the totalitarian grips of the party and exact revenge, he alone dares to rise up against the tyranny and oppression. The narrative is both complex and profound and delves into an extreme yet possible set of circumstances.

Freedom verses Security The Britain of V for Vendetta is ruled under the totalitarian regime of The Far-Right Norsefire party. The party came to power fourteen year previous; however initially the populace did not accept their sweeping reforms to eliminate Jews, Muslims, and homosexuals from their community. Following the rejection of their reforms a massive bioterrorism attack occurs in Britain which results in the death of 80,000 people. This terrorism attack capitulates society enticing them to give up their freedoms in return for security. With this the party gains the tacit acceptance of the people and begins their total control over society. This security state takes the form of a Britain filled rife with surveillance by the secret police, torture cells, unjust punishments and prejudice against minorities. V describes this as he hijacks a local television station and broadcasts his message to the masses
the truth is there is something terribly wrong with this country, isnt there, cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression, and where once you had the freedom to object to think and speak as you saw fit you now have censors and systems of surveillance, how did this happen you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it you were afraid who wouldnt be, war terrorfear got the best of you27.

20

The narrative ends with Only when you have no fear are you free. Thus it is clear that the citizenry of Britain have given up their freedoms in order to ensure that they have security.

These exemplify the security versus freedom dichotomy that exist in the world. It is generally accepted that freedom and security are diametrically opposed, in simple terms that in order to ensure security freedom must be sacrificed that freedom will have to be given up in order to ensure security. It is unknown to what extent these security measures will be taken and what effect on freedoms that these will have. This fear is that we may freely give up our freedoms in the name of security, thus giving up much of our political power along with it. However the freedom verses security discourse is not the only significant fear that is expressed through V for Vendetta.

The theme of sacrificing freedom for security intrinsically involves the tragic events of September 11th 2001 .Frank Fredi, discusses in his novel, Culture of Fear, that the tragic event of September 11th will make millions of people, Americans and others, fearful of the world around them. 28 One of the most significant events that was an outcome of the September 11th attacks was the creation of the US PATRIOT Act. While the act is ostensibly far reaching we shall explore two of its elements. This act of Congress allowed the US government to detain American citizens and foreign nationals as enemy combatants for an indefinite period of time without the right to legal consul.29 Secondly Section II of the US PATRIOT Act allowed the government to conduct sneak and peek searches of homes and offices, track emails and internet usage, and conduct roving wiretaps in addition to expanding the governments access to financial and banking records. 30 These two provisions

21 of the US PATRIOT Act violate one of the most important documents in the US democratic tradition, the US Bill of Rights a seminal part of the US Constitution. Indefinite detainment without trial violates both the Fifth Amendment which guarantees due process and the Sixth Amendment which guarantees the defendants right to a fair and speedy trial. Section II of the Act violates The Fourth Amendment which guarantees against unreasonable search and seizure. 31 What is striking is not that such an act was passed but it was done so with the support of the American people. In the simplest sense the American people were willing to sacrifice certain levels of freedom for security.

Governmental Lies As explained previously the Norsefire party came to power after a bio terror attack that killed 80,000 civilians. After the attack a cure was discovered by the Party and it swiftly gained power. It was only after this attack that they were able to push their racist and conservative agenda. What was unknown by the populace was that this bio-terror attack was perpetrated by the Norsefire party itself in order to gain power. Thus the Norsefire party planned on gaining power through any means necessary, even murder, so that they could push their radical agenda.

The second event which occurred in the post 9/11 period was the events surrounding the invasion of Iraq as part of the US led war on terror. The US invasion of Iraq was based upon the fact that Iraq had secret weapons programs to create biological and chemical weapons, or what came to be known as Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).32 It was later discovered that the justification for war was false and that Iraq did not have such weapons.

22 Scott McClellan an insider within the Bush Administration details in his book What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception the various ways in which the Bush administration pushed the war in Iraq knowing that information was suspect at best and undertook a propaganda campaign to sell the war to the American people33. In effect WMDs were made into a crisis of global security.34 The fear that is expressed here is the fear that governments lie in order to achieve their own agenda. In the film the Norsefire Party creates the epidemic in order to gain control of the government and in order to gain widespread support for their ultra right wing policies. The government is supposed to work in the interests of the people as their representative. The fear existent is that this will cease to be the case and that government will push their own agenda with little regard for the people they represent.

Conclusion V for Vendetta ends with the populace rebelling on November the 5th the day V chose for retaliation, when those who wish to gain back their freedoms follow him will stand up to the government and Parliament is destroyed by an explosion. The ending shows that within the narrative of fear there is hope, that though freedoms can be lost they can always be regained, though it is not without strife and often hardship. It is a demonstration that though freedoms can be supplemented they can never be permanently removed. This is an exemplification of the famous words uttered by Benjamin Franklin those who sacrifice freedom for security shall have neither.35

Chapter Conclusion ---

23

Chapter Three: Technological Dystopia Computers and digital technology have increasingly become an indispensable part of our lives. These technologies influence the ways in which we work, play, communicate and learn. This is thanks in part to what some have coined the technological revolution in which computer technology has come to play an increasingly important role in our world and in our lives. However the sudden and rapid integration of technology into our society and our lives has led to certain fears about how this technology will change the ways we live and the extent to which it will modify our behavior, and the very nature of our humanity itself. In this chapter we will discuss The Novel Neuromancer and the Film The Matrix which though dealing with similar issues were released at very different times and represent a different set of societal fears.

Neuromancer Introduction Neuromancer is a 1984 cyberpunk novel written by William Gibson. Gibson is a Canadian American Author who is popularly regarded as the father of the cyberpunk genre and is credited with the establishment of concepts such as the internet years before they existed. Neuromancer is regarded as his most famous work and as a seminal Science Fiction text. The novel presents an image of the future of a technology dominated dystopian society in which advanced technologies are created and then used for material gain instead of the well being of society. The novel Neuromancer is part of a new genre of Dystopia known as Cyberpunk and is more generally one of the newer forms of dystrophic that has arisen.

24

Technological Dependence Neuromancer is framed in a world in which there is a loss of interpersonal relationships and social lifestyles. This society willingly allows itself to be controlled by technology. The protagonist, Henry Dorsett Case, is a 24 year old man who lives in dystopian underworld of Chiba city in Japan. He lives in a corrupt society in which the very essence of humanity is slipping away. Case is a former computer hacker who makes his living by breaking into security systems. He is a known as a console cowboy who links his brain to the computer in order to pirate information kept in cyberspace. Caught stealing from his employer to feed a drug habit, Case was fired and lost his access to the worldwide computer net. This causes him to become desperate as he slips into a deep depression fueled by drugs and suicidal thoughts. He at this point is willing to do anything to return to his life as a hacker. Thus it is clear that our protagonist is a computer addict who sees technology as an intrinsic part of life.

Henry Case and the life he lives within the world of Neuromancer perfectly exemplify the specific fears about the extent to which technology will become part of our lives. In the last 100 years, since 1900, there has been a spectacular change in the way people live their lives, with machines, such as the washing machine and automobile transforming the ways we work, play and live.36 The early 80s for many represented another level of this technological revolution. The advent of the computer age was another turning point in human history as is it led to many different ways in which we carried out our lives. For example a basic necessity of life such as communication was altered by the appearance

25 of the mobile telephone. As Gerard Goggin notes in his text Cell Phone Culture the cell phone even in the early development was positioned to become an essentiality.37 The personal computer, first released in the early 1980s, was one of the first technologies that were deeply feared to have an adverse effect on society and fueled fears that technological addictions would permeate our lives at home, work or school. According to the study conducted by Kimberely Young technological addictions accomplish something for the person, however illusory or momentary these benefits may actually be. Underlying Internet addiction is the anonymity of electronic transactions that provide a virtual context that cultivates a subjective escape from emotional difficulties (e.g., stress, depression, anxiety) or problematic situations or personal hardships38 Perhaps one of the best examples of this fear is expressed by Davidson in his 1985 article Computer Fear and Addiction, in which he discusses some of the possible effects of computer addiction citing a plethora of negative effects from at the time the relatively new technology of the computer social withdrawal, sleep disturbance, physical deterioration, spending huge sums of money on computers, and anxiety over anticipated separation from the computer.39 Thus we can see that even in the early days of the digital technological revolution there were fears about the extent to which these technologies would become part of our lives.

The Control of Information The protagonist of the novel is a hacker who is able to reach all sorts of information, including heavily encrypted and governmentally secured. He works for corporations who seek to use his skill sets to obtain classified information. It is also reveled in the end that he is working for Neuromancer, a far-reaching artificial intelligence, and is being controlled by

26 the very technology he uses. In the end of the novel, Armitage is destroyed by Wintermute, another artificial intelligence whose goals are to remove the Turing locks upon itself and Case and Molly are handsomely paid for their efforts. They become aware of larger forces working to control his activities. Thus it is clear the information and power are intrinsically linked within the novel.

As Steve Jones argues, for the cyberpunk information is power40. Thus it is apparent that with the advent of digital technology the security of the information that is disseminated through digital technology is secured. In cyberspace walls and weapons do not exist as weapons of protection and security. There is also an implicit fear that this information so interconnected as the world had ever seen could fall into the wrong hands. Rolf Oppliger in his book Security for the World Wide Web details the importance of security in the digital age as once our online data is accessed maliciously it can be sold to the highest bidder to abuse as they see fit.41 The apparent fear exemplified by our hacker protagonist is that with the apparent shift to a digital world that our information would be insecure and moreover that the information necessary for our security would also be available to the highest bidder.

Conclusion Neuromancer The computer revolution had seemingly just began to take hold in the mid-1980s with the advent of the personal computer and the rise of machines who seemingly could fulfill all of our needs, but we see the far reaching of AI and the control it has in our future world. The Matrix

27 The Matrix is a science fiction film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski in 1999. The film is set in a futuristic society in which humans are controlled by machines and live in an Artificial reality construct known as the Matrix. The narrative is centered around Thomas Anderson who is unplugged from the Matrix by a group of rebels, led by Morpheus, in order to end the war with the Machines. Thomas Anderson, also known as, Neo is believed to be the one who can end the war, however the machines do not wish this to happen and send a group of software programs, known as agents, to attempt to prevent him from reaching his goal. The narrative of the Matrix is related heavily to our current world.

Alienation The main character of the film, a man named Thomas Anderson lives two lives. By day he is employed as an average computer programmer and at night he is a hacker who works under the alias Neo. He is determined to find out what the Matrix is, and in doing so he encounters agents who lead him to a group led by the infamous Morpheus. Neo is offered a chance to learn the truth about the Matrix and he takes the opportunity. He learns that all life on Earth is nothing more than an elaborate pretense created by a malicious cyber-intelligence.

The Matrix is a film that in many ways has fulfilled many of the visions that were foreseen in Neuromancer about the newfound dependence on technology as an indispensable part of our lives. The protagonist and hero, Neo within the Matrix is an individual which like Case within necromancer suffers from a life full of technology but otherwise empty seemingly even devoid of happiness. While Neuromancer was framed by an unknown fear in a newly

28 technological world, the Matrix is set in a very different frame. The fear associated with The Matrix is not whether technology will become an indispensable part of our lives, as by 1999 this had already become the case. Digital technology including cellular phones, video games, the internet and personal computers had become an integrated part of our daily lives. The newfound fear expressed in the matrix was of a completely different nature. Anthony Giddens discusses this in his novel, Runaway World, With the further development of science and technology, the world should be more stable and ordered [but] The world we find ourselves today, however doesnt look or feel much like was predicted. Rather than being more and more under our control, it seems out of our control a runaway world.42

While the intended purpose of these technologies appears to be to make our lives more enjoyable and simpler the unintended consequences of these technologies may be that like the opiates of the past they have simply brought about more of a complex existence enamored with the stresses that such technologies were meant to deal with. The advances of technology are assumed to have destroyed the environment in such as to store up potentially catastrophic risks. The problems we face are so severe that it cannot be too long before humanity becomes extinct. 43 Thus a more subtle fear exists that while these technologies may seem on the onset to enhance our lives that they may just make them more complex and less enjoyable.

Artificial Intelligence- Machines In the Matrix Mythology these sentient machines were created in the 21st century, to do the work of man, however they were treated as slaves. When they rebelled and requested rights

29 they were denied them and a campaign to destroy them was undertaken. The few surviving machines isolated themselves from their creators and prospered, however Man would not allow the machines to live in peace and pursued them intent on their destruction. Man attempted cut off the machines supply of solar power by darkening the sky. However this failed and in the war that followed the soft flesh of man stood no chance against the metal circuitry of the machines. The Machines won the war and with the sky darkened turn use human beings into their energy source by placing their bodies in pods and harvesting their energy and body heat. The Matrix is created so that their minds will survive, a necessary precursor to their bodily survival. In The Matrix Neo comes to learn that the year is estimated to be close to 2199 and that they are in a middle of war between humanity and intelligent machines. He understandably is reluctant to believe that most of humanity have been captured by a race of sentient machines.

Much of our world depends on computer technology to function, the financial markets would crumble if the integrated global system somehow failed. The unknown fear was that too much faith was placed in a technology that we could not necessarily always control. The fear of the Y2K bug is a prime example of it, because of one simple computer flaw it was believed that our world would be thrown into chaos.44 In the late 1900s, the space shuttle Challenger was destroyed and this turned full-scale panic that led to people losing their nerves. This tragedy was proof that technology was out of control, and the US space agency NASA was traumatized and it took almost three years to launch another space shuttle.45

30 The fear while embodied by the living moving artificially intelligent robots and androids of the Matrix was in fact a much deeper concern. Technology around this time moved to the ever advancing paradigm of Moores law, that core clock speeds would double ever 18 months, and the common fear as to where all this advancement would lead. Many believed that it would lead to the advent of Artificial Intelligence systems which would become more and more complex. The fear was that at some point we would no longer be able to control these complex beings that we had created and that such an event could lead to the destruction of humanity itself. In the Matrix it is seen that the reason for the war with the machines and the enslavement of man was caused by the very creations of man, which they failed to control.

Conclusion - Matrix The film ends with Neo surviving a near death experience, and continuing to battle the computer simulated agents.

Chapter Conclusion

John Brunner, The Sheep Look Up ( London: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1972), 458. Booker, 75. Ibid, 76. Soylent Green, VHS. Directed by Richard Fleischer (Los Angeles: Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer, 1973). Frank Furedi, Culture of fear (Chicago: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2002), 9. Edited by Peninah Neimark and Peter Rhoades, The Environmental Debate (London: Greenwood Press, 1999), 211. Ibid, 217. John Cronin and Robert Kennedy, The Riverkeepers (New York: Scribner, 1997), 273.

Brunner, 5. Soylent Green film. 11 Neimark and Rhoades, 206. 12 P.D.James, Children of Men ( London: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992), 13-14.
10 13

Furedi, 14. P.H Liotta and Allan W. Shearer, Gaias Revenge: Climate Change and Humanity Loss (London: Praeger, 2007), 95.

14

15 16

Liotta and Shearer, 110. Cronin and Kennedy , 273. 17 Ibid, 272.
18 19

George William. Nineteen Eighty Four, (London: Secker and Warburg, 1949),15. Haynes, John E. Red Scare of Red Menace?: American Communism and Anticommunism in the Cold War Era, (New York: American Ways Series, 1996), 154. 20 Ibid, 155. 21 Ibid, 253. 22 Ibid, 255. 23 Gottieb, 260. 24 Ibid, 261.
2 25

Erika Gottieb, Dystopian Fiction East and West: Universe of Terror and Trial ( New York: McGill -Queens University Press, 2001), 268.
2 26

Keith M. Booker, The Dystopian Impulse in Modern Literature: Fiction as Social Criticism (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1994), 72. 27 V for Vendetta, DVD. Directed by James McTeigue (New York: Warner Bros., 2005).
2 28 29

(Furedi 2002, 3) Cythnia Brown, Lost Liberities: Ash Ashcroft and the assault on personal freedom (New York: New Press, 2003), 35.

30 31

Ibid, 42. Ibid, 34. 32 Richard Butler, The Greatest Threat ( New York: Public Affairs, 2001), 7. 33 Frank Furedi. Culture of Fear, (London: Continuum International Publishing group Ltd, 2006), 34. 34 Butler, 7-8. 35 Brown, 74. 36 Winner, 996. 37 Gerard Goggin, Cell Phone Culture: Mobile Technology in Everyday Life ( New York: Routledge, 2006), 29.

38

Kimberly S. Young, Internet Addiction: A New Clinical Phenomenon and Its Consequences, The American Behavioral Scientist 48 (2004): 402. 39 Robert S. Davidson, Computer Fear and Addiction, Journal of Organizational Behavior Management 17 (1985): 40. 40 Steve Jones, CyberSociety: Computer-Mediated Communication and Community(London: Sage Publications, 1994), 201. 41 Oppliger, Rolf, Security Technologies for the World Wide Web (London: Artech House, 2002), 12. 42 Anthony Giddens, Runaway World: How Globalization is Reshaping Our Lives ( London: Taylor & Francis, 2003), 3.
4 43

Furedi, 14.
44

John L. Petersen, The Year 2000: Social Chaos or Social Transformation? The Co-Intelligdence Institute 64 ( 2002) : 12. Furedi, 7.

45

Soylent Green, VHS. Directed by Richard Fleischer, Los Angeles: Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer, 1973. Furedi, Frank. Culture of fear. Chicago: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2002. Smith, John Maynard. The Origin of Altruism. Nature 393 (1998): 63940. Giddens, Anthony Runaway World: How Globalization is Reshaping Our Lives, London: Taylor & Francis, 2003, 3. Butler, Richard The Greatest Threat, New York: PublicAffairs, 2001, 7-24. Neimark, Penniah and Peter Rhoades. Ed., The Environmental Debate London: Greenwood, 1999. Cronin, John and Robert Kennedy, The RIverkeepers. New York: Scribner, 1997. Brunner, John, The Sheep Look Up. London: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1972. Liotta, P.H and Allan W. Shearer, Gaias Revenge: Climate Change and Humanity Loss. London: Praeger, 2007. .James, P.D Children of Men. London: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Haynes, John E., Red Scare of Red Menace?: American Communism and Anticommunism in the Cold War Era, New York: American Ways Series, 1996. V for Vendetta, DVD. Directed by James McTeigue, New York: Warner Bros., 2005. Furedi, Frank. Culture of Fear, London: Continuum International Publishing group Ltd, 2006. Jones, Steve, CyberSociety: Computer-Mediated Communication and Community, London:

Sage Publications, 1994). Goggin, Gerard, Cell Phone Culture: Mobile Technology in Everyday Life New York: Routledge, 2006. Petersen, John L. The Year 2000: Social Chaos or Social Transformation? The Co-Intelligdence Institute 64 ( 2002) : 12-33. Young, Kimberly S. Internet Addiction: A New Clinical Phenomenon and Its Consequences, The American Behavioral Scientist 48 (2004): 320-402. Davidson, Robert S. Computer Fear and Addiction, Journal of Organizational Behavior Management 17 (1985): 10-45. Rolf, Oppliger, Security Technologies for the World Wide Web, London: Artech House, 2002. The Matrix, DVD. Directed by Wachowski Brothers, New York: Warner Bros., 1999. Gibson, William. Neuromancer, New York: Ace Books, 1984. Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty Four, London: Secker and Warburg, 1949.