Parable vs other dystopias

The society in Parable is vastly different from the ones we saw in BNW and 1984. In the other two ones we read, the societies were highly structured and there was a more direct link between the oppression from the top of the society down upon the rest of the people. However, in Parable the society feels more anarchistic. Where there was an obvious top-down control of the people in the other books, in Parable everyone is essentially on their own. Stealing and arson is rampant in the area and the police are equally motivated by the same greed and are ineffective.  It suffers from the opposite extreme. Rather than extreme totalitarian control, Parable suffers from a societal breakdown. 

Along the same lines, you look at technology, which nearly all of the elements we've discussed this year stem from. Again, Parable's world is in decay. There is little to no technology around because of the vast amount of poor people in neighborhoods, and even poorer people making long, often hopeless treks across the coast. Contrast this with the other two. in BNW and 1984, technology is not only advanced, but it is the means of control through telescreens and human engineering and hypnopedia. In fact, books, which were Lauren's means of understanding the world and creating her religion and survival strategy, are seen as subversive in BNW and 1984. 

There are a lot of differences between Parable and the other two books, yet in the end, all three are dystopias. Anarchistic society, dark totalitarian, fear-mongering society, and a seemingly happy, yet controlling society. All different, yet all the same. Unlike the others there was a "happy," or should I say "not dark and depressing" end to Parable. A pleasant surprise given the previous books and the trend of Parable early on. 

Comments

  1. L. MoffittMay 20, 2021 at 8:11 AM

    Agreed! Surprisingly, Parable doesn't end with the death of the protagonist but rather the opposite: she has a plan for survival and people supporting her. Maybe it's because like you said, this book goes beyond dystopia to the breakdown of any sort of "-topia." Lauren is one of the survivors of all that. Good job with the blog posts -- interesting stuff.

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