From Animal Farm to The Handmaid's Tale, the dystopian books that very ominously predicted our future
Is it just us or does it feel like we’re living in a dystopian novel? The combination of Trump’s presidency, Brexit and the end of privacy in today’s digital age means our society is swiftly turning into an unthinkable place once thought up in novels.
From George Orwell’s 1984 prediction of mass world surveillance, to The Handmaid’s Tale's Gilead where women are the objects of white, upper class men, these dystopian lands appear to have predicted our future. Let’s take a look back.
The Handmaids Tale
There’s been a lot of discussion surrounding The Handmaid’s Tale, mostly: is our society turning into Gilead? From Trump’s presidency to Georgia’s new abortion laws where women and their bodies have become the objects of men, it’s looking more like yes by the day.
A Space Odyssey
Do you remember the last time you picked up a newspaper? Probably not, you’ve got a phone to read the news, right? While that may seem obvious today, Arthur Clarke predicted it decades ago. In his 2001 novel, A Space Odyssey, the author imagined up videophone communication, lip reading computers and electronic tablets that look suspiciously similar to an Ipad as a means to stay in touch. Spooky!
Animal Farm
The last time you thought about Animal Farm was probably during your English GCSE, but prepare to welcome it back into your lives in real-life form. The story based on a pig who seizes power and uses that power to exploit and dominate other animals has been linked to Trump’s right-wing presidency. Anyone else noticing a common theme here?
White Noise
Ever wondered why shopping is often referred to as retail therapy? Just ask Don Delillo. In the author’s 1985 novel, he imagined a world so fatigued by the constant stream of ‘new news’ and information that its characters turn to shopping as a therapeutic exercise. Sounds pretty familiar to us.
Brave New World
Aldous Huxley deserves credit for predicting our society’s dependence on prescription medication in his dystopian novel, Brave New World. The book depicts a shockingly real world of drug-dependent citizens who rely on mood-boosting pills called ‘soma’ aimed at reducing anxiety and sadness. Hmmm.
Feed
Anderson’s foretold 2002 story about the future of the internet captures today’s hyperconnected world eerily well. In the book, people have chips implanted in their brains that allowed them to access a digital network called the “feed” where people could share information and access each other’s data. While brain chips are yet to become a reality, Anderson predicted the rise of social media and data-sharing with major accuracy.
1984
George Orwell’s 1984, one of the most famous dystopian novels of all time, predicted a “Big Brother is Watching You” society where citizens are constantly under government surveillance. With all the recent news on data hacking scandals, combined with the 2016 film about Edward Snowdon’s expose of government tracking, George Orwell appeared to be spot on.
