The Threat to the Individual as a Fundamental Theme of Dystopian Literature

This thesis deals with the narrative genre generally referred to by critics as dystopia. As a matter of fact, some critics make a distinction between the terms dystopian and anti-utopian; a work like Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, which negates the possibility of utopias is considered anti-utopian, whereas George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is normally considered a dystopian work. For the purposes of my thesis I have not considered this distinction pertinent.
Similarly, I have chosen not to discuss the scholars’ debate on whether dystopian fiction belongs to the utopian or to the science fiction genre. Those who are interested to investigate the question thoroughly can consult the Bibliography under the following entries: N. Elias, R. C. Elliot, V. Fissore, P. Fitting, V. Fortunati, J. Huntington, P. Parrinder, E. P. Peyton, and D. Suvin.
I have limited myself to identifying the recurrent topics in the most representative dystopian novels. The reader easily recognises that there are many recurrent elements in works belonging to the genre, such as the destruction of books, or the regimentation of life, but they are either part or a direct consequence of the key theme of dystopian novels: the destruction of the individual.