Different societies possess attributes that steer the vibe of the community. Created by organized government, laws attempt to create a harmonious and civil coalition of people while addressing the majority’s necessities and desires. Nonetheless, government fails to produce a balance of restrictions, thus fabricating dystopian conditions instead of utopian conditions. Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem, William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, and Kurt Vonnegut’s short story ”Harrison Bergeron” employ fictional environments that depict the imbalance of restrictions. The authors desire to portray that a governing body cannot restrict humanity’s innate characteristics such as individualism, savagery, selfishness, and curiosity. In William Golding’s Lord ofthe Flies, a plane transporting adolescents crashes into an island. The children produce a governing body headed by Ralph in conjunction with a hunting organization headed by Jack.
Ralph attempts to form numerous restrictions to reinforce a strict and rigid organization where sacrifices are made for the betterment of all. Allowing Jack to seize power of the island, Ralph’s administration fails because the presence of selfishness that resides in people cannot coexist with collectivist ideals. Since humanity relies on individualism and egoism, a person values his or her desires more than another person’s desires, thus preventing the success of absolute conformity. When Jack implements his relaxed policies, an anarchic society emerges in which violence and gore dictate decisions made by the children. Similar to the youngsters’ on the island, Everyone’s persona entails savagery that influences future decisions because all people are fallible and flawed. William Golding utilizes this fictional domain to depict the impracticality that arises from lawless society while capturing the hopelessness derived from collective and strict policies.
Ayn Rand’s Anthem captures the ineptitude of collectivist ideologies through a lens focused on Equality 7-2521’5 struggle with the government. His encounter with advance technology from the past era evokes curiosity, thus resulting in the light bulbs reinvention. Presenting his knowledge to the governing body induces disgust and hatred towards Equality 7-2521 because the scholars did not unanimously create the information. Additionally, Equality 7-2521 abandons his assigned responsibility to violate the brotherhood’s wishes. Rand employs Equality 7-2521’s struggle to illustrate the disadvantages of a rigid society because her experiences in Communist Russia implemented animosity for collectivist philosophy. She aspires to relay the impracticality of conformity since curiosity and individualism reside in all people. Preventing the fulfillment of desires, Conformist policies require citizens to place the community before themselves.
People desire to obtain a unique identity through acting on their curiosity, thus resulting in the failure of collectivist and conformist civilizations. Comparable to Anthem, Kurt Vonnegut’s ”Harrison Bergeron” illustrates the failure of conformist philosophies to establish a mediocre standard. Attempting to create an equal standard, the governing legislature mandates all people with superior attributes to obtain and to wear physical handicaps. Eventually, Harrison Bergeron, an extremely superior man, voluntarily sheds his numerous handicaps in an attempt to seize power from the repressive rulers. Bergeron’s struggle with this conformist system conveys the inability to shape a person into something that he does not desire. Pushing superior people to a lower standard, the government does not realize the harm in creating a mediocre but egalitarian society. Vonnegut indicates that a limit forms when government restricts the abilities of its citizens.
Through honing the best qualities from each person, society could advance and progress while benefiting all citizens instead of confining the potential of humanity. Attempting to restrain humanity’s characteristics results in failure due to the presence of individualism, selfishness, savagery, and curiosity in all people. Vonnegut, Rand, and Golding utilize their characters to reveal the harm dealt from absolute conformity and collectivism. Their literature informs readers that a harmonious community must achieve an ideal balance of power and restrictions. A superfluous quantity of laws restricts identity and curiosity, while an insufficient quota of laws magnifies selfishness and savagery. Governing bodies must install a excessive or inadequate amount of laws because the perfect balance can never be achieved, thus eliminating the possibility for a utopia to emerge.
