According to The New York Times, there is currently
a surge of interest in classic dystopian novels such as Orwell’s 1984 and
Animal Farm, Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, P.D. James' The Children of Men, and Goldings' The Lord of the Flies. I find this puzzling. Apparently people want to read grim stories
about authoritarian societies because they believe Western democracies are
headed in that direction. But beware! Morbid fascination with dystopias will
help make them come to pass, and we should never, never, never resign ourselves
to the inevitability of a world without personal liberties, especial in the US
and Europe. So I want to ask the people who are reading these novels --- why be
so pessimistic? Wouldn’t it make more sense to read classic literature that encourages
us to be strong and resilient? Stories that inspire us to fight against these
forces of totalitarianism and fascism, novels about people of spirit and
courage who overcome the forces of destruction? If we would change the world,
we must begin by changing ourselves, as the sages have been telling us for
centuries. And as an alternative to all this negative futurism I recommend the novels of D. H. Lawrence who believed the hope for humanity rests with the individual's inherent capacity for love.
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