Emotions in Dystopian Literature

In many futuristic stories, a corrupt government exists that has some method of controlling its people. Often this government will monitor people's actions, preventing them from engaging in rebellious behavior. Other effective methods include breaking strong connections to isolate people, and making people oblivious to their own lack of control. In The Handmaid' Tale, the intimate relationships between a parent and child or husband and wife are destroyed as the family unit is broken up into its most simple parts. Without these strong connections, people are less likely to disobey on the behalf of a loved one. A mother will do anything for her child, but if the pregnancy and birth are not even credited to her, and her baby is taken away immediately, she no longer has anything to fight for. The society in Brave New World also safely eliminates the family by growing humans in labs rather than relying on old fashioned reproduction. The very idea of a mother is scandalous, and the closed intimacy of a family is seen as antisocial. Rather than cultivating singular personal relationships, the people in Brave New World are encouraged to share themselves equally among the entire society, and are conditioned to believe that "everyone belongs to everyone else". This ensures that no one will become devoted to another, that they will remain focused on their own trivial pleasures. This eliminates strong, dangerous emotions and replaces them with safe, shallow happiness. The societies in both The Handmaid'sTale and Brave New World attempt to create a passionless population who will be complacet and obedient, but each takes a different approach to removing the romanticism from sexuality. In Atwood's novel, sex is used exclusively for reproduction, and the strange formality of the Ceremony removes all sensuality from the situation. The society in Brave New World takes a different and more effective approach. People are encouraged to fulfill their sexual needs so long as no special singular relationships are formed. Casual sex is normal and encouraged, while monogamous relationships are not allowed and are considered anti social. This removes all aspects of emotion while still giving people what they want. People in Brave New World are happy, so they see nothing wrong with their situations, and yet they have no real emotion or passion to make a change even if they wanted it.