What books could I study with this statement?

[kelby_lake]

Power-systems work by suppressing individuality.

The core text is supposed to be The Handmaid's Tale. I thought maybe compare with The Crucible but I need another work...

[Nightshade]

Umm I could be streaching it some but Brave New world?
But that is more suppressing indivduality than power systems.
:D

[kelby_lake]

Brave New World's too obvious, I have decided :)

[Nightshade]

huh... ok.... well there is a set of recoomedned texts for comparing to he handmaid's tale.
So you are looking for a dystopian novel where the 'baddies' rely on suppressing indivduality and widespread brainwashing to control people?

[mollie]

1984 would also work but is also too obvious, I guess?

[Paulclem]

Animal Farm - Shooting an Elephant - Orwell

[Albatross of Hu]

Fahrenheit 451 ?????

[kiki1982]

Maybe I am repeating myself, and maybe this is too controversial, but I would take a stab at Kasimir und Karoline by Horváth, if it is allowed to be a play.

The hypnotism of the zeppelin (social rise) is so much present, that, one year before Hitler really came to power, it is sad to see that none of those characters is aware that something huge like that (Nazi Germany), and something huge for Europe and the entire world will happen in just under a year. And all those Jews killed, all those people sent into death on the Eastern front, why? Because German society was obsessed by enjoying themselves... They were wrapped up in their own cocoon too much to see what was happening to the country as a whole.

The play is a snapshot of society then, and its priorities. So, it does qualify for this statement, in unison with what happened to Germany after. As that play is a piece of Volkstheater (People's theatre), it is very much set in a contemporary context, so even if the play does not conclude with what happened after the play took place, the after-context is still relevant in my view.

But as I said, maybe you decided already on something else, or that combination is just too controversial...

[FalseReality]

The film Full Metal Jacket comes to mind. Based on Gustav Hasford's The Short-Timers

[JBI]

Lolita.

[Barbarous]

Lolita.

excellent choice, I'd take this.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Jane Eyre would work to a degree and might be a more unusual choice.

[kelby_lake]

excellent choice, I'd take this.

My favourite book :) But what comparisons could I make?

I'd like to rule out any science fiction dystopias, as I want to tackle the statement in different ways. Therefore perhaps someone could suggest a work that focuses on the power system which suppresses individuality?

It's sort of a political question but of course there are psychological control aspects as well. I was thinking of maybe using Oleanna as one- what do you think?

I was quite pleased with The Crucible actually as although it's historically correct, it feels like a made-up dystopia.

[TheFifthElement]

What about Anthem by Ayn Rand (any Rand in general I guess but Anthem has the advantage of being quite short!)

[kelby_lake]

What about Anthem by Ayn Rand (any Rand in general I guess but Anthem has the advantage of being quite short!)

Have heard bad things about her writing...

[mollie]

Whatever you've heard, no matter how bad, is an understatement.

[Barbarous]

I always thought it was silly how Rand deemed Immanuel Kant to be 'the most evil man in history' :lol:

[TheFifthElement]

Have heard bad things about her writing...

I haven't read anything else by Rand and I don't know if you'll like the book or not but it does quite closely fit your theme. Apparently it is quite freely available on the web now so you could 'try before you buy' - see here: http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/texts/anthem/complete.html

[FanofdeBeauvoir]

How about Bertrand Russel's The Scientific Outline? It is the book that inspired Brave New World.

[five-trey]

Native Son - Richard Wright
Invisible Man - Ralph W. Ellison

The latter is probably more apropos, but Native Son poses a more intriguing discussion. Bigger Thomas is so divested of individuality and freedom by the white power structure that murder becomes his sole form of expression; therefore, 'the system' is the cause for its own plight.


The Great Gatsby - Fitzgerald

The power structure of high society suppresses its own individuality.

[prendrelemick]

Why not go right to the source. Thomas Moore's Utopia

Supposed to be an ideal society, but where is the individual. Distopian societies are often the result of trying to create a Utopia.

[mollie]

Why not go right to the source. Thomas Moore's Utopia

Good idea!

[LitNetIsGreat]

I'm not sure Thomas Moore's utopia would work that well with the given statement to be honest, it's a very influential piece written by quite a remarkable man, but matching it up to the given criteria I am not so sure really.

I still think that Jane Eyre would be interesting and quite easy to do, I once wrote a Marxist essay on it myself, which is why I suggested it. Really you could look at the power institutions such as the church and education and how that holds down individuality. You could also include the cutting of the hair as a symbol of individuality which is denied Helen and Jane and all sorts of stuff.

Personally I'm a bit bored with the novel, I have wrote a couple of essays on it and taken it as far as I want to, but it would certainly work with the given criteria. Though there are many novels which would work well of course. Good luck with it what ever you go with. :)

[kelby_lake]

Native Son - Richard Wright
Invisible Man - Ralph W. Ellison

The latter is probably more apropos, but Native Son poses a more intriguing discussion. Bigger Thomas is so divested of individuality and freedom by the white power structure that murder becomes his sole form of expression; therefore, 'the system' is the cause for its own plight.

The Great Gatsby - Fitzgerald

The power structure of high society suppresses its own individuality.

We're already doing Gatsby for relationships, otherwise I'd've done it.

Invisible Man looks interesting- American suggestions would be helpful. I don't want anything that I have to spend days slugging through- it has to be a good book as well. Power system could be political or psychological but preferably both, so we can see the effect on a society.

Any suggestions which look at a power system which tries to oppress individuality would be complimentary as well, I think.

[mollie]

Kelby_lake, would a novel about a school work for you? Perhaps Hard Times, or something like that? It describes such an enclosed and defined system that it could be easily examined, and I think (been a while since I read it!) looks at some of the impacts on both society and the human psyche of the utilitarian philosophy. It is fairly short and a good book, and essays like "Such, such were the joys" and novels like Catcher in the Rye might be used as back up material?

[kelby_lake]

Kelby_lake, would a novel about a school work for you? Perhaps Hard Times, or something like that? It describes such an enclosed and defined system that it could be easily examined, and I think (been a while since I read it!) looks at some of the impacts on both society and the human psyche of the utilitarian philosophy. It is fairly short and a good book, and essays like "Such, such were the joys" and novels like Catcher in the Rye might be used as back up material?

A novel about a school might be interesting- I have some plays/novels in mind which use the idea of school as a way of talking about politics in general. Schools are highly political, although I'd rather not do Dickens or anything too lengthy. I want something...punchy, which provokes many questions.

I've got to compare it with The Handmaid's Tale, and I will probably choose The Crucible as one of the other books. 20th century America would be nice to explain politically where the book's coming from, but wouldn't mind a Shakespeare (I like Julius Caeser but don't know how to fit it in).

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Random thoughts:
The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
or something along the lines of Communism / Socialism.