I think that ideas eventually run out of originality and circle back to the original idea. During this week's reading, many of Socrates’ suggestions for a place of perfection reminded me of some novels I’ve read depicting dystopian worlds. Disclaimer: There are spoilers ahead. You have been warned.
To begin, in The Giver by Lois Lowry censorship is a major theme. The novel is centered around a boy who is receiving memories withheld from the population! The government in The Giver is especially careful to censor the memories that may cause strife, anger, fear, sadness, etc. In the adults, this society is cemented. So, the government is especially strict with the youth. Socrates talks about verses to “obliterate” to prevent the descriptions from doing “harm to our future warriors” for the better half of Book III (Plato, page 44). The warriors he speaks of are the youth. He goes on to list the multitude of verses that should be done away with to ensure the future of this made-up society.
Moving on, when Socrates says that “...we shall find a shoemaker to be a shoemaker and not a pilot...” (Plato, page 52), it made me think of Veronica Roth’s Divergent. After saying this, Socrates says if anyone is to encounter a person who can imitate multiple jobs, they are to be told “...that in our State such as he are not permitted to exist” (Plato, page 52). The government in Divergent only allows the people to be a part of one faction. If they are “divergent” and can be in multiple factions, they're done away with.
These are just some of the connections I made. What do you think? Which parallels did I miss?
P.S. I replied to Haylee Lynd's post and Kaitlyn Terry's post!
Yes! Yes! Yes! I almost wrote about this! I thought the same thing! Also, in "The Giver," the citizens are watched from a young age so that the leaders may decide what profession they are best fit for, and those children are forced into their position at the "Ceremony of Twelve." Socrates describes something very similar when he says that the citizens will be watched from a young age so that they may know who is the best for to be a leader, guardian, etc.
ReplyDelete*fit(instead of for)
DeleteAs I was reading the beginning of your blog post I thought of the parallel to “Divergent” and then I was very happy that you enjoined it. “Divergent” is one of my favorite books and I can definitely see the parallels. In “Divergent” the government censored multiples things which I think is interesting compared to “The Republic”. The government censored lots of information about the past world, the world outside, and information about divergents. The government or organization, which the reader will eventually learn, defended itself by saying that it was for the sake of the experiment (spoilers, sorry...) which is very similar to what Socrates implies. I believe if questioned Socrates would say that it was censored for the sake of order, the people, and the experiment.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, it's been a few years since I've read Divergent, so i forgot the obvious parallels between The Republic and Divergent. I'm glad you mentioned it, because I completely forgot about it. It's also very interesting how prevalent themes of censorship are in modern writing. One of my favorite books (Fahrenheit 451) is about censorship and how it's terrible for a society. Something about government censorship just makes for good reading, and I can't quite put my finger on it
ReplyDeleteI LOVE HUMANS! I love the differences they all have and how everyone fits into different boxes! It is so neat to me when there's one individual who plays instruments (band kid) but also does sports (jock) but also loves reading (nerd herd)! The Mean Girls cliques don't cause harmony but rather strife. What I love about the one Utopia we'll get to see one day in Heaven is that we'll still have our personalities and differences, but they will all be perfectly harmonic in Christ!
ReplyDeleteI love all the parallels that can be made with our modern day dystopian novels!! I thoroughly enjoy a good dystopian novel, and Socrates seems to have the perfect introduction to a perfectly dystopian society. It fills me with such joy to see others making the same connections I did!
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing the way Stories carry through the years. The thing that lacks most in The Republic is this sense of individuality. One thing that drives me and has been taught to me is the necessary respect for individual human dignity. there are many ideas oof perfection but most ideas in novels involve restriction of individual liberty and personal skills. I am so impressed by God's view of the perfect society. When looking at God's view of heaven in revelation there seems to be less control and freedom from sin and sin nature. God understands how necessary free will is to love. You cannot love if you are forced to love. God desires for us to choose to love him. That is what is so incredibly perfect about our Trinity.
ReplyDelete