These novels all play with the Greek translation of the word, utopia, which can mean "no place" or something that is impossible to establish. It is this concept that these three 20th century writers all recognized. In the three novels, the authors depict societies in which an authoritarian state has been established and deemed perfect. However, in each case there is literally "no place" for the individual to exist. The negativity expressed about government and individuality by these authors suggests that they no longer h

The similarities between these works are prolific. The novelists recognize what is most important to individuals and governments and play with those items. For these works, the ideas of reproduction, uniformity/conformity, structure, watchers or spies, dissenters, and technology take center stage in the novels. Each novel also contains a prophetic character either part of the culture or outside of it who challenges the beliefs and is either forced to conform or destroys himself.

The party members had become dehumanized due to their lack of genuine emotions for each other. In our relationships with others is where we truly express who we are as individuals. To be constantly spied on and controlled prevents people from being individuals.

And yet to the people of only two generations ago, this would not have seemed all important, because they were not attempting to alter history. They were governed by private loyalties which they did not question. What mattered were individual relationships...The proles, it suddenly occurred to him, had remained in this condition...The proles had stayed human. (Orwell 165)

Although Zamyatin could not have known the exact course of events that would exist in the two decades following the Bolshevik Revolution, he recognized the need of the government to manipulate and control the citizens which could only result in a dystopia. It is the state's way of controlling the individual that dystopia novels such as We, 1984, and Brave New World take issue with in their attempts to warn their audiences. Although writing at different times during the development and reality of the Soviet Union, Zamyatin, Orwell, and Huxley all point to the same problems in the individual societies that they establish in their novels. For Zamyatin, he has One State controlled by the Benefactor. Orwell establishes Oceania under the watchful eye of Big Brother. Huxley's World State has Ford as its supreme leader. In all three cases the figurehead is not real, but the citizens are belied into believing in this figure with all their hearts. These dystopia novelists all knew that humans have to have something to work for and believe in so they establish supreme rulers and powerful enemies as a way of bringing the citizens together, much like Stalin did during WWII.

Personal choice did not factor into this equation the least bit. The people were told that they had to sacrifice for the good of all. The party promised that when the civil war was over and the new economy created, workers would have time and control over their own lives (Hingley 164-165). This was the most amazing lie of all. The central government continued to find ways of telling the population that they needed to cooperate for now and then, in time, their individual lots would be better. Because, particularly under the totalitarian and paranoid control of Stalin, the now centralized government was never willing to allow any sense of freedom to its citizens.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3688
Approximate Pages = 15 (250 words per page double spaced)