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Navneet Kaur

Professor Wilson

ENGL-123-2985

19 April 2018

In A Dystopian Society

“Human connections are deeply nurtured in the field of shared story,” states Jean

Houston. When people can relate to one another then there is a larger possibility of them

connecting on an emotional level. This connection is customarily present when someone is

struggling. Human suffering can connect us despite the differences in culture, race, or social

status. Cloud Atlas is a complicated yet an epic novel by David Mitchell. Cloud Atlas is

composed of series of six novellas that are set over a span of centuries, yet all six novellas are

connected by theme or imagery. Each novella has a different genre and style of writing

depending on the setting of the section. This novella that will be examined in this essay is called

“An Orison of Sonmi~451.” Mitchell uses dystopian fiction to show that human suffering

connects us because it is something everyone can relate to.

Dystopian fiction displays worlds where worst of the society have been magnified. These

types of novels often include characteristics such as “controlling government, a large gap

between poor and rich communities, the use of technology for mind control or censorship, or a

destroyed environment” (Hahn). In a dystopian novel, it is common for the natural world to be

eliminated and for the citizens to live in a dehumanized way. Citizens in this society conform to

the expectations. Every citizen is expected to be obedient and to believe the government without

questioning anything. Individuality and rebelling is considered sedition. Citizens usually have no

power and freedom and are under constant surveillance. Foreshadowing and conflict are the
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common features of this genre writing. The writer often intends to expose the reader to the

suffering the citizens of the dystopian society face. In Dystopian Fiction East and West:

Universe of Terror and Trail, author Erika Gottlieb demonstrates that writers who write about

totalitarian government always find the worst of all worlds not in a hypothetical future but in the

historical reality of the writer’s present or past. Dystopian novels act as a warning for a

nightmare world that should not occur. According to Gottlieb, dystopian fiction is like a

dysfunctional family that maintains its framework but fails to fulfill its function to advance the

good of each member of the society because they lack the very qualities for it. Dystopian fiction

is an essential way to illustrate the future and through that it makes us imagine what in the

present could lead to that dystopian society in the future. After reading a dystopian novel

“readers are often faced with the question of whether the end really does justify the means”

(Hahn). The protagonist often in this genre is often struggling. The protagonist often does

something against the norm to escape their sufferings. Human suffering is something that shows

up frequently in this section.

A major theme in “An Orison of Sonmi~451” and Cloud Atlas is that human suffering

connects us to others despite race, culture, or social status. David Mitchell makes the theme show

up in the entire book. This connection of human to others through human suffering is important

because this indicates empathy. Humans having empathy is what makes us different from other

animals. Through this, Mitchell wants to indicate that there is a sense of hope even in a dystopian

society. If human continue to show empathy, it will be impossible for a dystopian society to last

forever. Suffering creates a connection between humans because everyone has suffered at some

point in their life; therefore, when we see someone else suffering as well, we feel bad for them.

This feeling creates a connection among us that no power can break. When the union stands up
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for the fabricants to fight against the torture they undergo, it implies that no force in a dystopian

society can break the bond of emotional connection between humans that suffering creates.

Suffering in a society where everything that happens is opposite of a perfect society, suffering is

sensible.

In a dystopian society, the obvious thing is that it is a nightmare. Nightmare causes

suffering. In a dystopian society, there is always a group that suffers. In “An Orison of

Sonmi~451,” it is the fabricants that suffer. The technological advancement makes pureblood

ignorant of the conditions of fabricants and what they go through, which is completely unethical.

The technology in this society has progressed remarkably that most humans have forgotten what

it means to human. Fabricants are treated as slaves and when they are no use, instead of retiring

them, they are murdered and recycled. In a dystopian society, one group has the majority of the

power. When the power is abused it causes another group to suffer. In this section, it is the

purebloods who have this power and abuse it. They abuse the power by totally controlling what

happens to fabricants. Their power makes them blind of the suffering the fabricants are

compelled to face throughout their working life and after. The union witnesses this injustice and

goes against the norms by going against the government to fight for justice for the fabricants.

Therefore, these features of dystopian society are evident in “An Orison of Sonmi~451.”

“An Orison of Sonmi~451” is a story set in the future which is essential because the

society described in this story is a dystopian society. Mitchell develops the character in a way

that the reader can connect. Appeal to emotions is the main feature Mitchell uses to illustrate

how events occurring in the present can lead to a dystopian society, which will be disastrous. The

invention of a new language with abbreviation indicates how in this society everything is about

efficiency. In addition, this new language made fabricants incapable of gaining the knowledge
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that purebloods have. The use of figurative language provides a better description of how a

dystopian society looks like. In addition, the reference to historical events in “An Orison of

Sonmi~451” makes it evident that what is happening in the present will lead to the dystopian

society described in “An Orison of Sonmi~451.” Although the point-of-view is not relevant in

this kind of genre, Mitchell makes a good decision by narrating this section in Sonimi~451’s

point-of-view. Yet, this point-of-view keeps the focus on the abstract society, it is also effective

because it makes her society unbiased. As a fabricant she is conditioned to tell the truth, thus the

story the narrators the must be true. In addition, she knows she will be executed no matter what

since in the beginning, Archivist tells her that, “please remember, this isn’t an interrogation, or a

trial” (Mitchell 185). At the end of the interview, she states, “my narrative is over. Switch off

your silver orison. In two hours enforcers will escort me into the Litehouse” (Mitchell 349). This

implies that since Sonmi~451 knows she will be executed at the end no matter what, she has

nothing to lose; therefore, she will most likely tell the truth. Author Erika Gottlieb mentions that

in a dystopian fiction, authors often reference events, objects, or concepts in the current world or

reference historical events. Mitchell does the same in Cloud Atlas to create a form of symbolism

to illustrate how extraterrestrial beings or advanced technology in “An Orison of Sonmi~451” is

present in the current world, but it is just used to an extreme level in the future world; therefore,

the dystopian future in “An Orison of Sonmi~451” is possible. For example, Papa Song parallels

some fast food place in the current world. Scientists today have the technology to create clones,

but it not occurring because at the moment it is considered unethical. This unethical behavior of

pureblood leads fabricants to suffer substantially in this society.

Human suffering connects all people, regardless of status, race, or other cultural

differences is the essential theme that appears in “An Orison of Sonmi~451” and all the other
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sections of Cloud Atlas. Somni~451 understands what the union is fighting for after visiting the

slaughterhouse. She discovers that fabricants who reach the end of their serviceable lives and

retire are killed and recycled. She states that the purpose of this carnage is “the economics of

corpocracy. The genomics industry demands huge quantities of liquefied biomatter, for

wombtanks, but most of all, soap” (Mitchell 343). After this visit, Sonmi~451 acknowledges that

fabricants not only suffer when they are alive but also after they are killed. This connection leads

her to join the union. She states, “I, only I, wrote Declarations over three weeks…” which

indicates that the suffering of other fabricants allows Sonmi~451 to connect to them and

encourages her to rise to make a change (Mitchell 347). This theme rises in other sections as

well. In “The Pacific Journal of Adam Journals,” Adam Ewing connects to Autua when he

witnesses him beaten up. “The beaten savage raised his slumped head, found my eye & shone me

a look of uncanny, amicable knowing!” (Mitchell 6) This illustrates the theme in this section.

Although the status, race, and culture of Autua and Adam Ewing is totally different, Ewing can

connect with Autua because of the human suffering. Adam develops empathy for Autua, which

creates a connection between them. Therefore, at the end of the novel, Ewing pledges to work

with the abolitionists. This theme also shows up in “The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish.”

Cavendish gains empathy from others at the Aurora House after he suffers from the stroke. He

states his friends “were nice to me solely because in the Kingdom of the Dying the most

Enfeebled is the common Maginot Line against the Unconquerable Fuhrer” (Mitchell 355).

Although at this point Cavendish believes that they are being sympathetic towards him only

because he is dying, this incident of others being nice to Cavendish when he is suffering leads to

being friends and eventually working together and escaping the Aurora House. Many events that

take place in this novel resemble how other authors illustrates a dystopian society in their novel.
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“An Orison of Sonmi~451” can be compared to a masterpiece written by Aldous Huxley

in 1932 called Brave New World. This novel is about an imaginary World State set in the future.

The motto of the society is “Community, Identity, Stability.” Brave New World is a world in

which individuality has been diminished and the world is organized in a dehumanized manner. In

“An Orison of Sonmi~451” fabricants/clones are created through bioengineering. Similarly, in

Brave New World, “human eggs are fertilized in laboratories and then incubated under varying

conditions for the mass production of people.” The idea of being born from a womb is

considered obscene and primitive. In “An Orison of Sonmi~451” fabricants are manufactured to

work as menial laborers such as a chain-restaurant server. In Brave New World, the society is

shaped to fill their social caste roles as Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, or Epsilons. The social

caste one belongs to determines the role he/she plays in the society. Since everyone is

conditioned to play their assigned role, they all are satisfied and content completing their

assigned role. There is on class conflict because everyone is assigned their role and no one

understands how it feels be the other caste. Moreover, one major similarity between “An Orison

of Sonmi~451” and Brave New World is the drug they use. In “An Orison of Sonmi~451” the

fabricants are given a drug called Soap which contains, “amnesiads designed to deaden

curiosity” (Mitchell 186). In Brave New World, if anyone feels sad or anxious, they take the drug

called Soma. It is an included ingredient such as euphoria that allows people to “escape from

reality” and not feel the pain for a long period (Arnhart). In “An Orison of Sonmi~451” the

fabricants lives belong to service the purebloods. In Brave New World, the society is conditioned

to believe that “everyone belongs to everyone else” (Arnhart). If some individual tries to revolt

in “An Orison of Sonmi~451,” he/she is executed; thus, that one person does not corrupt the

entire society. Similarly, in Brave New World, if a person tries to go against the norms of the
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society then he/she can be exiled to distant islands. The custom of getting rid of the person who

is disobedient is common in dystopian novels.

Another novel which shares the same genre as “An Orison of Sonmi~451” is The

Handmaid’s Tale. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is a dystopian novel set in the

Republic of Gilead, a fundamentalist Christian theocracy. In this book life for women is similar

to the life of women in history. They cannot own property, they do not have a job, and they are

totally dependent on men for survival. In this novel, there is a state security force called The

Eyes. Their job is to do citizen surveillance. If anyone is suspected of disloyalty to their

government, the person is hauled away for questioning. The eyes often disguised as lower-level

government employees, thus they can spy for effectively. The handmaids in this book which is

what the main character, Offred is, must wear a headpiece that keeps them from seeing and from

being seen. Offred describes her experience by stating, “given our wings, our blinkers, it’s hard

to look up, hard to get the full view, of the sky, of anything…we have learned to see the world in

gasps” (Atwood 30). This is similar to the view the fabricants have in “An Orison of

Sonmi~451.” The fabricants have no knowledge of what happens to them after their working life

is over. They only know what the purebloods tell. In both novels, the group that suffers has a

limited view of reality. Moreover, in The Handmaid’s Tale, the women are assigned roles and

names. Assigning them names is taking their identity away. Our name is our identity.

Analogously, in “An Orison of Sonmi~451,” fabricants are names are numbers and they can be

easily replaced. Ward examines the book and states, “a main focus of The Handmaid's Tale is the

ways in which sex dominates society and power relations.” Domination in society leads people

without power to suffer. This suffering by the minority creates an emotional connection between

humans which creates a reason for revolution. Both are a dystopian novel by different authors
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and written at different periods, yet with similar themes. There is a theme in book novels that

human suffering connects all people, regardless of status, race, or other cultural differences.

Every handmaid is assigned to a commander to have a baby for the commander and his wife.

They are basically surrogate mothers. Another character, Nick, the Commander's chauffeur,

connects with Offred after acknowledging that how handmaids are treated and used is

unscrupulous.

David Mitchell uses dystopian fiction to elucidate that human adversities connect us

regardless of culture, race, or status. He is trying is portray that despite the character in the novel

are from tremendously diverse cultures, they possess a common story because the adversities

they face are similar. This creates a connection between all the characters that are suffering since

they can relate to one another because they know how it feels to be in the other person’s shoes.
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Work Cited

Arnhart, Larry. "Brave New World." Ethics, Science, Technology, and Engineering: A Global

Resource, edited by J. Britt Holbrook, 2nd ed., vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 2015,

pp. 289-292. Gale Virtual Reference Library, http://0-

link.galegroup.com.library.4cd.edu/apps/doc/CX3727600117/GVRL?u=plea38277&sid=

GVRL&xid=b884d7f2. Accessed 23 Apr. 2018.

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. Houghton Mifflin, 1986. Print.

Gottlieb, Erika. Dystopian Fiction East and West: Universe of Terror and Trial. MQUP, 2001.

EBSCOhost, 0-

search.ebscohost.com.library.4cd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=624772&s

ite=eds-live.

Hahn, Allison, MID. "Utopian and Dystopian Fiction." Salem Press Encyclopedia of Literature,

2016. EBSCOhost, 0-
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search.ebscohost.com.library.4cd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=113931281&

site=eds-live.

Mitchell, David. Cloud Atlas. New York: Random House, 2004. Print.

Ward, Allyna. "The Handmaid's Tale." Histories of Everyday Life in Totalitarian Regimes,

edited by Thomas Riggs, vol. 2: Effects of Totalitarianism, St. James Press, 2015, pp.

353-356. The Literature of Society Series. Gale Virtual Reference Library, http://0-

link.galegroup.com.library.4cd.edu/apps/doc/CX3622800249/GVRL?u=plea38277&sid=

GVRL&xid=d3901557. Accessed 8 Apr. 2018.