Fictional books are quite interesting items, not only for their entertainment value, but what they can tell you about specific time periods at which they were written. While studying history we approached them as primary sources, which is possibly one of my favourite assignments. We were given a choice of certain books, and then told to analyze them in order to understand what was happening at the time it was written.
Examples of these books include Erskine Childers' "The Riddle of the Sands," Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," and George Orwell's "Animal Farm." Ultimately anything written takes on influences of the time at which it was written in. I find this extremely interesting.
"The Riddle of the Sands," which was published in 1903, focused on the arms race between Germany and Britain at this time. It shows the feelings of the English towards the Germans at this time and the fear that England was going to be invaded.
"Heart of Darkness" was published in 1899. It focuses on colonialism, racism, and savagery versus civilization. Ultimately it focuses on human nature and sides with Thomas Hobbes' theory that people are inherently born with certain characteristics, mostly leaning towards being nasty or brutish. This goes for all humans and that people, when coming together as a society leaving nature, create a social contract with each other which results in civilization. A reason for colonialism and bringing civilization to the uncivilized peoples that Europeans came across. At the time this book was written Africa was considered, "The Dark Continent" because it was ultimately unknown. As countries sent people further into the heart of the country they discovered all sorts of riches and the "Scramble for Africa" began.
"Heart of Darkness" delves into this western idea that they were civilized while others were not, thus, giving them the right to impose civilization onto others. It's interesting because his book dismisses this and explains that at their heart all humans are tainted with darkness, that the struggle to be civilized isn't between races but between an individual's soul. Obviously this is my interpretation, which I found other sources to agree with me; but, as with anything it is interpreted differently by every person.
"Animal Farm" explores totalitarian regimes through the use of animals. A charismatic leader comes to power, with a specific ideology. The government tries their hand at controlling all aspects of life through censorship and propaganda. There is mass surveillance and people are always living in fear, which is culminated with state-wide terror. A police unit that is always monitoring and instilling fear as individuals disappear throughout the night making others behave according to party lines. Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and Communist Russia are real life versions of this book.
The late 20th Century also has works of art that reveal an extreme amount about what society was going through such as "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" by John le Carré, and "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood. These three books written between the 60s and 80s, for example, feature topics relevant to their time of publication including racism and the Civil Rights Movement, the Cold War, and Backlash against Feminism in the 80s.
Hundreds of years from now, however, what will people see in our writings today? They are on the side of extreme fiction many bringing in zombies, vampires, and werewolves. Though society's values can still shine through, as has been shown in the past with "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" written by Robert Louis Stevenson, which was published in 1886. His work looks at Victorian values, which Dr. Henry Jekyll is a model citizen; but, he is repressing the urges to partake in societal taboos and in an attempt to hide this nature of himself creates a potion causing him to morph into a sickly looking man, Edward Hyde. Or "The Chrysalids" by John Wyndom published in 1955 which is set in a dystopian society following the fallout of a nuclear war, a fear during the Cold War, and the prejudice of one group towards another which could have been influenced by the feelings developing over Civil Rights at this time.
So, what do the popular writings of today say about society? Books such as Twilight, The Hunger Games, and The DaVinci Code have all been on the bestsellers list; but, how will these writings be interpreted? How do books in pop culture today explain the thoughts of our society or project significant events? I'm sure there are books written today which more accurately explain what we as a society are dealing with today; but, those found in the bestsellers list may not be the best examples. Is there a world event or social movement that should be influencing writing today?
From reading Twilight, The Hunger Games, and The DaVinci Code I might be inclined to believe that we are a society in need of finding love, obsessed with reality television while in fear of war destroying life as we know it, and questioning religion hinging on conspiracy theories. Then again that's just looking at the surface, there is always a deeper meaning within a book, so hopefully those studying our society as history will be able to look past this.
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