The author of the article argues that societies in the dystopian novels of Zamyatin, Huxley and Orwell are presented in a deeply religious paradigm. Dystopian societies are organized according to a theistic template, to which God's surrogates, new sins and heresies join. In all the novels considered, a dystopian god is found, acting as a parody of the Judeo-Christian God. Dystopian surrogate gods are a social force that is significant for writers, so the dystopian god appears to be the central figure in all the analyzed novels. The dystopian god suffers from the inferiority complex, since he is not a creator God. Consequently, he is just a social force and condemns any activity that is not focused on himself. The demand for the unceasing and exclusive respect of citizens distinguishes the dystopian
god from the Christian God. It can be argued that society becomes dystopian by worshipping idols. Zamyatin, Huxley and Orwell generally do not perceive Christianity as a threat or salvation from future danger. The real danger is represented by social principles that are idolatrously fixed in the Christian religious template. Dystopian societies are not just structured according to the Christian model, including religious ceremonies, figures of gods and priests,
but the plots of the novels repeat Christian history: the main character, being in paradise, commits sin and falls from grace, as a result of which he faces a choice between damnation and salvation. Anti-Utopian writers find that the greatest danger to society is socio-political idolatry, which is a dystopian substitute for Christianity.
For citation:
Mysovskikh L.O. Features of the representation of religion in the genre of the dystopian novel of the first half of the twentieth century, Ivanovo State University
Bulletin, Series: Humanities, 2023, iss. 3, pp. 30—37.