The question of distopian philosophy, of the very idea of a society degenerating to a degree where all individualism is sacrificed for the sake of stability, is an intensively deep issue. The idea of the distopia is generated from the idea of the utopia, or "perfect community". Instead, the distopia is defined as the anti-utopia, the imperfect community. The basic distopian communities contain a few definite traits: One, the forsaking of the individual for the "benefit" of a stable society. Secondarily, the absence of the normality of generalized civilization filled by a controlling head force seeking a submissive society by way of ignorance. For example, in distopian novel Fahrenheit 451, books, one of the most important methods of passing down knowledge, are destroyed as a rule. In the novel 1984, the very act of thinking out of the accepted box is illegal, and the citizens under this society have never known there was any other way; the past is changed to represent the ideals of the leaders of the distopian society. In these ways, the distopian authors are able to reflect through their novels the chilling potential problems facing societies. In some distopian novels, the prospect of the distopian societies are built on the basis of a post-nuclear world war scene, which is a very large possibility and potential problem. In the distopian society presented by Lord of the Flies, it reflects a society governed by children and teenagers, while also drawing parallels to the adult societies. Therefore, while each distopia differs in its specific details and roots, they contain the defining aspects of the distopia, and in every society there are reflections of these aspects, however on different levels. And in every distopia, there are some aspects much more dangerous then others, while they all contribute to the imperfectness of the society as a whole. The idea of distopian societies is a very real issue and potential problem that must be known, evaluated, and guided away from to the best of our ability; while it is virtually impossible to rid a society of every trace of distopia, various factors can be used to minimize the risk. The first major issue of distopian societies is stability and control. This is usually acquired through ignorance. After all, if the citizens are unaware of the possibility of anything different, they have no reason to fight against it. However, ignorance of course will only protect the society from the rebellion of the masses. For example, in Lord of the Flies, the younguns were largely unaware of the situation developing around them, and then of the crimes and horrors being committed. In 1984, the vast majority of people accept what they see to be what always has been, and what is right. However, there will always be exceptions, people that begin to see through the charade. In 1984, the exception is Winston Smith. Winston begins to develop thoughts of independence, thoughts that by their very nature are "thoughtcrimes". Winston knows this, knows it's only a matter of time until he's caught, yet he does it anyway because he knows that somethings wrong. In Lord of the Flies, the exceptions are Ralph and Piggy; the ones who see through the charade and recognize the problems. It is in these situations, though, that the distopian societies exert their second wave of defense to maintain stability and control: force. In 1984, the "Party" has a wide variety of methods to accomplish this: from the telescreen to the Thought Police to the Spies, individualism is carefully monitored and disposed of whenever necessary. In Lord of the Flies, it is simple brute force exerted over those not willing to conform. In 1984 there is another interesting concept to achieve control: the representation of a common enemy, in this case, Goldstein and the 2 minutes hate. Quoting from the text on page 14: "The program of the Two Minutes Hate varied from day to day, but there was none in which Goldstein was not the principal figure. He was the primal traitor, the earliest defiler of the Party's purity. All subsequent crimes against the Party, all treacheries, acts of sabotage, heresies, deviations, sprang directly out of his teaching. Somewhere or other he was still alive and hatching his conspiracies". Obviously, every society must maintain some level of stability and control, but when does the search for stability become excessive? The distopian novels suggest the answer to be when individualism is crushed. Has our society gotten to this point? Of course not. Will it? We can't be sure; there are too many developing factors that could trigger it, such as a post-war atmosphere. However, even though our society has not come close to approaching that of the distopian societies, it does reflect, at times, the underlying issues. Even though our society is supposed to be ruled as a democracy, a "people's government", supporting freedom and individuality, every day this is challenged and questioned by different situations and scenarios. For example, prejudice; it's very nature fights against the themes of individualism, yet they are not illegal. But then, if they were illegal, does that not again present a situation of distopia? Prejudice, by itself is a thought, and while it is wrong, exerting control over it is also wrong, as reflected in 1984's "thoughtcrimes". In this way, elements of distopia are present in our society in either choice, therefore making it impossible to rid our society of the distopia. By keeping actions from prejudiced thoughts illegal, however, we are keeping the distopian elements in check, and in doing so preventing our society from degrading to the societies of the novels. Another example is that or morality versus individuality and freedom. Which takes precedence, freedom of speech or protecting our young impressionable minds against influencing elements the majority feels they should not be subject to (censorship)? At what point does censorship get out of control and become a problem relative to that of the distopian societies? These are the questions that must be kept in mind in order to steer our society and community away from the fate of the novels' societies. Finally, to protect ourselves from potential distopian degradation, we must carefully monitor the roots of our societies. This involves a few different aspects: monitoring the world's governments, keeping a careful study of history, and being watchful for developments of external societies. World governments are crucial; a "people's government" can never fully forsake the individual, because it is centered on the individual vote. However, a dictatorship can easily emerge into a distopia. History is important for several reasons, and this is depicted in the novel 1984. By knowing our past, we can study the mistakes of past societies and through them learn how to better our society and evolve it, rather then degrade it. However, if history is forgotten or destroyed, such as in 1984, then history is whatever the society's leaders want it to be. Quoting from the text on page 36, "Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date… "All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary." Lastly, the external societies provide the greatest risk and potential to form a distopian society. In Lord of the Flies, the society is based on the survivors of an airplane crash on a deserted island. In 1984, the reconstruction of the world following a post-war atmosphere is suggested. It is in these particular instances certain groups or people seeking absolute submissiveness and control, have the greatest opportunity to seize control and to create their distopic society. A modern-day potential example of this, perhaps, would be a colony on Mars, or elsewhere in space. Therefore, the possibility of distopian societies developing in our world is not impossible. Indeed, there are already traces of it in our own societies. It is this possibility, I believe, which motivated the authors of the various novels to create their own examples of such a world, and the horrors that would result. The forsaking of all individualism, something most of us take for granted, is something that perhaps we should not. However, with a watchful eye and careful evolution of our society and our world, the chance of our societies developing into fully fledged distopias are slim. As the afterword of 1984 states, "unless the course of history changes, men all over the world will lose their most human qualities, will become soulless animations, and will not even be aware of it"; it is a warning we should take to heart.