Distopia/Datopia Trivia Quiz

Answer: Looking Backward

"Looking Backward" tells the story of Julian West, a modern day Rip Van Winkle, who falls asleep in Boston and wakes up 113 years later only to find a perfect socialistic society. All industries have been nationalized; an industrial army organizes the equitable production and distribution of goods and services; everyone retires with full benefits at 45 years of age; all citizens receive an equal amount of credit, and the nation is "the sole employer and capitalist". For all of its Marxist leanings, Bellamy's process seems to provide for cooperative societies where equality seems to be a dream fulfilled, and crime a mere aberration.

Answer: Sinclair Lewis

Of the famous authors listed above, it was Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951), novelist, satirist and playwright, who offered us the cautionary tale about "Buzz" Windripp, a United States Senator who is elected to the presidency on the basis of his platform for radical social and economic reforms, and a return to traditional American values (hmmm, sound familiar?). (Probably modeled after politician Huey Long) upon his election, Windripp eliminates the influence of the U.S. Congress, outlaws dissent, jails political enemies and employs and arms a paramilitary force to ensure that all the policies of his "corpo" government are enforced.

Answer: H.G. Wells

Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was an eclectic British writer who touched on any number of themes in his books, despite his appellation as one of the "fathers of science fiction". Aside from science fiction novels, he wrote about political themes, history, sociology and textbooks. "Things to Come" is set during Christmas 1940 when a 30-years war breaks out destroying the city of Everytown.

The war lasts so long that people have forgotten why they are fighting. Humanity enters a new "Dark Age", where everything is in ruins, virtually no technology is left, petty despots rule and a biological weapon is released causing a plague which wipes out half of humanity - pretty dystopian!

Answer: Anthem

"Anthem" was written in 1938 and is set in some future world where all children are separated from their parents and raised in collective homes. There are no personal pronouns, i.e., people refer to themselves as "we", "our" and "they", and everything from vocation to relationships is decided by committee. One day Equality finds a tunnel, apparently left from the "Unmentionable Times" and, without authority, continues to explore using the tunnel as a laboratory.

When he presents his findings to the World Council of Scholars, they reject his information as disruptive, so he and Liberty escape to the "Unchartered Forest" to find...themselves!

Answer: Eric Arthur Blair

Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950) was the birth name of the British novelist who went by the pseudonym of George Orwell. In 1933, Blair wrote his first book, "Down and Out in Paris and London" under the surname Orwell, derived from the River Orwell in East Anglia.

He was born in Bengal, India, and his father was a minor British official or, as Orwell put it, a member of the "landless gentry whose pretensions far exceeded his income". When his family returned to England in 1911, he was sent to a boarding school where he was different from the other students by virtue of his poverty and his intellect.

As he wrote, "all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others".

Answer: Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) wrote "Fahrenheit 451" in 1953, seemingly based on the fear of Communism spreading throughout the United States during the McCarthy Era, along with the suppression of free thought and eventual dismissal of all ideas not sponsored by the 'state'. Guy Montag, our protagonist, is a "fireman" who is hired to burn the possessions of those people discovered reading "outlawed books", but his chance meeting with a young free-thinker, his wife's overdose on sleeping pills and a book owner's self-immolation rather than give up her books, has Guy rethinking his job description and the values inherent in his society.

Answer: Anthony Burgess

John Anthony Burgess Wilson (1917-1993) was a prolific British writer and composer who authored "A Clockwork Orange" in 1962 under the pen name of Anthony Burgess. Aside from this novel, Burgess penned 32 other novels, 25 works of non-fiction, two autobiographies, three symphonies and more than 150 other musical works (and that was in just one weekend/j.k.). Alex is our protagonist; he is a young, charismatic, sociopath who loves Beethoven, rape and "ultraviolence", not necessarily in that order.

After a violent crime spree with his three droogs (buddies), he is caught and 'rehabilitated' through psychological conditioning - but the cure may be worse than the disease.

Answer: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Philip Kindred Dick (1928-1982) was an American novelist and short story writer whose works mostly belong under the heading of science fiction. It is interesting to note that, although he spent most of his life close to poverty, eleven films based on his work were produced. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" turned into "Blade Runner" in 1982 with Deckhard (Harrison Ford) continuing in his job as Replicant Hunter, assigned to eliminate the remaining Replicants, until he meets Rachel, a Replicant with whom he falls in love. Among Dick's other works transferred to the screen have been: "Total Recall", "Minority Report", "The Adjustment Bureau" and "Impostor".

Answer: The Children of Men

P.D. James is Phyllis Dorothy James (1920-2014). She was a British crime writer who came to fame with her detective mysteries about police commander Adam Dalgliesh. Her novels were written from 1962 ("Cover Her Face") through 2011 ("Death Comes to Pemberley").

Although "The Children of Men" is set in 2021, the events have their beginning in 1995, i.e., Year Omega. It seems that in 1994 the sperm count of human males went down to zero, leading to the likelihood of the extinction of mankind. The last people to be born are called the "Omegas" - spoiled and violent.

There is no interest in politics, a despot rules and Theo Faron writes in his journal and continues to hope...

Answer: Suzanne Collins

Suzanne Collins was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1962. She wrote the NY Times best selling series "The Underland Chronicles", and in 2008 "The Hunger Games", followed in 2009 by "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay" in 2010. The protagonist of the trilogy is 16 year old Katniss Everdeen who lives in the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem, where "the Capitol" exercises political control over the nation. "The Hunger Games" is an annual televised event where one boy and one girl (aged 12-18) from each of the 12 districts surrounding the Capitol are chosen by lottery to compete in a battle to the death.

A female hero in a post-apocalyptic society - how very modern!