The Different Traits of Characters and Plots Between Dystopian Novels and Films

By Alex Marie, Liam Poyo, Ammar Ul-Haq and Sam Geyer

Fig1: Dystopian World. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.lionarray.com/uploads/2/0/8/3/20833448/8867081.png?949>.

The Traits of the Characters In Dystopian Novelsthe protagonist is Brave

The antagonist ‘brainwashes’ people to make them see from their perspective

Unclear loyalties

Protagonist is the underdog

Protagonist endures and perseveres

BRAVERYThe protagonist in Divergent, Beatrice (A.K.A Tris) shows bravery by standing up against entire factions accompanied by just a few friends and family. There is a serum in her world which puts you through your greatest nightmares and Tris has only seven showing that she is not afraid of a lot of things.

While there is no single protagonist in animal farm who is major and lasts in the story, when the anima’s unite there is a lot of bravery and the animals together are the protagonists. There are some singe protagonists but they usually don’t last for example snowball who gets chased away and all animals must show bravery when overcoming people and other animals.

The Antagonist Controls people to do Their BiddingThis may not be the case in every single dystopian novel/film, but in Animal Farm and Divergent it is the case. In divergent the Antagonist uses a serum to control most people whereas in animal farm the half protagonist and half antagonist Napoleon uses his words to control the animals.

Unclear LoyaltiesIn most dystopian novels someone will betray the protagonists for example in Animal Farm napoleon seems to be a protagonist but then he betrays the other animals by taking control and starting a dictatorship.

In Divergent Al who is the friend of Tris betrays her by attacking her with a group of other people.

In lots of novels there are also characters who seem to be bad but are actually good.

The Protagonist is Usually the UnderdogIn Divergent Tris is the underdog as she is in combat against the leaders of factions meaning that they have lots of people and resources and she is a 16-17 year old girl.

in Animal Farm the animals are the first protagonists and they were the underdogs as they didn’t have the weapons or knowledge that the Humans had. Then the pigs who became the antagonists became the top dog as they had every animal following their orders.

The Protagonists Endure and Persevere Trials can be deadly

Ex. Animal Farm beating Mr. Jones

(The farmer)

Go against personality and physical abilities

Ex. Animal Boxer vs Clover

Sometimes they seem to be defeated but they keep going.

BibliographyOrwell, George. Animal Farm. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1954. Print.

Roth, Veronica. Divergent. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Fig1: Dystopian World. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.lionarray.com/uploads/2/0/8/3/20833448/8867081.png?949>.