Parable - the Neighborhoods

The neighborhoods in the Parable remind me a lot so far of our ideal utopian communities we were discussing. They're almost completely separated from the outside world, and use a lot of their own resources to survive, only going leaving occasionally to do things they can't within their walls. That seems like the setup a lot of groups wanted to accomplish except surrounded by actual walls. Except that the people within the neighborhood don't have a choice on whether to stay there - they can't leave for fear of being shot or facing some other danger. 

It seems like the people in the neighborhood are living a pretty good life, that is aside from the occasional deaths. Lauren talks about how in the evenings they're usually just playing games or lounging on their porches, and although they talk about some food scarcity it seems like everyone has enough to survive. At the same time most of the inhabitants don't seem happy. Is it because they're worrying about the outside world and their safety? That's probably a part of it. They live within this situation day after day, so they must get used to it, at least enough that they don't actively worry about it that much. And judging by how Joanne and her parents reacted to her wanting to get ready most people are unwilling to accept that the neighborhood walls could fail. But I'm sure that the thought is always in the back of their minds, how could it not be? Either way their unhappiness could also stem from the fact that they're forced to be in this community with no option to leave. That gets what we discussed - that you can't lock someone into a utopian community - it's no longer a utopian community for them.

What do you guys think? Is there another reason I'm missing for their unhappiness? Do you think that (aside from the being surrounded by dangerous crazy people and not being able to leave) the neighborhoods function like a little utopian community?

Comments

  1. L. MoffittMay 20, 2021 at 9:07 AM

    Ah ha, that is an interesting observation! Here amidst the apocalypse is utopia. And yet -- it fails. Spectacularly. As you say, you can't lock someone into a utopian community. Perhaps you also can't lock people out of one.

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