Apocalypse: A “Classic” Tale

Like most pieces of apocalyptic literature, Elizabeth Paine says the Book of Revelation  “reads as if John had wrapped up all our worst fears—fears of violence, plague, wild animals, unimaginable horrors from the abyss… and war into one gigantic nightmare” (3).

Why are we so fascinated with this nightmare? Why are we so keen to see such death and destruction.

I propose two reasons: It can lead to the ultimate hero story (conquering death and winning against all odds) and it shows the fundamental worldviews of the people writing and reading the story at that time.

In apocalyptic literature, there is usually a group of survivors at its end. From Christians to zombie-killers, these people are chosen, either by God for their faith, or by best-selling authors for their scientific intelligence or compassion. The survivors’ characteristics often show what the story’s author and society as a whole sees as “redeeming” qualities. 

As for the catastrophe itself, the images of the end of the world are pretty malleable. Whether it’s an Ebola outbreak or nuclear war, how we imagine the end definitely reflects our fears and the monsters in the closet. So we’re scared and we’re fascinated of the earth’s end; because of its inevitability, we want to imagine how it plays out, who wins, and if we’re like those heroes.

For these reasons and more, apocalypses make great, and even “classic” stories. How many literary classics or high-school required reading featured the a kind of apocalypse? Lord of the Flies, Atlas Shrugged, Brave New World, Catch-22, and Fahrenheit 451 are some I read; you could probably think of many more.

According to Goodreads.com, 1984 was voted #1 for the most “Popular Classics to Read.” And considering the site is “the “world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations” with over 30 million members, our society sees a lot of importance this book.

On George Orwell’s 1984 book jacket, it reads that his “prophetic, nightmarish vision in 1949 of the world we were becoming is timelier than ever.” Whether in college classrooms or on conservative radio, “Big Brother” and “doublethink” are phrases that inspire both uneasy laughter and nightmarish imaginings of governmental surveillance. Many conservatives painted logos with Barack Obama as “Big Brother”: the corrupt and evil overseer. 1984’s ending is the most-haunting. Tears roll down the protagonist’s cheek, but “everything was alright…He loved Big Brother” (245). The good guy loses, and we give into this hopeless fact that the government wins.

These apocalyptic stories are powerful things. We view the characters as ourselves: we want to find out how to be a hero in what our apocalypse might be. As a New Yorker article asks,  we wonder “So Are We Living in 1984?” We ask ourselves this question and we view this book as a “classic” because of how apocalyptic myths reflect ourselves and our society.