By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: The biggest “Duh” heard round the world is that Science Fiction Dystopia is a popular pop culture, arts, and entertainment subject right now. Well who can blame the creators when this Presidential Administration is under the mistaken illusion that The Handmaid's Tale, 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, Idiocracy, Blade Runner, The Matrix, The Truman Show, and every episode of The Outer Limits and Black Mirror ever were instruction manuals and how-to documentaries? What was once imagined as a possible future nightmare is now becoming a reality and the future is far scarier than any author, filmmaker, artist, or show runner could ever imagine. This and the next review explore Science Fiction Dystopias that take different approaches to character, plot, and setting.
S.L. Hayes's Beneath The Umbrella explores how a society based on fear and oppression can control and manipulate anything including the population’s thoughts, dreams, and memories.
Airus Vaughn Lamar is one of several people forced to live beneath The Veil, a facility owned by HAVEC, the only remaining governmental authority. To protect his friend Tarika from harm, Airus joins a group of guards called the Tithes. When Tarika is taken, Airus is exposed to the secrets behind HAVEC’s inner workings.
Hayes explores how an organization like HAVEC has complete control over their people. Even though Airus clearly hates living there, he is not interested in fighting the system, just surviving within it. People are scanned for information and rations are earned through obedience. It is not uncommon for someone to be taken by a guard and subjected to torture, interrogation, assault, and brainwashing.
Airus’ decision to become a Tithe is made out of pragmatism. Everyone in The Veil is given rations for service so Airus reasons that he should become a stellar team player to obtain rations for himself and Tarika. It is a reward and punishment system in which even basic necessities like food can be completely denied if one does not meet some high arbitrary standards.
Then there is the suppression of information and personal memories. People are ordered to remain within The Void and only Tithes are permitted to leave but only on assignment. Those who are on the outside are considered afflicted and the world is said to be a desolate wasteland. Since learning is restricted, the people in The Void don't know enough to argue.
Those who were born and raised in The Void have nothing to compare it to and those like Airus who arrived there have minds altered so they can't remember their lives outside. Family, friends, childhood, work, even last names change or disappear. Even if they hate living there, they mentally have no alternatives to compare their lives to. It's hard to think of another better life when you don't have an idea of what that life could look like in contrast to the one that you currently live in.
In a few terrifying moments, Airus is completely gaslit by his commanders. He is conditioned to follow them subconsciously even when he doesn't want to. He forgets basic information like his last name. When people around him question Tarika’s very existence, he can't find the means to disagree with them that yes she was a real person that he loved and cared about.
It's also worth noting how HAVEC has a cult-like mentality over their people. All of the signs of a cult are present including isolating members, withholding information especially that which contradicts, absolute authority, us vs. them mentality, punishment and shunning, and thought and emotional control.
In this day and age where American politics and religion are intertwined ever further and politicians and the followers frequently speak in religious and Apocalyptic terms, it is very easy to imagine an authoritarian government having power over their people externally and internally.
They don't just control what people learn, say, work, and live. The ultimate control is from the inside what we think, feel, believe, and remember. That is complete dominance.
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