Society has a way of dealing with problems in times of distress. In some ways it is to ignore the problem outright, in others it is to induce mass panic, but in either way society has a tendency to take on an "every man for himself" mentality. It is amazing how people can turn into monsters in times of chaos, leaving others behind to fend for themselves. These concepts are explored in the works The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon, Blindness by Jose Saramago, 1984 by George Orwell and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
When catastrophic situations are happening out of our reach either in another part of the world or to a different society of people, the natural reaction is to ostrich- to stick heads in the sand and pretend that nothing is happening. This problem is not happening to us, so why should we care? This type of isolation is apparent in The Crying of Lot 49 and 1984. Both Oedipa and Winston find themselves alone in a conspiracy surrounding them that is determined to......
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