On October 21, 2008, Bioshock was revealed to the world as an immersive, morally challenging video game that not only tests a gamer’s abilities to yield a heavy weapon but also his ability to think about the consequences of his actions. Bioshock 2, a sequel to the first game, was released on February 9, 2010 with much excitement. Both games provide a first person point-of-view at the dystopian society of Rapture, a city where art, science, technology, and intelligence should have thrived. However, the experiment was not so successful.
Similarly, novels like George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged display dystopian societies where art, science, industry and culture are also all too oppressed. In both cases, the characters are forced to flee (physically and mentally) and express themselves in private where the watchful eyes of the government cannot hurt them. And in both cases, just as in Bioshock, the end is not expected.
As an educator, I believe Bioshock is an entertaining and educational lens through which my students can analyze and discuss dystopian elements in literature. Hopefully, by the end of this article, I will have provided some practical ideas and connections to implement Bioshock in your classroom while reading novels with dystopian themes.
Dystopian literature presents to the reader fictional societies in which the idea of a perfect world and existence has instead lead to an imperfect, miserable existence. In most cases, inhabitants of a dystopian society are often paranoid and live in extreme fear because of a constant oppressive, watchful eye. These inhabitants have usually lost their independence and individuality and instead lead a life of conformity. In some cases, the hero or protagonist in dystopian literature often questions the society in which he lives (dystopiainfo.com).
Bioshock puts the gamer in the role of Jack, a plane crash survivor who is sucked into the underwater dystopian society of Rapture. Jack quickly notices that Rapture was once an exciting, vibrant world full of intelligent scientists, talented artists, and powerful leaders who have fled the oppression of the world above the water. However, that once exciting world has all but crumbled. Atlas Shrugged, similarly, though three-quarters of the way through the novel, puts the reader into the shoes of Dagny Taggart who survives a plane crash only to wake up in the secluded mountain world of Atlantis. In this world, the most intelligent minds of society have retreated to strike out against an otherwise oppressive society.
George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four depicts a society of workers in constant paranoia of Big Brother. At every turn, in every room, the watchful eye of Big Brother is constantly beating down the people in the province of Oceania. Winston Smith, the novel’s protagonist, also lives in constant paranoia that his thoughts and existence is under constant surveillance. Eventually, he rebels against Big Brother in an attempt to regain his freedom, but submits to the idea, after torture, that “two plus two equals five.” Bioshock, similarly, presents the people of Rapture as citizens paranoid of the overwhelming power of Andrew Ryan. Jack, the protagonist, finds himself in the middle of this paranoia as he is being led around by a strange voice called Atlas who begins and completes all his sentences with “would you kindly.”
Characters in Bioshock also present some striking similarities to characters in Atlas Shrugged. Atlas, the voice leading Jack through Rapture, is lifted directly from the novel. However, both the novel and the game directly allude to the mythological titan name Atlas who carried the world on his back. Andrew Ryan has striking similarities to John Galt. Both characters are visionaries who want to strike out against an oppressive society that has oppressed the greatest minds of the world. However, in their fight for freedom, they both demand a certain level of control that ultimately controls them.
With these obvious connections aside, a teacher and student can reach the true connections that make these novels and games worthwhile. In Bioshock and dystopian literature, morality plays a major part in the development of the characters and character interactions. Bioshock forces the player to make moral choices during game play by choosing to save or harvest Little Sisters who are carrying large amount of Adam. Adam is absolutely necessary to survive in Rapture and the more a player has the better his chances. However, to what lengths is he willing to go to get it? Murder? Nineteen Eighty-Four presents similar moral choices as Smith must choose whether or not to defy Big Brother in order to save his individuality. However, his choice has consequence. And to what lengths is he willing to go to save himself? Ultimately, these moral choices are what drive the plot forward and provide readers and gamers with a humanistic element to which they themselves can identify. There is more than a choice of guns or ammo, it’s a choice between good and evil.
In his review of Bioshock for the Xbox 360, Gamespot.com analyst Jeff Gertsman says, “BioShock's real strengths are as a compelling work of interactive fiction, and as a unique ride through a warped world with some great payoff built into its mysterious plot.” It is rare, I believe, to so distinctly define a video game as a “compelling work of fiction.” Played simultaneously with the reading of dystopian novels such as Atlas Shrugged and Nineteen Eighty-Four would allow students to find connections and meaning deeper than they had ever thought possible.
