Article

Active versus Passive: Religious Ideology and Dystopia in James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta and Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery

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Abstract

The representation of dystopian realities within fiction lends valuable insights into the various methods which could be employed in order to maintain control over the thoughts, actions, and lives of a subjugated population. Prominent among such methods is religion, which, in fiction as in reality, has a unique ability to facilitate hope, fear, and group dynamics as means of policing behaviour. The following, though examining one example of active theocracy (active religious control) with cultural norms and traditions (passive religious control) as represented in literary fiction, alongside research on real-world parallels, argues that while both suffice in short-term maintenance of dystopia, it is the latter which maintains the most effective domination over behaviour.

Keywords: Dystopia, fiction, religion, Shirley Jackson, James, McTeigue, ideology

How to Cite:

Healy, E., (2026) “Active versus Passive: Religious Ideology and Dystopia in James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta and Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery”, PHS 1(1), 63-71.

Rights:

Healy, Eden. ‘Active versus Passive: Religious Ideology and Dystopia in James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta and Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery’. Policeman’s Helmet Soup [Dublin, Ireland], vol. 1, no. 1, 2026, pp. 63–71, https://phsjournal.ie/article/pubid/51/.