Dystopian ideas

There seems to be a small core group of ideas addressed in dystopian fiction, whether science-fiction style or not.

Truth - Brazil, 1984, Kafka's "In The Penal Colony." Lowry and Winston both want to get to the bottom of things or otherwise prove that what occurred is the truth, which is also empirical.

Enlightenment - Fahrenheit 451, Equilibrium, Brave New World, "In The Penal Colony." Characters want to give the people greater access to culture, history, art, etc, from a thought-control environment. Kafka's want to enlighten other people as to the truth of their problems.

Escape - Brazil, THX-1138. Characters want to get out of the insane control environments they inhabit.

Self-destruction - Brazil, Animal Farm. The situation in dystopian worlds is usually so bad that the societies are annihilating themselves through corruption, incompetence, needless brutality, etc. Animal Farm is a good example of this.