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J. G. Ballard destroyed men’s dream about the future by standing up against

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J. G. Ballard destroyed men’s dream about the future by standing up against all the utopian thoughts about the future and describes it as a dystopian world in the story ‘Billennium' where privacy of human loses to the fast growing population.

To create the sense of hopelessness,

he constantly reminds the readers the cruel fact how the power of one man can affect another’s destiny, and also emphasizes the great loss of privacy of the people.

‘Look, if you want a big room like this you gotta pay for it. I want an extra half rental or you get out.’ This quote described the landlords as ‘Gods’ to the civilians and they have to do what they say or they will spend the rest of their lives crowding with other people and have no privacy.

So we can basically tell that the landlords gain their power by providing ‘privacy’ to those who request for it.

In the story, Ballard described the housings as ‘cubicles’ that are mostly 4 square meters (some are a little bit bigger). This informs us that the space doesn’t even fit the basic demand of life and it is just cruel to put living people in such small amount of space.

This story not just gives us a simple thought of the future but also leaves us a warning for what might possibly happen if we don’t manage things the way it should be done

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over population and lack of the social responsibility

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over population and lack of the social responsibility

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In the short story of ‘Billenium’, J.G. Ballard used a variety of diction to emphasize the over population and even further the lack social responsibility. In Billenium Ballard use the word cubicle instead of room to show how crowded a place could get because cubicle is a very small and narrow place. Ballard also mentioning the story that the the maximum size cubicle is “four squared meter” this is also emphasizing how over populated the earth is because a four squared meter cubicle is the size of two doors or even less, the only thing you could but in it was a bed and nothing else. In th story of Bilenium, Ballard emphasized the lack of social responsibility by talking about the childhood of ward. “Brought up from the age of ten in a municipal hospital, he had gradually lost touch with his father and mother, who lived on the east side of th city and had been unable, or unwilling, to make the journey to come and see him” in one way this shows us how over populated the world is because it must very hard to travel across the city to make the parent of ward unable to come and see ward. Further more it shows the lack of social responsibility because the parents of ward are unwilling to see him because of the conjunction they had to travel through.
anna

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Just after Ward and Rossiter moved into the 'private universe' they discovered, they bought some furnitures, and in those things, included a huge victorian wardrobe with carved angels and made of dark wood, "an enormous mahogany wardrobe, fitted with carved angels and castellated mirrors," it was described, a beautiful piece of art belonging to the Victorian times. The word "mahogany" is a kind of dark, red wood, really expensive, however in the story it is mentioned that it was the "cheapest available," since the fact in that dystopian world is that people share a four square-meter room--which will sooner be cut down into three and a half. The wardrobe represents all the ancient buildings and grand halls, dismantled and split up to form new cubicles for the rapid, non-stopping growing population, in order to fit them into the tiny cubicles, they have no other choice but to give all the things that once stood tall and magnificent.
Gradually, as the girls and their relatives move in, the space becomes smaller and smaller:"all he had been able to see of it for the past two months, was now dismantles," implies that as the beauty was taken down, more and more things were able to fit in this once 'private' paradise, suggesting that functionality and the struggle for living space will always win the battle against aesthetics.
Rich

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Over Population and Lack of Social Responsibility

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Over Population and Lack of Social Responsibility

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In the story ‘Billennium’, J. G. Ballard showed us how over populated and the lack of society responsibility the world is in the future. The quote: “Over a hundred-people lived in the top three floors of the old rooming house.” Old rooming houses are very cheap nowadays and also has limited space, only a few people live in these kind of houses, but in the story, the author mentioned that over a hundred-people lived in the top three floors, this suggested that how ‘small’ the world is and how people are ‘replacing’ every single part of the land. Another quote, “If they had enough children (three was the required minimum) they might even one day own a small room of their own.” The Earth is now over crowded, but the governments are still encouraging people to have more babies, and would also get a double cubicle if they have enough babies. This is showing the lack of society responsibility.
Ronny C

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In the short story ‘Bellennium’ by J.G. Ballard, the writer uses varieties of techniques to emphasize power and the loss of privacy.
The writer constantly talks about the tininess of the cubicle and the word appears more often any other words in the story. This is to show that at a extreme over-populated situation, that tiny cubicle represents our prvacy and that we would do anything to gain a liitle bit more of it. In the story, dictions such as ‘scrum’ are used to describe crowds, and that also strengthens the importance of having that “4 square meter” of privacy.
Also that J.G. Ballard smartly protraits a microcosom of the society nowadays, mainly by empowering the landlord. The lanlords in the story plays a role of the “boss”. They have the land which means that they have the “privacy” that everybody wants. At that situation, the power is given to the landlord simply because of the amount of demands over “privacy”. It shows a valid nowadays society because it is exactly like it, if you own a land, you have a great chance of becoing a millionaire, and this is also due to the increase in population and demand.

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The destruction of beauty is what is happening in the story, both in the city and the “secret room” the item and buildings representing beauty are all being take down and rebuild because of the overpopulation and the need of spaces.

“The great banqueting room ….. cut up into hundreds of cubicles.” This shown as too many people and lack of cubicles there are in the city, the beauty of the city cannot be appreciated and no longer to be here, it’s all replaced by cubicles.

“Pieces of the wardrobe lay on his bed and across the floor.” This shown that the object of beauty is now dismantle because the room doesn’t fit the wardrobe anymore and they need the space for beds, so more people can live in the room. Functionality wins the aesthetics, and it symbolize things in life that we need to give up for other’s and for a better future of ourselves.
Coco He

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Over population and lack of social responsibility. YAS

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Over population and lack of social responsibility. YAS

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From the sentence ‘6:30……the crowds already jammed it from sidewalk to sidewalk’. We can see that the place is way overpopulated.  By using the word ‘jammed’ we can see that the author of the story is trying to show us that the queue to the toilet is not only full of people standing, it is full to the point that the people are squishing, pushing each other. By mentioning the early time ‘6:30’ Ballard tries to show us that the earth is way over populated. Ballard also quoting ‘sidewalk to sidewalk’, by quoting that he wants to show us that the queues were long and endless, wide and filled to the brim.

Ballard states ‘The cubicle was slightly more than four and a half square meters in floor area……. For a single person.’ By calling the living space a ‘cubical’ the author wants to show us that living space is no more than four walls that are slightly bigger than 4 and a half square meters big. This shows us that there are so many people in the world there is not enough spaces for people to live in like before. It also tells us that the world’s population is already a major problem.

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In the short story 'Billenium', explored by us last lesson, Ballard conveys a sense of loss of privacy and power in Ward and Rossiter's own 'private universe' and possibly in the whole world- as the room could be a representation of what is going on outside on a smaller scale. "Lying back on the extreme right, the shelves two feet above his head. Ward could barely see the wardrobe...", this specific quote shows how this 'private universe' is really a microcosm because it shrinks ever smaller as time goes by (and simultaneously, Hellen and Judith invite more people).The fact that the shelves are now two feet above his head really show how the quest for space to fit an unthinkable number of people for such a tiny room, inside. Prior to the new residents to arrive, Ward had a full view of this 'endless room' and this was something he was very fond of; after the new arrivals- which could represent the alarming growth in population, he had to give his personal space and privacy (because in such a tiny room full of people there is no sense of privacy) for space, the one thing everyone desires in this cruel reality. Focusing on the words, 'two feet above his head': that is a tremendously tiny distance, which gives me a claustrophobic sensation; like ward is now closed in a cell, even after the unimaginable space he had, because of an endless river of people needing space to live in. And in this cell, he is just another prisoner, drained from control and power by the greed for space. On a large scale, the infinite amount of people living in such tiny cubicles they are forced to call 'rooms' makes it seem like everyone loses their personality; people are so focused on themselves and on finding space, they lose friends, connection to family, they lose what makes them themselves; their identity.
Vasco

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Overpopulation and lack of social responsibility notes and mini PEES.

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Overpopulation and lack of social responsibility notes and mini PEES.

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In the short story 'Billenium', J.G. Ballard describes each person in this dystopia caring only about themselves. 'With a shuffling mob of pedestrians, perforce ignoring the countless 'Keep Left' signs suspended over their heads, wrestling past each other on their way to home and office' This represents that every person for himself because everyone just wants to do what they want to get home. The fact that they have to wrestle conjures the image that each person only cares for himself and that there are immense amounts of people caring about their own daily lives.
'Too true. We all look forward to getting married just so that we can habe our six square metres of space,' conjectures that marriage isn't for love but mostly for the space furthermore representing how much society lacks responsibility. The quote also connotes that space is everything in this dystopia and that the greed for space is in everyone's veins and mind like they were born selfish.
aTHOMicBOMB/ Thom

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In the story, 'Billenium', the author, J.G. Ballard has described the landlords as the role of power. They are the people who has their own land which is very important  in the story. At the end of the story Rossiter and Ward becomes the land lord which means they have gained the power in the story 'Billenium' at the end.
The loss of privacy refers to everyone living in the city. People don't have space to live, neither privacy because of the amount of people living in the city. There are huge amount of people living in the city, which means more space will be needed so some people might have to live with the people they don't even know who they are which clearly shows us the loss of privacy in the story 'Billenium'. In the middle of the story there's a part where it describes how the two girls live with an old couple. There's only a thin curtain between their spaces which means they won't have their own privacy. The author, J.G. Ballard has clearly showed the power and the loss of privacy through the story by using the characters and the situation the characters had to go through.  Christina Jeon

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In Ballard's short story, Billennium, Ward and Rossitor have to make a very difficult choice between beauty or space. It's pretty obvious what they would choose, and Ballard conveys this perfectly by saying "It had been a beautiful piece of furniture". This implies that the majestic Victorian wardrobe had been broken down into pieces to "make the room seem even larger".  It also symbolizes the sacrifices we make for others whom we care about in our lives that break our heart, because it might not be in our best interests (David's idea).  "It was a beautiful wardrobe, without doubt, but when it was gone it would make the room seem even larger", this sentence gives us a picture of how beautiful and majestic the wardrobe must have been, and the word "beautiful" connotes that it was enjoyable and attractive, but eventually it was destroyed for more space. We can conclude that Ballard is trying to emphasize how insignificant beauty can be if it were to be compared with to space.
Princy

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Over population and lack of social responsibility 

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Over population and lack of social responsibility 

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In the story, the small size of the cubicles represent how little of a privacy the characters have. This quote, "The cubicle was slightly more than four and a half square meters in floor area, half a square meter over the statutory maximum for:" The word "statutory" exaggerates the point that privacy is extremely limited by law. But the irony is that the characters believe 4 square meter is enormous, when in our reality, it is not much bigger than a normal bed. The quote "it's enormous, the perspectives really zoom", spoken by Rossiter, looking at a 4.5 square meter cubicle. The story also suggests the majority of power is concentrated to a minority, a ironic reference to reality. "Most of them were owned by absentee landlords" show that this is also happening in the story. The word "absentee" tells that there are people who has the area to live, but they are not in present, while everyone else struggles to even get into a tiny cubicle.
Carlos

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J.G. Ballard shows the destruction of beauty in the short story Billennium in a number of ways. One of which is when Ballard is describing how the character Ward is feeling about the dismantled wardrobe. The quote "as a child when his father, in a moment of exasperation, had taken something away from him and he had known he would never see it again." This justifies the sense that they got rid of the wardrobe for the right reason (space) just like his father got rid of something of his as a child (he probably misbehaved in some way). But because they destroyed it instead of moving it somewhere else, this expresses the destruction that they committed. You could argue that the destruction of the beautiful artifact which is the wardrobe was for a good cause, but because they got rid of it in the wrong way, it is still regrettable.
Ross Flower