The
Day The Law Died is a story arch within the Judge Dredd comic series, written in 1978 by John Wagner. Judge
Dredd is the central character in the 2000
AD and Judge Dredd comics. In
these comics, he holds the title of “Judge” in the dystopian, futuristic Mega-City
One, as part of The Judge System, which is regulated by the Special Judge
Squad. He patrols the streets, along with other Judges, stopping and preventing
crime, with little to no real due process, acting as judge, jury, and
executioner.
In
The Day The Law Died, Judge Dredd is
framed for the unlawful killing of a civilian journalist, a crime he did not
commit. Dredd escapes while being transported to prison, only to find out the
real murderer was a robot double of himself. All this time, another Judge,
Judge Cal, has been plotting to overthrow the Special Judge Squad, and become
Chief Judge. When Chief Judge Goodman is ambushed and killed by unknown
assailants, Judge Cal is successfully appointed Chief Judge. It becomes clear
to Dredd that Cal has been behind everything, and has not only framed him for
the murders of civilians, but also murdered the Chief Judge.
Once
Cal is Chief Judge, he begins a decent into madness. While Mega-City One was
already a dystopia, we see Cal push the city further into the dark, as he unleashes
killing sprees upon the citizens. He utilizes fear tactics to control citizens,
and declares the entire population be sentenced to death, in alphabetical
order, while brainwashing many Judges (save Dredd and a few others) to abide by
his rule, as well.
One
of the many things Cal does, that is similar to other dystopian pieces of
literature, is make any criticism of him illegal, and punishable by death. Along
with this, he also dictates many other draconian-esque laws, further oppressing
citizens. This is reminiscent of Nineteen
Eighty-Four, in which if a civilian spoke out, or stepped out of line, they
would vanish, never to be seen again. However, in The Day The Law Died, Cal makes it abundantly obvious that he is to
blame for the deaths of thousands of people. In 1984, the Party did not brag about, or vocalize their involvement,
thus instilling greater fear in citizens, and making the Party a more difficult
antagonist to fight.
Cal
also encouraged children to spy on their parents, and report any slanderous
remarks of his leadership or character immediately. The promotion of snitching
is used widely in dystopian literature. In 1984,
children were also taught to spy on their parents and report any wrong doing,
becoming “an extension of the Thought Police.”
One
of Cal’s main objectives was to destroy people’s spirits and crush all hope.
This again aligns with many fictitious dystopias, especially 1984. By the end of the novel, Winston’s
spirit had been broken, as he accepts Big Brother, and gives in to the powers
that be. Cal forces all citizens to expunge themselves of anything that may
bring them happiness or pleasure, burning any luxury items in the street. The
denial of emotions is also a running motif in dystopia literature. But, Cal has
created an almost dystopia of a dystopia, a society in which he cannot maintain
his power for very long. He is unsuccessful in breaking down the citizens of
Mega-City One, as they attempt several times to revolt, showing that Cal cannot
contain them for much longer. He decides the only way to create the perfect
city, is to kill the entire population all at once by gassing them.
Cal
could not handle the pressures of maintaining a dystopia that was created from
an already dystopian city. This is an interesting point, because although Cal
is stopped, and order is restored, the “order” isn’t really order at all. The
city goes back to being the original dystopia it was: a crime riddled, over
populated, territory. While citizens are freed from Judge Cal’s insane rule,
they return to a society that was not truly free in the first place. No one is liberated;
they simply revert back to the lesser of two evils.
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