History SpiritualAntithesis / Literature

** ''Roadside Picnic'''s''''' '''''zone afflicts Harmonites with a [[TheJinx mysterious curse]], and the children of stalkers are at risk of being born with debilitating diseases. ''Otherside Picnic'''s UltraBlue Landscape [[ClaimedByTheSupernatural gives Sorawo and Toriko superpowers]].

* ''Literature/OthersidePicnic'' is this to its main inspiration, ''Literature/RoadsidePicnic''. Both stories have the main characters dealing with anomalies and otherworldly creatures, as well as with them hunting extraterrestrial artifacts for monetary purposes, but they are executed differently. Whereas ''Roadside Picnic'' focuses on Redrick's journey into the Zone to search for artifacts and is a stalker, Sorawo and Toriko are not stalkers (as only Abarato embodies that trope) and are instead two women in university visiting the Otherside working for Kozakura. The setting between two stories also heavily differentiates. Whereas the Zone is visible in plain sight and can be traversed anywhere, the Otherside is hidden from plain sight and requires very specific ways to visit it. The Stalker archetype between two stories is contrasted. ''Roadside Picnic'' fully invokes the trope while ''Otherside Picnic'' is a DecompositeCharacter variant of it, with Abarato being the embodiment of the archetype but Sorawo and Toriko are the ones who hunt down artifacts. The main character of ''Roadside Picnic'', Redrick, is a cynical, jaded family man who is married and is middle-aged. ''Otherside Picnic's'' Sorawo and Toriko are both younger women who are in a reluctant platonic relationship [[spoiler:which moves away into text and becomes canonized as a romantic relationship in Volume 3; then in Volume 8 where they get a RelationshipUpgrade into an OfficialCouple.]]

* Creator/GeorgeOrwell's ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', Aldous Huxley's ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'', and Creator/RayBradbury's ''Literature/{{Fahrenheit 451}}'' are arguably the most famous and influential {{dystopia}}n novels ever written -- and all three have been noted as being utter antitheses of one another in the nature of their broken societies and the real-world influences behind them.

* Creator/FrankHerbert's ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' has [[https://www.cbr.com/foundation-dune-similar-message/ often]] been [[https://dunenewsnet.com/2021/11/editorial-dune-foundation-exploring-two-opposing-future-visions/ compared]] to Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/FoundationSeries'', in that both are epic ScienceFiction sagas about the decline and fall of galactic empires, the restoration of civilization in their wake, and the power offered by control over natural resources. Herbert, however, was in many ways responding to Asimov in his idea of how such a scenario would play out. ''Foundation'' praises science and rationality as the key to preserving humanity's future, with mathematical models predicting exactly how TheEmpire is going to collapse and the heroes being scientists and scholars who exploit these models to change the future to one more to their liking, one in which their ideals reemerge as dominant. The story is also less interested in individual characters than it is in the broader sweep of the story, which covers centuries of history. ''Dune'', meanwhile, celebrates mysticism and unconscious experiences, with its group dedicated to saving civilization being a mystical order of witches who do so by creating an {{Ubermensch}} and a PhysicalGod who has the power to think in the long-term interest of humanity, which is the restoration of freedom. Its story is intensely focused upon a small set of characters who singlehandedly change the course of history, its first novel only covering a few years. To quote Tim O'Reilly in his monograph of Herbert:
-->''Herbert has taken a look at the same imaginative situation that provoked Asimov's classic--the decay of a galactic empire--and restated it in a way that draws on different assumptions and suggests radically different conclusions. The twist he has introduced into ''Dune'' is that the Mule, not the Foundation, is his hero.''

* ''Literature/OthersidePicnic'' is this to its main inspiration, ''Literature/RoadsidePicnic''. Both stories have the main characters dealing with anomalies and otherworldly creatures, as well as with them hunting extraterrestrial artifacts for monetary purposes, but they are executed differently. Whereas ''Roadside Picnic'' focuses on Redrick's journey into the Zone to search for artifacts and is a stalker, Sorawo and Toriko are not stalkers (as only Abarato embodies that trope) and are instead two women in university visiting the Otherside working for Kozakura. The setting between two stories also heavily differentiates. Whereas the Zone is visible in plain sight and can be traversed anywhere, the Otherside is hidden from plain sight and requires very specific ways to visit it. The Stalker archetype between two stories is contrasted. ''Roadside Picnic'' fully invokes the trope while ''Otherside Picnic'' is a DecompositeCharacter variant of it, with Abarato being the embodiment of the archetype but Sorawo and Toriko are the ones who hunt down artifacts.

* ''Literature/OthersidePicnic'' is this to its main inspiration, ''Literature/RoadsidePicnic''. Both stories have the main characters dealing with anomalies and otherworldly creatures, as well as with them hunting extraterrestrial artifacts for monetary purposes, but they are executed differently. Whereas Roadside Picnic focuses on Redrick's journey into the Zone to search for artifacts and is a stalker, Sorawo and Toriko are not stalkers (as only Abarato embodies that trope) and are instead two women in university visiting the Otherside working for Kozakura. The setting between two stories also heavily differentiates. Whereas the Zone is visible in plain sight and can be traversed anywhere, the Otherside is hidden from plain sight and requires very specific ways to visit it. The Stalker archetype between two stories is contrasted. Roadside Picnic fully invokes the trope while Otherside Picnic is a DecompositeCharacter variant of it, with Abarato being the embodiment of the archetype but Sorawo and Toriko are the ones who hunt down artifacts.

* Astrid Lindgrens ''Literature/PippiLongstocking'' can be viewed as an antithesis to ''Literature/AliceInWonderland''. Both stories have little girls as protagonists who on occasion argue with themselves (Alice telling herself off, Pippi telling herself to go to bed), contains humorous version of nursery rhymes and old song lyrics (in fact, Ur-Pippi, Astrids first draft, contained a lot more of these than the final book) and a lot of wordplay. Alice has "uglification", Pippi has "multikipperation". The major difference is that Alice is a normal girl interacting and clashing with eccentric characters in a fantasy-world while Pippi is an eccentric girl with fantastical powers interacting, and clashing, with the mundane, everyday world of the little town she's moved to.

-->"History [in the ''Foundation'' books] … is manipulated for larger ends and for the greater good as determined by a scientific aristocracy. It is assumed, then, that the scientist-shamans know best which course humankind should take… While surprises may appear in these stories (e.g., the Mule mutant), it is assumed that no surprise will be too great or too unexpected to overcome the firm grasp of science upon human destiny. This is essentially the assumption that science can produce a surprise-free future for humankind."
--->-- '''Frank Herbert''', quoted in his biography by Timothy O’Reilly.

* Creator/HarryTurtledove's short story ''Literature/{{Vilcabamba}}'' is a spiritual antithesis to his ''Literature/{{Worldwar}}'' series. Both deal with an advanced alien race invading Earth and the humans attempting to resist, however, while the humans in ''Worldwar'' are able to fight the Race to a standstill and establish a negotiated peace, in Vilcamba the Krolp effortlessly roll over the world's militaries and TakeOverTheWorld. The major difference is that the Race are at a level of development roughly equivalent to TheNineties, so their technology is understandable and replicable by WWII-era scientists, allowing the humans to eventually get on a somewhat level playing field; meanwhile the Krolp have SufficientlyAdvancedTechnology which humans have neither the understanding or manufacturing base to copy.

* ** Orwell's Literature/HomageToCatalonia and Peter Kemp's ''Mine Were of Trouble''. Both are about Englishmen who volunteer to go to Spain to fight in the [[UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar civil war]], but that is where their similarities end. Orwell journeyed to fight with the Republican side and drifted toward the Trotskyist POUM militia, which was mostly made up of [[RagTagBunchOfMisfits half-trained and badly equipped civilians]]; the presense of he and others like him [[HopelessWar ultimately makes no difference to the Republic's war effort]], [[WeAreStrugglingTogether which was wracked with infighting]], and he barely survives the Stalinist purge of the POUM and their stamping out of the Catalan Republic; he returns to England disillusioned and heartbroken. Kemp meanwhile joins the Nationalist side and while he at first joins the Carlist faction, which military wise was barely any different from the POUM, his battlefield prowess earns him a spot in the much more professional and better equipped [[BadassArmy Spanish Foreign Legion]]. He takes part in several battles and while he sees several atrocities, he maintains belief in the cause he fought for right to the end; while Orwell was forced to flee the Stalinists, Kemp was allowed to leave freely after taking battlefield wounds. After returning to England, he would proceed to enlist in the British Army to fight in UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo.

* ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'' is this towards the children's book ''Coral Island''. ''Coral Island'' has young boys living on an island after their ship's catastrophe and working together to fight "the savages". Golding, having an issue with racist undertones and savagery being presented as an outside threat and not something that lies in human nature, wrote a book in which young British boys end up abandoning their civilized ways and trying to kill each other. Oddly enough, another writer, Creator/RobertAHeinlein, took issue with that portrayal and wrote ''Literature/TunnelInTheSky'', which served as an opposite to ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'': Boys end up on an alien world and work together for their survival. Some try to go the same way as characters from Golding's book, but end up quickly killed. Mira Lobe's ''Literature/{{Insupu}}'' is another spiritual opposite to ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies''.

* ''Literature/TheLostCauseOfBleakCreek'' to ''Literature/ReapersCreek''. Both have a plethora of similarities as books written by youtubers: a retelling of the writer's youth but peppered with supernatural elements and focused on a character based on the writer himself, and quite a few thoughts on the theme of god and religion. The former, however, meditates much more on the effect that religion has on a small town community and how negative traits of it can become ingrained in people, as well as a less idealized protagonist (in the words of Kappa Kaiju, who reviewed both books, the protagonists of the former are simply kinder versions of the people the writers were, whereas the protagonist of the latter is quite Sue-ish). The latter book, meanwhile, portrays god as an evil deity that the protagonist comes to defeat.

** The entire series is an antithesis to RobinHood. The rangers' weapons and tactics are very similar to that of Robin's Merry Men, but they fight for the government, and often against insurgents.

* Myth/RobinHood was intended to be this to Myth/KingArthur. Compared to the latter appearing in 6th century A.D. and representing the aristocracy in post-Roman Britain, the former would be created around eight centuries later to serve as a contrast to King Arthur, [[JustLikeRobinHood namely by stealing from a corrupt aristocracy and giving to the impoverished peasantry in 11th century Anglo-Norman England]].
* The ''Creator/JackLondon'' short story ''Batârd'' is this towards his more famous novel, ''Literature/TheCallOfTheWild''. The "Rule of Club and Fang" from the novel isn't at all useful in training dogs of any kind, which is a criticism towards the book. However, in ''Batârd'', it's the exact opposite. Being horribly mistreated his whole life turns Batârd into a hostile, rage-filled dog that [[HateSink only stays with his abusive owner out of a desire to kill him.]] The short story is practically a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of ''Call of the Wild''.

* An antithesis to ''Literature/HarryPotter'' can be seen in ''Literature/TheScholomance'', which is clearly a next generation response to the piece.

* Creator/ChinuaAchebe found ''Literature/HeartOfDarkness'' to be racist and historically dubious. He was tired that it was used as a reference point by many readers and academics when discussing Africa. One of the reasons he cited for writing ''Literature/ThingsFallApart'' was to show that native Africans from traditional societies were intelligent and highly complex individuals and to show that Africa is not a dark place meant for European decadence but a place where people lived lives just like anywhere else.
* ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' is explicitly intended as an atheist answer to the Christian allegory of ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia''.
** In a similar vein, but earlier, Fred Hoyle's novel, ''Ossian's Ride'' was an answer to ''[[Literature/SpaceTrilogy That Hideous Strength]]''.

* ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'' is this towards the children's book ''Coral Island''. ''Coral Island'' has young boys living on an island after their ship's catastrophe and working together to fight "the savages". Golding, having an issue with racist undertones and savagery being presented as an outside threat and not something that lies in human nature, wrote a book in which young British boys end up abandoning their civilized ways and trying to kill each other. Oddly enough, another writer, Creator/RobertAHeinlein, took issue with that portrayal and wrote ''Literature/TunnelInTheSky'', which served as an opposite to ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'': Boys end up on an alien world and work together for their survival. Some try to go the same way as characters from Golding's book, but end up quickly killed. Mira Lobe's ''Literature/Insupu'' is another spiritual opposite to ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies''.

* ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'' is this towards the children's book ''Coral Island''. ''Coral Island'' has young boys living on an island after their ship's catastrophe and working together to fight "the savages". Golding, having an issue with racist undertones and savagery being presented as an outside threat and not something that lies in human nature, wrote a book in which young British boys end up abandoning their civilized ways and trying to kill each other. Oddly enough, another writer, Creator/RobertAHeinlein, took issue with that portrayal and wrote ''Literature/TunnelInTheSky'', which served as an opposite to ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'': Boys end up on an alien world and work together for their survival. Some try to go the same way as characters from Golding's book, but end up quickly killed. Mira Lobe's ''Insu-Pu'' is another spiritual opposite to ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies''.

* Creator/JohnSladek's satirical ''Roderick'' series features a robot who views a corrupt world through innocent eyes. Sladek then turned the idea on its head in the novel ''Tik-Tok'': the world is just as corrupt, so its robot AntiHero decides to exploit it by being even more corrupt.

** Orwell's Literature/HomageToCatalonia and Peter Kemp's ''Mine Were of Trouble''. Both are about Englishmen who volunteer to go to Spain to fight in the [[UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar civil war]], but that is where their similarities end. Orwell journeyed to fight with the Republican side and drifted toward the Trotskyist POUM militia, which was mostly made up of [[RagTagBunchOfMisfits half-trained and badly equipped civilians]]; the presense of he and others like him [[HopelessWar ultimately makes no difference to the Republic's war effort]], [[WeAreStrugglingTogether which was wracked with infighting]], and he barely survives the Stalinist purge of the POUM and their stamping out of the Catalan Republic; he returns to England disillusioned and heartbroken. Kemp meanwhile joins the Nationalist side and while he at first joins the Carlist faction, which military wise was barely any different from the POUM, his battlefield prowess earns him a spot in the much more professional and better equipped [[BadassArmy Spanish Foreign Legion]]. He takes part in several battles and while he sees several atrocities, he maintains belief in the cause he fought for right to the end; while Orwell was forced to flee the Stalinists, Kemp was allowed to leave freely after taking battlefield wounds. After returning to England, he would proceed to enlist in the British Army to fight in UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo.

** Orwell's Literature/HomageToCatalonia and Peter Kemp's ''Mine Were of Trouble''. Both are about Englishmen who volunteer to go to Spain to fight in the [[Notes/SpanishCivilWar civil war]], but that is where their similarities end. Orwell journeyed to fight with the Republican side and drifted toward the Trotskyist POUM militia, which was mostly made up of [[RagTagBunchOfMisfits half-trained and badly equipped civilians]]; the presense of he and others like him [[HopelessWar ultimately makes no difference to the Republic's war effort]], [[WeAreStrugglingTogether which was wracked with infighting]], and he barely survives the Stalinist purge of the POUM and their stamping out of the Catalan Republic; he returns to England disillusioned and heartbroken. Kemp meanwhile joins the Nationalist side and while he at first joins the Carlist faction, which military wise was barely any different from the POUM, his battlefield prowess earns him a spot in the much more professional and better equipped [[BadassArmy Spanish Foreign Legion]]. He takes part in several battles and while he sees several atrocities, he maintains belief in the cause he fought for right to the end; while Orwell was forced to flee the Stalinists, Kemp was allowed to leave freely after taking battlefield wounds. After returning to England, he would proceed to enlist in the British Army to fight in Notes/WorldWarTwo.

** Orwell's Literature/HomageToCatalonia and Peter Kemp's ''Mine Were of Trouble''. Both are about Englishmen who volunteer to go to Spain to fight in the [[Notes/SpanishCivilWar civil war]], but that is where their similarities end. Orwell journeyed to fight with the Republican side and drifted toward the Trotskyist POUM militia, which was mostly made up of [[RagTagBunchOfMisfits half-trained and badly equipped civilians]]; the presense of he and others like him [[HopelessWar ultimately makes no difference to the Republic's war effort]], [[WeAreStrugglingTogether which was wracked with infighting]], and he barely survives the Stalinist purge of the POUM and their stamping out of the Catalan Republic; he returns to England disillusioned and heartbroken. Kemp meanwhile joins the Nationalist side and while he at first joins the Carlist faction, which military wise was the MirrorFaction for the POUM, his battlefield prowess earns him a spot in the much more professional and better equipped [[BadassArmy Spanish Foreign Legion]]. He takes part in several battles and while he sees several atrocities, he maintains belief in the cause he fought for right to the end; [[WrittenByTheWinners it helps that his cause won the war]].

* ''LightNovel/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'' is this to [[Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex several]] [[LightNovel/TheZashikiWarashiOfIntellectualVillage other]] [[LightNovel/TheWeaknessOfBeatriceTheLevelCapHolySwordswoman series]] by Creator/KazumaKamachi. The protagonist Kyousuke tries to save others regardless of the personal cost, like [[Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex Touma]], [[LightNovel/TheZashikiWarashiOfIntellectualVillage Shinobu]], [[LightNovel/TheWeaknessOfBeatriceTheLevelCapHolySwordswoman Beatrice]] and [[Literature/MyVampireOlderSisterAndZombieLittleSister Satori]]. However, Kyousuke is a OneManArmy capable of beating most opponents with only his own skills, whereas most of Kamachi's protagonists need to rely on others. Similarly, while the other protagonists generally grew up in normal and loving families, Kyousuke's family only appeared normal - his father saw him as no more than a tool and carefully controlled his life to teach him his unusual skills. The main antagonists are also different. Most of Kamachi's other antagonists are [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Extremists]] with impersonal goals (like saving the world) who spend most of their time scheming from behind the scenes. [[spoiler:The White Queen]] is active right from the beginning and has the entirely personal goal of [[spoiler:making Kyousuke love her again]].

* Creator/HarryTurtledove's short story ''Vilcabamba'' is a spiritual antithesis to his ''Literature/{{Worldwar}}'' series. Both deal with an advanced alien race invading Earth and the humans attempting to resist, however, while the humans in ''Worldwar'' are able to fight the Race to a standstill and establish a negotiated peace, in Vilcamba the Krolp effortlessly roll over the world's militaries and TakeOverTheWorld. The major difference is that the Race are at a level of development roughly equivalent to TheNineties, so their technology is understandable and replicable by WWII-era scientists, allowing the humans to eventually get on a somewhat level playing field; meanwhile the Krolp have SufficientlyAdvancdedTechnology which humans have neither the understanding or manufacturing base to copy.

* The work of English historian Christopher Henry Dawson can be seen as this to that of another English historian, Edward Gibbon. Both are English historians who converted to the Catholic faith at one point in their lives. However, Gibbon was pulled from Oxford to be taught under a French Calvinist minister, where his Catholic faith was extinguished, and he eventually wrote ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', wherein he also accuses the Christian religion of being a factor for the fall of the Roman Empire. On the other hand, Dawson remained a Catholic his entire life and wrote his work exploring the role of religion in Western Culture, and he was much more sympathetic to the Christian faith.