by Marie Victoria Robertson
DYSTOPIAN FICTION, THEN AND NOW
While browsing a bookstore recently, I
overheard a conversation between two young people. “This is a great book!” one
gushed. “It’s, like, a dystopian story, but everything works really well!”
Which had me thinking, like, that’s rather
the opposite of dystopia. Maybe the label “dystopian fiction” is being applied
a little too liberally these days, because it is the new “hot item”, but as a
lover of dystopian fiction, I don’t mind it at all.
Dystopian novels traditionally include the
same basic elements:
1.
A
post-war/plague/apocalyptic/etc world that is already established when the
story begins;
2.
A society that is in some way
frightening and physically/mentally dangerous (more on this point in a moment);
3.
A hero/heroine who was born to
this society (it’s rarely an outsider, you’ll notice) who attempts to subvert
the system, with mixed results.
The most popular dystopian novels are
popular precisely because they strike a very raw, visceral chord in us: the
societies in these stories are usually based on legitimate fears we have of our
current society, pushed to their extreme, making them seem frighteningly
plausible. What happens if religious fundamentalism continues to strip women’s
rights? Read The Handmaid’s Tale.
What happens if callous love for bloody sport and reality entertainment goes
too far? Read The Hunger Games.
It seems like we can split dystopian
fiction into two categories: the ‘first generation’ of dystopian novels,
usually one-shot stories published decades ago such as Brave New World and Logan’s
Run, and the modern-day young adult dystopias that usually contain a strong
focus on romance. I think it’s a great thing that dystopian fiction has
experienced a renewed surge in popularity; hopefully, this means a new
generation of readers will seek out the classics.
On that note, let’s look over a few titles
in each era of dystopia.
DYSTOPIAN FICTION, THEN
1984 by George Orwell
The quintessential dystopian novel. Big
Brother (aka the Government) oversees and controls every aspect of the
citizens’ lives. The protagonist, Winston, works for the Ministry of Truth but
secretly hates the system, and meets a fellow dissenter, Julia.
Fahrenheit
451 by Ray Bradbury
In which our modern-day fears of censorship
and book banning are explored in a story where books are outlawed and burned on
sight, requiring a rebellious population to memorize books to preserve the
knowledge they contain.
The
Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
A religious fundamentalist group overthrows
the democratic US government and instills a regime in which women are devoid of
any rights and freedoms. The title character, Offred, tells her story of being
a “handmaid”, a fertile woman who is forced to bear children.
DYSTOPIAN FICTION, NOW
The
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Arguably the best and most famous young
adult dystopian novel, in which Katniss Everdeen, a young girl from an
impoverished district, is forced to compete in a televised fight to the death
against other young people.
Firstborn
by Lorie Ann Grover
In this dystopian look at womanhood, gender
roles, and gendercide, a young girl named Tiadone is forced by her father to be
raised as a boy to save her life and give her a place in society.
Divergent by Veronica Roth
In a world where society is divided into
five factions, determined by a person’s character, a young girl named Tris
discovers she is Divergent—someone who does not squarely fit into a single
faction, and who mysterious forces want dead.
Marie
Victoria Robertson is a published speculative fiction
writer and playwright, as well as the board president of Jer’s Vision: Canada’s
Youth Diversity Initiative (www.jersvision.org). When all the other girls
wanted to marry Johnny Depp, she wanted to run away with Worf on the
Enterprise. She enjoys giant robots, time-travel paradoxes, and forcing her son
to watch Futurama.
