Imagine a world full of peace and happiness, a place that epitomizes equity and unity. Imagine a society born from ideals and dreams, where people are able to fulfill their ultimate purpose and goals in life. Think of a happy-go-lucky world, of a brightly colored future filled with hope. Now, imagine a world filled with ash and dust, where the air that people breathe in is filled with toxins. Imagine a society born from the product of war and desolation, where people are restrained to the shackles of a totalitarian government. Think of a post-apocalyptic world, of a darkly painted future filled with regrets. What I described are two concepts from two sides of the same coin: utopias and dystopias. Whereas utopias describe ideal societies …show more content…
But whether or not a society is perceived as a dystopia depends on a person’s point of view; everybody possesses a concept of their own dystopia (Booker, 1994). The most prominent example I could give you is The Hunger Games. In this series, the Capitol is responsible for controlling the districts after the first rebellion. To keep the peace, they conduct the Reaping every year to select two people from each of the 12 districts of Panem to start a survival game where only one will become a victor. The government embeds in the minds of the citizens that this is the right thing to do, when it is in fact a circus act to maintain the …show more content…
Young adult dystopian literature began with Monica Hughes’ The Tomorrow City (1978) wherein the concept of using an adolescent transitioning into adulthood became a perfect fit to creating a dystopian society. As teenagers transition into adults, they are expected to take on more responsibility and to make more independent choices (Glenn, Ginsberg & King, 2013). The setting, themes and characters in dystopian fiction are appropriate for the intellectual changes that occur during adolescence. As adolescents develop, they are able to grasp bigger, more abstract concepts in the world around them, which allows them to engage in more critical thinking (Larson & Richards,