The Declaration By Dow Brennan

The Declaration by Gemma Malley is a dystopian novel where the world is too overpopulated because a drug was created that allows people to live forever. Everyone in the world either has to sign a declaration saying they won’t have children or choose not to live forever and have one child. People decide to live forever and have children, these children are blamed for all the wrong in the world. They are used as escape goats in order for the government like figures to maintain authority. In the dystopian story “Faint Heart” by Sarah Rees Brennan, the world has been ravaged by many world wars. When the Court (government) comes into power over one of the last cities, they blame young poor men for the wars. Then, they force all unmarried young men

This is when Anna, the main character, is at a surplus hall where she learns to be helpful to society. At this surplus hall she is taught to believe, surpluses are below humans and that they shouldn’t even be alive. That they are the reason the world is overpopulated, why energy is in low supply and that them just being alive is sin. For example, Anna writes in her journal how lucky she is to be given a chance to be helpful to society. Even though she’ll basically become a slave. Also she writes how much she hates her villainous parents for breaking the law. She even said in her journal, “Each and every surplus could be the final straw that breaks the camel’s back. Probably, being put down is the best thing for everyone” (Malley 10). From this quote it’s clear the level of philosophical domination the government bestowed upon her. She bought into it just as the average citizen did. While the surpluses suffer for the government’s misdoings, everyone blames surpluses for all the world’s problems. The government struggles to maintain their oppressive control. In this moment the reader can see that when a group wants to maintain power they use escape goats to hide their true means. Here, Gemma Malley shows us that when a conflict comes to its defining moment society can’t accept that it was their fault. They must tell themselves that surpluses are the evil, selfish people in order to convince themselves that they are not