Theme Of The Young Elite

Imagine living in a world where some are scarred from a nasty disease those are the lucky ones, the ones that recovered. There are rumors that a few who have recovered and have very nasty scars were granted powers from the disease, these few are called the Young Elites. The story the Young Elites by Mari Lu is set in the fantastical land of Eztenzia in the year 1364. The Main character Adelina thinks she is just an ordinary Malfetto but when an attempt to run away goes awry she is thrown into a world of uncertainty, she is chased by the inquisition after escaping them during her execution and is used as a pawn in the inquisitions plan to end Malfettos once and for all. This dystopian novel's theme is fear is the ultimate power for governments.

At the executions of three Malfettos Teren addresses a crowd. “‘We let Malfettos win the qualifying races’ he calls out ‘and look how the gods have punished us’”(Lu 181). Teren is scapegoating Malfettos and using the beliefs of religion to invoke fear telling a crowd that the gods will punish them for everything Malfettos do. This causes them to fear Malfettos and gives them a gateway to blame Malfettos for more things. In reaction to what teren says “ the next day, an angry mob tears down a Malfetto family’s shop. Broken glass litters the street” (Lu 182). Not only have people broken into a malfetto’s shop because of their fear, but this is also an allusion to the night of broken glass. In November 1938 in Germany when the scapegoated Jewish people had their homes, shops, and synagogues destroyed, many were killed and arrested. There are many parallels between the Malfetto population and The Jewish population at that time. Both were a minority, both were scapegoated for their country's problems, it was the loss of WWI for the Jewish. And a devastating storm for the Malfettos. Additionally, the people of their country acted on their fear by destroying shops, making the parallel clearer the author mentions broken glass lying on the street which is a part of most accounts of the night of broken glass and in the name. In summary, the middle of the story not only

This is important because Enzo is the crown prince. “Enzo doesn’t hesitate. He reaches up and pulls the dark hood of his cloak from his face, exposing his bold red hair. Then he puts his hand on his mask, pulls it away, and unveils his identity to the crowd” - “‘it’s the prince!’ Someone shouts from the arena” (Lu 322-323). hear readers learn that the true heir to the crown does not have the support of his people because of the fear that Teren has sown in the people. Based on how devoted people in real life are devoted to the royal family in places like England it seems very far-fetched that the people would turn their backs on the true heir to the thrown. Thus the fear that teren is creating in the public is immense. “It had to be done. Dirty Malfetto. Now the world is a better place, and Giulietta can rule” (Lu 325). Then the crowd cheers when teren kills their true king because of the fear and the scapegoating that has been done to dehumanize and disenfranchise a minority group. Again to loop back to the holocaust this is how the Jewish people got to the level that they were. And how people were able to turn a blind eye to the death of millions because of the fear that the government would come after them if they helped anyone who the government