The Importance of Dystopian Literature

Mallory Dobry ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
The recent surge of dystopian literature that has gained massive attention and reeled in huge profits at the box office has also brought many crucial issues and ideas to the forefront of the media. For one point, dystopian literature like The Hunger Games and Divergent have given young women their own place to be action stars and to save the world, where very few question their gender, and instead focus on their determination and strength.
Dystopian literature has helped to also highlight many social ills that society can use as red flags to determine if the power system has gone too far. Things such as declaring love a disease, where people are “cured” to prevent them from acting on passion, as in Lauren Oliver’s Delirium trilogy, or the brutality of sending children into an arena to fight to the death as in The Hunger Games, are very clearly wrong, and the government overstepping their boundaries. Readers immediately recognize that doing such things are clear infringements on human rights.

While the issues commonly found in dystopia shed light on the horrors of the denial of basic human rights, the fascination and enjoyment that comes from consuming these forms of media raises a drastic problem. The Hunger Games franchise has made millions of dollars at the box office, and it has also spawned a very problematic culture, where consumers can find dolls of heroes like Katniss and Peeta, and make up by the label of “Capitol Couture,” based off the very institution within Panem that sends children to die in the first place.
Readers and viewers are often looking at these dystopian societies and thinking, “This could never happen in real life”, but the unfortunate truth is that it already is. On a smaller scale, particularly to minority groups, these infringements on civil rights are already happening every day, and unfortunately, one doesn’t have to look much further than the news to see that.
In The Hunger Games, when Rue—a precocious twelve-year-old tribute—is killed during the games, the people of her district, made up predominately of African-American citizens, revolt in anger. The scene echoed as one of the most powerful in the movie, and viewers understood completely why the district turned to violence over her death. However, when rioters took to the streets to protest the death of Freddie Gray, who died due to brutality while in police custody, they were quickly painted as “animals” or “savages” for property damage they caused.
Among the Young Adult Dystopia genre, a very large portion of the young ladies leading rebellions and fighting oppression are white. Based off the text, many argue that Katniss was a woman of color, and when Lionsgate began to cast The Hunger Games movies, they prohibited any non-white actresses from reading for the role, eliminating any chance of a minority race to play the strong, female character. Tris Prior of Divergent is white, Lena Holloway of Delirium is white, Ruby Daly of The Darkest Minds is white, as are countless others. These girls are heroines for good reason. They fight with bravery and determination, and readers sympathize with them and understand that they are being deprived of their basic human rights. But it raises the question: is dystopia what we get when the struggles and oppression faced by minority groups happen to people of all genders, races, backgrounds, and orientations?

The YA dystopia genre has provided an incredible platform for young girls to finally picture themselves as the heroes, to take down oppressive governments, to stand up for what they believe, and make a difference, which was a much needed change. With the popularity of these heroines leading rebellions and taking names, the trend isn’t going away any time soon. However, as readers take in the words on the page and are horrified by the atrocities being committed within the text, it should also be a cue to look at their own world and recognize when the same atrocities are happening on a smaller scale, or to people of color, or people of minority sexual orientations and genders, among other things. The enjoyment and thrill that readers get from reading about these women and their adventures does come at an expense, and the expense that some of these events are happening already, right under their noses.
While these books serve as a warning and a view of what the world could become, they should also be opening eyes, and opening them wide enough to see what is happening right now.