Big Brother Is Watching You...Read Dystopian Novels

"Wake up citizen, it's time for your state mandated placement test" boomed the speaker in the corner of my government regulated living quarters. It was a quaint little room, or at least that's how the Government described it in their propaganda. In all reality, my room was more of a storage closet with a cot than anything else. I rose from my government provided rectangle and made for the door. One of the perks of a totalitarian government is not having to worry about picking out an outfit for the day. Instead, all citizens were given a red jumper to wear. "The color of freedom," they had claimed. More like the color of blood if you ask me…

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Oppressive, borderline totalitarian governments, degraded quality of life, and one resistant soul to save the world; these are the staples of any good dystopian novel. When the reader cracks open a dystopian novel for the first time, they can expect to be grabbed and immediately pulled in. There are endless parallels that exist between dystopian novels and actual society today. Although they are fictional, dystopian novels are always relevant when compared to current times. It’s hard to read a dystopian novel and ignore the connections between the story and today’s times. Dystopian books are rarely classified as horror, but I tend to disagree. What could be more horrifying than a society that oppresses its people to the point where they can’t even think dissenting thoughts? I can’t help but think dystopian books are less about telling a story and more about telling the future.

           Even though dystopian tales are often foreboding darker times, they can inspire hope as well. For example, the protagonist often faces overwhelming odds to revolt against the government. They use their low-class status to fly under the radar. No one expects them to be great, so it’s always a shock when they are. I deeply relate to this feeling and it’s one of the reasons I find myself always reaching for a dystopian book. The protagonist acts as a beacon of hope to the rest of the oppressed society, and that is something I think everyone should strive to do. It may seem odd, but I often feel inspired after finishing a  dystopian book. 

Dystopian novels are an escape for me. I can crawl into bed at night with a nice dystopian tale like The Hunger Games or Ready Player One and submerge into the world of “what if”. Part of me knows that the story is just fiction and that I have nothing to worry about. There is a part of me, though, that likes to fantasize about all the possibilities. I cast off all disbelief and become completely enthralled in the world of the novel. What if I lived in this society? Would I rise up from the depths of obscurity to change the way the world works? Or, like the rest of the mindless drones, would I obey every command I was given? Would I sacrifice my beliefs, who I really am, for safety? Dystopian novels always make me ask the question “is life worth living without freedom?”

In conclusion, I feel that the best literature always inspires reflection in its readers. This is why I hold dystopian novels in such high esteem. They fill me with a wide range of emotions spanning from sheer terror to unwavering hope. Page after page, I always become entranced in the story. It is easy to get sucked in because the problems are just far off enough to indulge in the drama, but always close enough to invoke visceral feelings.  For me, dystopian novels are a way to live out the fantasies of “what if” from the safety of my free country. Free for now, that is.