A new era of dystopian novels

As years have passed since these books were written, there are an increased amount of similarities between our current world and the worlds built in those novels. What were warnings a few decades ago are becoming our current reality. Some make connections between our modern technology and its constant surveillance of us to that of “1984” or how the overturn of Roe v. Wade brings us one step closer to the reality of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” 

Dystopian novels are important, they keep us in check, they warn us about possible dangers we may face. They critique different current social and political issues, exaggerating them to force readers to understand their current environment.

Yet, in the past two decades, a new genre of dystopian novels started popping up. Previously, dystopian novels were often written to criticize and warn, and written for older audiences. However, “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins brought a new wave of the dystopian genre — one that is aimed at teenagers and doesn’t always have overt criticisms of modern-day injustices. “The Hunger Games” follows Katniss Everdeen who gets chosen to participate in an annual televised battle royale to the death and her journey to escape. The book itself does criticize aspects of our current society, as the novel explores themes of poverty and warns the readers of political corruption and about leaving too much power in the hands of the few. 

However, another notable series that gets a lot of criticism is “Divergent” by Veronica Roth. This series builds a world in which everyone is separated into five factions, each with a set of values and personality traits by which they must abide. The book is about being who you want to be instead of having a test chosen for you, an overarching theme that doesn’t really serve to criticize or say anything about the world. Personally, I found the story shallow, uninteresting and quite unbelievable as everyone besides the main character has multiple personality traits. 

What followed was hundreds of young adult dystopian novels. And though “The Hunger Games” did have criticisms about current society, the original spirit of dystopian novels was lost as many of the new novels did not have such a thing. The novels usually have the same storyline of an evil government ruling the world and only a teenage girl main character who is special and different can save everyone. Instead of focusing on the brutality or the connections to our world, the books choose to focus more on the love story aspect, usually with some sort of love triangle, leaving the world-building and larger messages in the background. Books like “Legend” by Marie Lu or “Matched” by Ally Condie follow this theme and I personally did not enjoy them. 

However, despite there being many dystopian novels aimed at young adults that people do not like, there are also many books with a good story and background that teach teenagers about the possible threats to modern society. “Unwind” by Neal Shusterman explores a world where unwanted teenagers are taken apart for their body parts to be reused. The book pushes the ideology that people should have a right to their own body and what to do with it, and that individuals have the power to push back against the system to create a better future. 

There is a new era of dystopian novels, one that is aimed more at teenagers, but perhaps it is not as bad as it seems, because for every run-of-the-mill young adult dystopian novel with shallow messaging, there is one that is unique and does aim to criticize society and warn young readers of the potential dangers of the future.  

If the future is within the hands of children, it is important they read and are exposed to such novels. Especially in times when the world seems more “dystopian,” messages of pushing back and rebelling are important. So even if the genre of dystopian novels has changed significantly, their purpose of warning us about the future still holds true. 

Ellen Li is a senior at Aragon High School in San Mateo. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.