Dystopian Research Paper

Introduction

A modern tradition in literature is to examine societies and their dysfunctions. An entire genre, dystopian literature, examines how societies are destined to fail. A Dystopian literature is about an overly governed society that is attempting to be “perfect,” run by a group of sadistic people or a single tyrant. This type of literature includes some background about how the community was run, but the focus is typically on a communal realization and uproar. This type of literature is becoming more and more popular in recent years, and has also trickled its way into mainstream young adult fiction books and movies as well. Some examples of this include The Hunger Games, as well as the Divergent trilogies. All Dystopian authors have a common goal when writing. This goal is to strike fear into the reader, but also give them slight hope, which is hard to do because of the fact the concepts are so dichotomous in nature. Sometimes the awful nature of the story, though, can mask any buoyancy. Although hard to find, they are there. For example,

As a generally more depressing topic, it is commonly asked: Why would people prefer Dystopia over Utopia? Well the answer is, they are brutally honest. Dystopian literature is often seen as a forewarning to an already-present issue. (Bloom 82) As humans, there is a bit of morbid curiosity present in everyone. As someone who is not directly experiencing something, it is interesting to watch someone else have a hard time, even if it is not explicitly “entertaining,” it can be hard to look away. Utopias can even unintentionally even be more upsetting than Dystopias, because they point to a seemingly “perfect” world, for a reader who is, by comparison, living in hell. Overall, Dystopias are a more relatable tale and people enjoy reading stories or watching movies that they can ultimately put themselves