Dear Mrs. Kannan Analysis

Dear Mrs. Kannan,

Matched is a dystopian fiction novel written by Ally Condie, and it is set in a futuristic society where people are “matched” to spend their lives together. The novel follows the protagonist, a girl named Cassia, as she struggles with the ideals of her society, and the system of being matched. The book is told mostly through a first person present narration from Cassia’s point of view. As readers, we see the story through Cassia’s eyes, and see the events unfold in the way that they happen to Cassia. In the novel, it is clear that the world depicted in Matched is very different from the modern day. A frequent idea that recurs in the novel is various choices one can make, and the restriction of them. This is shown through

One of the most accepted aspects of daily life is the fact that no one can choose who they love, and who they want to marry. This is simply a fact of life in Matched. The novel opens with Cassia’s seventeenth birthday, waiting for her matching banquet, following in the footsteps of her parents and her grandparents before her.

“‘I think people should be able to choose who they Match with,’ I say

Cassia has no say in what values she’s been brought up with and what stories she’s been told, because all of that choice has been taken away by the Society. Meanwhile, the government body that initiated the destruction of people’s civil rights sits in the shadows, withholding choices and information from the rest of the Society. Nobody in the novel can recall how or when this change happened, but of course, the lack of choices are an integral part of society. After all, without it, people could freely do whatever they wanted, which is a threat to society because they could possibly overthrow the government. The reason of this censorship is extremely sinister. In getting rid of these choices, they have secured their position of authority and government, leaving the society lacking the incentive to fight the government. They not only censor their citizens’ knowledge, but alter it as well, and nobody can say otherwise because they have no evidence to back it