Why Dystopia is So Popular

The word 'Dystopia' has become a landmark in the realm of teenage and young adult literature. It's arguably the most popular genre of books to the younger generation, with heartthrobs and young girls arguing over 'Gale and Peeta' or fluttering hearts over 'Tris and Four.' With so many modern dystopian novels taking the realm of young love and themes of rebellion and youthful innocence placed around teenage identity. In this case, we see a rising trend in the popularity of dystopian literature in the past couple of decades, and can trace the true fundamental reasons as to why they're so successful.

Dystopian novels are all over the place. In terms of subject matter there are dystopian novels that appeal to the heart, such as Atwood's 'Oryx and Crake' or Orwell's '1984,' there are dystopian novels that caused controversy beyond measure, such as MacDonald's 'The Turner Diaries' or Burgess's 'A Clockwork Orange,' there are dystopian novels that appeal to a scientific mind, like Crichton's 'State of Mind' or Huxely's 'Brave New World.' These novels reflect everything from romance and determination to racism to chaos theory.

Even still the system of dystopian identity has carried its way into the film world. With releases like 'Elysium' and 'Blade Runner,' there has been a surge of dystopian movies, especially in the early 80s, that reflect that same sense of stylization of a reflective society with some sort of negative implication. Because of there being so popular a realm of dystopian scenes, the surge of dystopian implication is only rising in the near future.

Dystopian novels reach into the human psyche of fear. There's a growing curiosity in the human mind that reflects the idea of what happens in the future.

According to the quantum theory of time and space, the physical systems of time (past, present, and future) are all happening at the same time, and we, being in the universe of the present, are unable to reach into the future to see it. Thus, the uncertainty principle exists for both the theory of quantum mechanics as well as the unpredictability of the future. Now, the American identity of freedom, liberty and equality lends itself towards a democratic state with not a large amount of change that could spark a dystopian society, and some of the ones mentioned above (primarily Turner Diaries, Brave New World, Handmaid's Tale) all seem relatively far-fetched in terms of their likelihood.

Nevertheless, the human condition of being curious as to what the 'future holds' is the foundation for what is represented in the realm of dystopian literature. Therefore, because we don't know for certain what's going to happen in the future, there's no feasible way for us to have any sort of ideological background to emphasize the understanding of what's most likely to happen. Thus, we can't say that 'Handmaid's Tale' is a guarantee because we have no complex understanding of either gender roles or their evolutionary development into the future of American society.

Now, some things are feasible in that sense. Much of the situations revolving around Orwell's '1984' are reflected with things like the PATRIOT Act and the creation and enforcement of the NSA, and speak volumes about the predicted world only 75 years prior. There are some dystopian novels that make sense: 'Life as We Knew It' revolves around a meteor crashing into the moon, which is a very catastrophic event that takes away the survivability of life on Earth. As well, it reflects the mannerism of uncontrollable devastation, because there is no way for us to reroute the path of the asteroid. Thus, the book, while personally not my favorite, reflects almost the most likely scenario that some sort of dystopian piece of fiction could take in the near future.

Now, there are other novels that take a more radical approach with a similar sense of likelihood. One of these is Crichton's 'State of Fear,' which reflects a global-warming group planning to commit acts of terrorism. Now, I believe in global warming, and I've addressed this numerous times in previous blogs. But the story in 'Fear' takes the more radical approach to describe the violent upheavals of social situations where the radical nature of certain groups becomes far more than people are able to understand. It's similar to groups like 'Al-Qaeda,' who commit the acts they do based upon social principles which they feel have been violated. As a result, the 'State of Fear,' whether religious or environmental, nonetheless exists and is a prevalent point of the dystopian scenario.

Is it possible that there can be a dystopian society within the next 20 years? No. Not with the mass institution of democratic ideologies that represent the concepts of open liberty and expression. But this also doesn't mean that that situation is completely impossible. There is always the chance that one political party could screw up so badly that the radical nature of the other side could come to power, and one country could end up with an institution similar to the Island States of the universe of '1984.' Or, there could be a radical right wing who wants to reinstitute the clauses and expressions of the Christian faith, and the Red, White and Blue of America becomes the gender-divided Atwood story of 'Handmaid's Tale.' I would go so far as to say that there could be a high-speed asteroid that collides with the Earth and wipes out all of humanity in a matter of months. While frightening and terrifying, the nature of the world, much like the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics, we simply just don't know.

And there's no way for us to find out anytime soon.