The Rising Popularity of Dystopian Literature

Dystopia is utopia's polarized mirror image. While utilizing many of the same concepts as
utopiafor example, social stability created by authoritarian regimentationdystopia reads
these ideas pessimistically. Dystopia angrily challenges utopia's fundamental assumption of
human perfectibility, arguing that humanity's inherent flaws negate the possibility of
constructing perfect societies, except for those that are perfectly hellish. Dystopias are solely
fictional, presenting grim, oppressive societieswith the moralistic goal of preventing the
horrors they illustrate.
Dystopian fiction has grown as a genre and continues to evolve today. One of the first
dystopian novels to become famous was George Orwells 1984, which is still one of the topselling dystopian novels today. Recently, there has been a rising popularity of dystopian
novels. These novels have been transformed into popular movies that have made millions of
dollars. There is a uniqueness to these novels that made them immensely intriguing to people
and famous in todays society.
The concept of dystopian literature is to not only entertain readers, but to let them understand
the ideas and characteristics of a dystopian society. These characteristics are shown through
our own society but at a more drastic level. The reader gains more knowledge by finding ways
in which the topics the author writes about is relevant to todays society. This style of writing
is so popular because it makes readers think of interesting topics that seem realistic, yet
fictional. The rising popularity of dystopian literature among adolescent audiences is
prominent in todays pop culture due to its relevance in young adults lives, its direct
comparisons to current events in todays world, and its originality in relation to other genres.
The relativity of dystopian literature to young adults lives is a component to why the genre is
so popular. The reasoning behind this is how the stories are written. Young adult dystopian
literature today is mostly in an adolescents perspective. For example, The Giver by Lois
Lowry published in 1993 was one of the first dystopian novels written in a teenagers
perspective. Most of all dystopian novels are now written in this style, such as The Hunger
Games, Divergent, and The Maze Runner. One component to the relativity of young adult
dystopian literature is that they are written in a teenagers perspective, which is unusual for
traditional literature.

Young adults, with the drama and the hormones, are trying to figure out who they are and
what they want to be in life. With dystopian novels, the character is perceived as someone
with independence and ambition. With everything that is happening in young adults lives,
young adult dystopian novels are an escape from reality. Teenagers are forever known for
their best and worst years of their lives. From high school parties to girls first love
heartbreak, teenagers lives are like a rollercoaster. These novels parallel to teenagers
moods in how they escalate situations in an instant, and then a completely different mood is
set up while reading.
In the end, the dystopian genre has been alive and thriving for many years. Teenagers love for
dystopian novels have created a whole new business for movies, merchandise, and more. No
one can predict whether this genre will continue its popularity but it will allow our present
generation more open-minded due to the ideas these novels share on government, military,
society, and culture. The real question is will young adult dystopian literature continue its
popularity or slowly disintegrate and begin another fad in literature?