Dystopian Stories Are Depressing; Give Me More
From Netflix sensation Squid Game, to classics such as George Orwell’s 1984, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and modern bestsellers like Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, dystopian stories form a huge genre with legions of fans.
Typically featuring highly unequal distributions of power where one person or a small group of elites rules over and oppresses the rest, life in such places offer little to no freedom, where survival is a daily challenge and resistance is futile. With everyone looking after their own interests, sometimes at the expense of others, it’s a wonder there’s even a sense of community.
Yet why do we find dystopian stories so appealing, despite all the doom and gloom? Are we sadists? Quite the contrary, actually!
1. We Love Rooting for the Underdog
Protagonists in dystopian stories typically resist the establishment (otherwise there wouldn’t be an interesting story to tell). The classic story of a hero who takes huge risks and makes personal sacrifices for justice’s sake makes us feel good about the human spirit.
Ever noticed how many dystopian heroes are teenagers? Take for example Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, Thomas in The Maze Runner and Beatrice “Tris” Prior in Divergent. Coincidence? Nope! Teenagers are a common target group for dystopian fiction because they’re most likely to relate to feeling trapped in a world where someone else, such as a parent or a teacher, makes the rules. It’s no wonder the themes of challenging unjust powers and redeeming one’s agency are so appealing to teenage readers.
2. Dystopian Thought Experiments Are Fascinating
Dystopian stories have a way of firing questions in our minds that other genres don’t. Because dystopian worlds typically feature themes of lack, constraints and restraints, these desperate circumstances often push characters to make painful and weighty choices. By putting ourselves in the shoes of these characters, we can’t help but ask ourselves uncomfortable but revealing questions:
What would I do if I had to choose between sacrificing X and Y?
Would I also betray my friend in the same situation? Could I?
If I empathise with an adversarial character, is that saying something about my morals?
We may feel shifts in our understanding of ourselves and the world around us after consuming dystopian books and films. These discoveries make us return for more thought experiments that fortunately, remain theoretical.
3. We’re Kept on Edge
No matter the trope used by the author, we usually anticipate suspenseful plots and multiple heartbreaks when we read dystopian stories.
For example, in stories featuring a violent, last-man-standing trope, we become invested in the order in which the players are sacrificed, assuming the worst while hoping for the best. In novels featuring revolutions against oppressive governments, we root nervously for the heroes to pull off successful rebellions with as little collateral damage as possible. As for dystopian worlds that put restrictions on love and relationships, we find ourselves indignantly turning page after page to find out if what we consider a basic human right to love is eventually validated.
4. We Feel Better About Our Own Circumstances
If you’re feeling bad about your lot in life, there’s nothing like reading about oppression and being constantly in survival mode to make reality so much rosier in comparison. Immerse yourself in dystopian fiction, and you’ll probably return with a greater appreciation for the things you do have.
5. We Enjoy Reflecting on the Authors’ Social Commentaries
For the most part, dystopian stories are fictitious, although some do bear uncanny similarities with reality. The constant surveillance in 1984 comes to mind when we consider the amount of information we leave behind in our digital footprints today — personal and behavioural data accessible to marketers, regulators, or worse, nefarious characters.
More often though, these parallels reflect the authors’ thoughts and feelings on the trends they see developing in society. In The Handmaid’s Tale, for example, author Margaret Atwood intended to explore themes of patriarchal societies and female oppression that she observed to be happening in the 1980s, when the novel was written.
For those of us pensive about the state of the world, the dystopian genre offers social commentaries that’ll fuel our thoughts about society and the possibilities in store for future generations.
Are you a fan of dystopian stories? Which ones are your favourites? Check out our dystopian book recommendations in our earlier post, What to Read If You’ve Watched Netflix’s “Alice in Borderland”.
