A dystopia is an imagined civilization based on the very real downfalls of today’s society.
When I think of dystopian societies I often think of literature like The Hunger Games, Divergent and Fahrenheit 451. One of the main things I’ve noticed in these novels is that the issues at the core of their civilizations are things that we face in today’s society. These issues are usually social and/or environmental which has lead to the downfall of society as we know it and the imagined dystopian world is what the author’s response would be to rebuild civilization. I like to think of dystopia’s as a sort of cry or plead for society to correct the issues being addressed in the novel. The dystopias created are literal perceptions of what civilization could/has become and the creators of them are, in a way, hoping that readers take heed to these issues. Dystopias are cautionary tales and we, as a society, should probably pay them more attention.
