Confessions of a Dystopian Reader
This post is part of the blog hop for Teach Mentor Texts
What is it that is so appealing about Post-Apocalyptic and
Dystopian adventures? It certainly isn’t the depression of having a world
collapse, leaving only a handful of survivors. It can’t be the oppressive government
regimes, bent on taking away all vestiges of free choice and
self-determination. No, what makes both of these genres appeal to me is the
focus on the human spirit; the scrappy unwillingness to let go, to give up, to
just stop trying and die.
Here are a few of my favorites. I’m skipping the “Young
Adult” bracket because so many others here have done an excellent job sharing
those books.
Upper Middle Grades: In
this age bracket, it’s important to be cautious about the details of the
disaster and the struggles of the adults. It’s equally important to have a main
character that kids feel strongly connected to.
City of Ember
This is the perfect introduction to the genre pairing for younger
elementary students. A world has been set up – the world of Ember – to help humanity
survive. But what happens when that very world begins to die around them? The
notions of fairness, of misplaced clues, and of children struggling to solve a
riddle and save their families are so appealing to this age group.
The Giver. On the surface, the society seems
peaceful, kind, and benign. Yet slowly, page by page and clue by clue, we begin
to sense that something just isn’t right here. The discoveries are chilling,
and just right for introducing the concepts of free will and the importance of
having your own choices to make to a student in their preteen or early teen
years.
Adult (maybe upper
high school on up): If you haven’t
read these, proceed with caution. The first one is exceptionally bleak. Through
the bleakness, though, shines forth the vital connections of family and tribe.
The Walking Dead – This is a comic series, and it is
NOT for the faint of heart. It is a violent, disturbing look at the
post-apocalyptic future tackled by so many movies. What happens if the dead
reanimate – mindless, soulless, and looking to eat? Yes, it’s horror. Yes, it’s
gory. Yet it’s also a deep look at what really motivates us. If we were down to
nothing, what would we do? Who sticks together? Who goes off on their own? How
would we choose a leader of that straggling group of survivors, and how long
would we follow him? What would we do to save our child? The comics are
ongoing, and I’m only through the first two volumes so far. Yes, I do also
watch the television series.
The Gate to Women’s Country by Sheri Tepper- This book is an all time
favorite. Take a post-apocalyptic world. Add in a heavy dose of feminism and
sprinkle it with references to ancient Greek theater. In this novel, one of the
societies has split their culture into “Women’s Country” and “Warriors”. Within
the walls, women have made a life filled with agriculture, medicine, and peace.
Outside the walls, the men are allowed to continue with their warrior ways to
help protect the walled cities. Boys are raised with their mothers, and then
their fathers. After they have experienced both, they may choose. Return
through the Gate or remain with their warrior fathers. The main character also
gets a chance to experience another society that is extremely oppressive to
women. Masterfully written, thought provoking, this is a book I’d love to do
with a book club!
Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic
literature shows us that humanity will never “go quiet into that good night”.
Heck, no. We will struggle; we will rebel; we will fight ravening beasts for
bits of sustenance. We’ll create new governments, and we’ll tear them back down.
We’ll do whatever we need to do to survive; to thrive; to be true to ourselves.
As readers, we learn about what makes humanity unique, and what we value as a
culture. We also get the chance to experience vicariously that level of courage
and spark as a rehearsal for the days that we face problems of our own, even
though they pale in comparison. That is why I love these stories.
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