Literature and Information

Themes in Dystopian Literature

There are several themes that should be discussed when teaching dystopian literature. The first is politics. As stated before, dystopias are defined by governmental rule that invites negative feelings from its citizens. This pessimism typically leads to an uprising or revolution of the oppressed members of society. These people are referred to as protagonists. Another theme found in dystopian literature is economics. The government controls the economy by deciding whom works, what jobs they have, and how much money they make, if any. This controlled economic system leads to deprivation of meaningful job responsibilities, minimal compensation, and no opportunity for career advancement. Money and opportunity are reserved for the elite. Social stratification is yet another theme found in dystopian literature. Dystopian societies are typically divided into the very privileged ruling class and the overworked working class. The lower class often times is conditioned for job satisfaction and acceptance of the difficulties that come with being a part of the working class.¹⁸

In many dystopian novels, you will also find that family is a central theme of the book. Families are often, eliminated from the beginning as yet another way to control people through assignment and social systems. As a theme, religion can play a positive or negative role in dystopian literature. In certain novels, religious groups are in favor of more rights and freedoms for the working class. In others, religious groups are the oppressive government who enforces totalitarian control on the helpless. Often times in dystopian literature, the government will try to strip its’ society’s citizens of their identities in order to reprogram them to accept being ruled. Identity is a theme that shows up many times in dystopian literature.¹⁹

Violence is also common in this genre of literature. Eventually the working class becomes tired of being controlled and an uprising ensues. This war is typically the climax of the story, but not always. Though subtle in some novels, nature can also be a theme in dystopian novels. Often times, dystopian settings will be urban or rural, desolate, polluted, and/or dangerous. Many of them depict a post-apocalyptic era where a major global change has happened, the atmosphere has been contaminated, or nature is controlled like everything else. It shouldn’t be surprising that in this genre, the main characters or the entire working class must live underground at some point in the book. Finally, technology is also a theme found in dystopian novels. Technology, instead of having a positive effect on human society, poses a threat to the liberties of the lower class of those living in a dystopia. Technology is used to reinforce hierarchies, control the spread and use of information, and even destroy nature. It can also be true that technology acts as its own ruler with all of the people acting as the oppressed lower class. Inventions and advancements in technology merely create more control of the working class.²⁰