I've been kind of into Dystopian novels recently. Reading The Hunger Games
were like a gateway drug, and now I really dig them. I just finished the first two book in the Divergent Trilogy
y and OMG I am in LOVE. The third book comes out in October and I may not survive until then.While it's easy to get caught up in the storylines and imagining what life might be like in these worlds, I'm quickly realizing I would last about a day in a Dystopian reality.
Like, maybe only a few hours.
Why?
Several reasons.
You Need to Be Tough
In The Hunger Games, it was a battle to the death, even outside of the games. You had to survive tough living conditions, scarce resources and oppressive governments. I don't know if I have the moxie to live that way.You Need to Be Willing To Kill
Doesn't that seem to be all theme in all Dystopian novels? Life is often fragile in these stories, with many societies trying to rebound from disease or catastrophe. So to say that tensions run high is an understatement. Throw in tribe-on-tribe war like in Divergent or government-sponsored killing games like The Hunger Games?I'd be toast.
Women Are Often At a Disadvantage
Maybe not always, but the women a weaker sex seems to be a societal norm in these books. This is especially showcased in The Handmaid's Tale
, where females were literally just used for breeding. I'm so not down with that.You Need Relationship Issues
Right? There needs to be a love triangle, unrequited love or some mysterious new boy that you fall in love with and then fight with all the time. I guess that's what makes the story interesting to readers. But seriously? That's why I got married, so I could end the boy drama.You Need to Forgo Contemporary Amentities
Food is hard to come by, housing may be crude at best. I'm not prissy, but if I had to be one of the survivors that started a new society after the previously known United States of America disintegrated, it'd be difficult. The transition from comfortable living to barely surviving is not for the faint of heart. I'd ache too much for the life I'd known, especially with no promises for what was to come.
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My plan? Keep enjoying these fictional novels and keep my fingers crossed none of these come to fruition as reality!
What about you?
How long would you last as a character in Divergent?
The Hunger Games?
A Handmaid's Tale?
