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It was a question that was posted in one of my writing groups. A lot of people felt that the answer was because it's such a different look at a world then the one we live in.
Some of them thought it was a warning for us as dystopians are always set years away from our current time and they likened it to a wake up call of what could happen.
I disagree with them. Dystopians in literature isn't really some far off place or warning to us. We are a dystopian. We are not a great peace loving unified people. We are a post apocalyptic society simply to a lesser degree. But to me it's clear that we read dystopian literature not because of how different it is to us, but because of how similar it is for us.
Think about it. When you are looking for a new book to read, you tell people the type of books you like for them to give you suggestions. We, as a people, crave familiarity. The unknown is something that horror movies and sci-fi thrillers have used for decades to scare us away from the normality of our lives, if only for a few hours.
So why do people think dystopian societies are so far fetched from what we already have. Look at the world around you. Do you really see it as a good place. Now I'm not saying there isn't good in the world. That there isn't beauty and justice. We have that. But we also have an imbalance of power. A society on the brink of destruction....
It's pretty simple. We, the younger generations, no longer look at flying cars and world peace as our possible future. We are the future. And it's as far from harmony as you could be. We are a dystopian novel like the ones we love to read. Maybe now a days we are so attracted to them because they are us. And all we're trying to do is figure out how to stop it, how to turn it back into the future that everyone said we deserved. The one we were promised.
** I'd really like to hear everyone's thoughts on this. Feel free to comment. **