This essay’s purpose is to depict what teenagers found so appealing and tantalizing about dystopian fiction, and how dystopian novels play a critical role in their development. To do so, we decided to base our thinking on an article written by Justin Scholes and Jon Ostenson : « Understanding the Appeal of Dystopian Young Adult Fiction » (2013). Dystopian fiction portrays a grim picture of an imagined society whose citizens are in great suffering. Common elements found in dystopian literature stir up the intricacies of societal, political, ethical and moral issues like squalor, mistrust, suspicion, police state, abuse, seizure of control by the government and unjust laws. Dystopian fictions aim to make the audience aware of the government’s drifts, using a metaphor for the different directions humanity can take, depending on its choices. The plot revolves around the hero who must challenge the reality he is put in and deal with the dark recesses of the human psyche. Indeed, this dystopian nightmare usually relates the story of a young teenage protagonist who displays some form of resistance against the system and hence is the bearer of hope.
This literature is particularly popular among teenagers, mainly because they can relate to the struggles faced by the same age hero. Adolescence is also a critical period between childhood and adulthood, marked by physical, cognitive and emotionnal maturation which can explain their interest in dystopian fiction. Indeed, teenagers are going through a lot of changes, including self-discovering and the need to question a society which is being reconsidered by their new ways of thinking and viewing the world. They are able to engage in more complex and abstract ideas and start to develop formal thinking, a type of critical thinking in which life is not as simple and black or white as it used to be when they were children. In fact, they proceed to understand there is a whole lot of gray areas in life. That is why dystopian fiction makes it easy for teenagers to relate to the hero as it provides them space for pondering.
Furthermore, heros in dystopian fiction are put in a society that seems initially perfect but turns out to be corrupted and alienating. They are described as strong-minded individuals with solid values and high leadership skills, who rise alone not just against a person or an organization, but the entire government. Thus, teen readers truly identify with the heros as they may feel alone and misunderstood themselves, especially about their understandings and opinions on societies’ flaws. Moreover, teenage years are characterized by the will to make more independent lifestyle choices and to follow a set of values that might be different from the ones established by authorities and social norms, just like in dystopian novels. Typically, adolescents are more likely to call into question their parents’ rules and authority. Also, as teenagers critical thinking develops, so does their need to seek understanding and validation from their friends and romantic partners. As well, those relationships, which are less superficial and more meaningful than when they were children, help them shape and assert their identity. Consequently, that is also why dystopian fiction really echoes with the teen reader, as the hero in dystopian novels is usually aided by the strong support of his friends.
In closing, teens’ interest in dystopian fiction resides in the fact it tackles and encompasses a lot of questionnings that they might ask themselves, willing them to identify and grow with the hero throughout the story.
Words we have learned :
grim : sombre
bearer of hope : porteur d’espoir
squalor : misère
intricacies : complexités
drifts : les dérives
Nisma BOUSSAIDI, Florence BRAY, Maéva DASSE-HARTAUT