Dystopian Distress

I think we can safely say that before The Hunger Games trilogy, there wasn't an official "dystopian" genre. Sure, there were books that fit the mold (The Giver, 1984), but I think Hunger Games was the novel that set off the flood of dystopian novels that hit the bookshelves after that (I thought about adding a nice image of "dystopia" here but I looked online and some of the images are vaguely terrifying, so I settled with "post apocalyptic city." instead).



So first, what exactly is a dystopian novel, and what does it entail? Merriam-Webster defines dystopia as 1) an imaginary place where people are unhappy and usually afraid because they are not treated fairly, and 2) anti-utopia. Jeremy and I recently had a discussion about this. We came to the general conclusion that a "dsytopia" is basically a "utopia" gone terribly wrong. That a post-war society puts so much corrective emphasis on perfection and good qualities that they overshoot, and become corrupt and, well, imperfect.


I love the concept of the genre; the idea of a utopian society gone wrong is interesting to me; however, as  I have read more and more books in this genre, I am beginning to feel like we are scraping the bottom of the barrel. And today, I want to prove it. I am going to use three of my favorite dystopian novels: Delirium by Lauren Oliver, Divergent by Veronica Roth, and The Uglies by Scott Westerfield. I will go over the plots of a "cookie cutter" dystopian novel, and then show how each of these fits the mold.

Before I begin, let me say that I enjoyed all three of these series (each is a trilogy. Similarity #1). In fact, I would highly recommend The Uglies and Delirium. I was a little less of a fan of Divergent because Tris is a very flat narrator. She got a little irritating to me towards the end. I also need to say that I deliberately excluded The Hunger Games from this comparison. Not because the similarities aren't there (they are), but because I feel like since Hunger Games was the series that really began the dystopian craze, more people have read it than the three I am comparing. 

I will spare a lot of the commentary from here on out, and give you the examples from the books. Unfortunately, my kindle wouldn't give me specific page numbers, so I don't have precise references for you for the direct quotes. I apologize in advance.

Warning: Spoiler alert (but since I am arguing that if you have read one of these you have the gist of all three...it's not really THAT much of a spoiler).

We enter into a world, a futuristic version of our own. However, our own country has been ravaged and destroyed by war. This war has since been studied and picked apart, and has been determined to have been caused by a particular quality, for which there has now been discovered a cure.

• Delirium- "It has been sixty-four years since the president and the Consortium identified love as a disease, and forty-three since the scientists perfected a cure."
• Divergent- "'Decades ago our ancestors realized that it is not political ideology, religious belief, race, or nationalism that is to blame for a warring world. Rather, they realized it was a fault of human personality--of mankind's inclination toward evil, in whatever form that is. They divided into factions that sought to eradicate those qualities they believed responsible for the world's disarray.'"
• The Uglies- I couldn't find a specific quote, but in The Uglies, it has been determined that wars and hatred all started because people looked different, and usually because one of the warring parties was ugly. Scientists realized that if they made everyone pretty, there would be no need to war, since everyone would be desirable. They have genetically engineered looks to show innocence and vulnerability.
 

Enter Main Character. She (for in all three of these books it is a 'she') is nearly the age to enter the greater, perfected society.

• Delirium-"I'm scheduled to have my procedure in exactly ninety-five days, on September 3. My birthday." The procedure she is about to have is the procedure that will eliminate love from her life. All members of society have the surgery at eighteen.
• Divergent-"Today is the day of the aptitude test that will show me which of the five factions I belong in. And tomorrow, at the Choosing Ceremony, I will decide on a faction; I will decide the rest of my life." At sixteen, children determine their futures by choosing a faction to join.
• The Uglies-"What could they do to her, anyway? In three months she'd be a pretty herself." At sixteen, all Uglies go through an intensive surgery to make them pretty. This includes (but isn't limited to) cheekbone implants, new skin, nose job, eye work, lip enhancement, etc.
 

Main Character seems pretty content with society herself, but of course, she has a rebellious (however, well-intentioned) Best Friend.

• Delirium- The role of best friend is taken by Hana. Hana and Lena (main character) have been best friends for years. She is scheduled for her procedure at the same time as Lena, but "she has been strange recently." She feels the laws are too restrictive, and the citizens are not given any choice. She whispers cryptically to Lena before an important exam to determine her future husband, "You know you can't be happy unless you're unhappy sometimes, right?" She leads Lena to break rules, like trespassing, she listens to forbidden music and attending parties with other uncured individuals. She means well, but tells Lena she just wants to "live a little" before they are cured.
• Divergent- Admittedly, this role was a little more difficult for me to find. Tris has a few people she is close with, but none are really rebellious, as far as the reader can tell. Tris' brother is a friend, but not really a confidante. The siblings keep a lot of secrets from each other. He rebels against his childhood faction Abnegation, but wouldn't be considered a "rebel." Tris meets Christina on her first day as a dauntless and they become friends, but also not really the rebellious type. I finally decided that Divergent is unique because Tris actually IS the rebellious friend. She refuses to learn to hide her Dauntless..ness, and keeps fighting the simulations. She sneaks out of the Dauntless compound, and basically breaks a whole bunch of rules to find answers that she wants. Tris IS the rebel, though she still is happy with society.
• The Uglies- Tally's best friend is Shay, whom Tally met as she was sneaking out at night. Shay is in the same situation as Tally--her friends were made into pretties and Shay is alone until she can be made pretty as well. She doesn't look forward to her birthday and pretty surgery. She feels the whole "pretty" thing is a game, and tells Tally that "making ourselves feel ugly is not fun...this whole game is just designed to make us hate ourselves." Shay takes Tally out of the boundaries of the city, into the forbidden ruins of the Rusties--the people who were destroyed by the wars. She wants to have as much fun "before it's too late."

Main Character seems pretty average herself, and most people seem to agree with that assessment. However, Best Friend is beautiful.

• Delirium- "[Hana is] absolutely gorgeous--even when she just twists her blond hair into a messy knot on the top of her head, she looks as though she's just had it styled. I'm not ugly, but I'm not pretty either. Everything is in-between. I have eyes that aren't green or brown, but a muddle. I'm, not thin, but I'm not fat, either. The only thing you could definitely say about me is this: I'm short."
• Divergent- Tris doesn't say much about herself, except that she is allowed to look in a mirror once every three months for a haircut. She says that she is average--she still looks like a child, even though she is nearly sixteen. However, most of the people Tris associates with are really nice looking. Tris, in her ever-descriptive dialogue, describes Christina as "pretty," and describes Four as muscular and good looking. She also can't take her eyes off of him, and for a long while it seems like she is in awe of him.
• The Uglies- Okay, granted, this was harder to find evidence for, because the series DOES actually come from the fact in the novel's universe, people are considered "ugly" until they turn sixteen and have their surgery. However, there are hints that Shay is beautiful: "[her lips] were already almost pretty-sized," "for a minute, Shay's ugly face looked perfect."There are also hints in the novel about Shay's self confidence. She likes the way she looks, which is strange for an Ugly. Heck, it is strange for anyone in OUR universe.

In each dystopian society, there is a secret rebel group. The government is working to destroy this secret group, all the while assuring the public that the group "doesn't exist."

• Delirium- This group of people is rebelling against the cure the government offers. They are known as the "invalids," but the news works hard to cover up the havoc they cause on the city. In the beginning, the invalids let a truck full of cows wander into a government medical and testing facility, but the government covers it up by declaring it was a mixed up medical shipment.
• Divergent- The secret group in this novel is actually the same as the title: Divergent. Basically, what that means is that the government is unable to control these people through simulations. However, the government looks harshly on these individuals, eliminating them while at the same time denying their existence. Since divergence is kept a secret, these deaths are usually made to look like an accident. When Tris finds that she is divergent, she is encouraged to hide the fact, and never reveal the truth or risk being hunted and killed.
• The Uglies- The main areas of this story take place in Ugly town and New Pretty Town. However, there is a rebel group who have escaped from the borders of the city and run to a place called "the Smoke." These are people who refused to let the government change them. Most people call them "Smokies," but they believe smokies are just made up--bedtime stories to scare them when they were little.
 

Main character is trying to behave within the realms of society, but eventually meets someone from a rebel group and forms a Love interest.

• Delirium- Lena's love interest is Alex. She at first believes he is cured, but soon learns he is a rebel. However, despite the rules, Lena begins to meet Alex after curfew, and starts to develop feelings for him. They begin to sneak out of city boundaries late at night, and Lena falls in love with him.
• Divergent-Tris begins to develop feelings for Four, who is not only her trainer, but who is also divergent. They struggle with concealing their divergence, and try to figure out their feelings for each other. Which are... convoluted, because Tris has a thing against affection, and Four had a rough childhood.
• The Uglies- Tally meets David, who has lived in the Smoke from birth, and who helps smuggle uglies out of the city who don't want to go through their surgery and become pretties. Originally, Tally thinks David is just being polite, but she realizes that they both have feelings for each other.

At this point in the story, there is a lot of indecision. Does she continue to be a good girl and live within the boundaries society has set, or does she, too, join the rebellion?

• Delirium- Alex presents Lena with the option to run away with him to live with the Invalids, instead of being cured. Lena is torn; she desperately wants to be cured. She has heard all of her life that love is what killed her mother; she has heard what terrible things love can do to people. However, she realizes that she has fallen victim to love, and doesn't want to lose Alex.
• Divergent- Tris realizes there are some strange things going on with the Dauntless and Erudite leaders, as well as with the simulations the people are subjected to. She realizes something is wrong, but she isn't sure how far she should go to figure out the answer.
• The Uglies- On the day of Tally's surgery, she is taken by an enforcement group called Special Circumstances. They give her the option of either setting out to find the Smoke and turning in Shay and all the other Smokies, or to stay ugly her whole life. Tally makes her way toward the Smoke, and deliberates for days about what she should do. Even when she arrives, she isn't sure what she wants.

Still brimming with indecision, Main character decides to take a step towards the rebels. Not to fully commit to being a rebel, but to see better what is going on.

• Delirium- Lena agrees to run away with Alex. They decide to run away and to forever cross the fence that divides the city from the Wilds, so they can be together.
• Divergent- Tris decides to break faction rules and visit the Erudite compound to confront her brother about his faction and get some answers.
• The Uglies- Tally decides to hold off on notifying Special Circumstances once she reaches the Smoke. She decides to give it a few days to better decide how she feels about the whole thing.

Main Character learns the truth behind the city she used to live in, and the government system she trusts.

• Delirium- From her own experience, Lena learns that love isn't evil. She learns that love is an incredible gift. She also learns that the cure also dulls your brain, and takes out your desires. You no longer want anything, and become easy to control. With no desires, there is no reason to disagree or to defend something you hold dear. There isn't anything you really value. There is only submission to the government.
• Divergent- Tris learns about the original goals of the factions and realizes that they have lost sight of their ideals. She learns that the simulations can be used to control others, and the factions are a way to keep the people in line. Within the course of the three books, she realizes that the city isn't actually real. That it is all a part of a huge experiment, gone wrong.
• The Uglies- Tally meets David's parents, who were the first people in the Smoke. They tell her about their time in the city as doctors, and the truth about the cure; when people are subjected to the anesthesia, it causes tiny lesions in their brains. These lesions don't kill the person, they just slow their reaction time and their desire to do anything on their own, making it easy for the government to swoop in.

Just about when Main Character has decided that she wants to join the rebellion, there is a tragic event that involves a loved one--sometimes Love interest, sometimes Best friend, but nonetheless, tragedy strikes.

• Delirium- On the night Lena and Alex are to run away, the regulators (the police, essentially) sneak up on them and try to capture them both. Lena manages to escape over the fence, but she has no idea where Alex is. She hears gunshots, and realizes he was not as lucky as she.
• Divergent- Tris and Four find out from the Erudite leader (one who wants to take over the world, essentially) that a new simulation is being developed that will affect Divergent people, and Four is her first subject. He is injected, and no longer recognizes Tris. He has become a pawn, like everyone else in the city.
• The Uglies- The morning after Tally destroys the tracking device Special Circumstances gives her, there is an attack on the Smoke. Shay is captured, and the place Tally has begun to think of as home is destroyed.

There is a short, though appropriate, time of grieving for the Main Character as she comes to grips with what has happened, and what this means. Ultimately, this drives her to join the rebellion.

• Delirium- There is a period of time when Lena wanders about aimlessly outside of the fence. She doesn't know where to go or what to do. Luckily, she is discovered by Raven, the leader of the Invalids, who takes her back to their camp. They nurse Lena back to health and put her to work. Eventually, Lena begins to find some semblance of happiness again, and joins up with the Invalids.
• Divergent- Tris is rescued by her mother from the compound where she has been sentenced to death. Her mom takes her back to a safe house but is killed on the way. Tris takes some time while in the safe house to grieve for everyone she has lost--especially for her mother and Four. She ends up becoming the leader of the group, because she is a part of the Dauntless faction, and is more decisive than any of the others.
• The Uglies- After the Smoke is destroyed, Tally and David return to see the damage. The whole place is reduced to ashes, and they try to find any survivors they can. They find no one. Every moment, Tally feels more guilt for what occurred.

Eventually, Main Character learns that the tragic event wasn't as completely tragic as she first thought.

• Delirium- After Tally has fully joined the rebellion and is seeking to destroy the cure in each city, Alex appears one day. He is thin, and has had an abusive few months, but he is alive, and is out of the city.
• Divergent- Tris realizes that if there is a way to stop regular simulations, there must be a way to stop this new, more powerful simulation that Tobias has been subjected to. She starts to plan.
• The Uglies- Tally and David realize that most of the Smokies are not dead; most have just been returned to their cities and will undergo surgery. They realize that it will be difficult, but since Special Circumstances assumes everyone in the Smoke is dead, they have a chance to rescue the Smokies.

At this point, we see a surprisingly self-sacrificing part of the Main Character come out. However, all is not well with their Love Interest.

• Delirium- Lena, who hasn't really considered the actions of her escape before this point, returns to her home city and tries to make some repairs. She helps her step-family (who have fallen into ruin since she escaped), and does everything that she can to help the rebellion. However, Alex refuses to speak with her, and refuses to acknowledge her most of the time. He feels like she betrayed him, and left him for dead.
• Divergent- Tris decides to give herself up to save Tobias. She lays down her weapon and tells him to kill her. The simulation is undone, and Tris and Four escape. However, there are barriers forming between them, since Tris feels the need to keep secrets, and Four is dissatisfied with himself.
• The Uglies- Tally decides to give herself up to Special Circumstances in order to both rescue her friend and to find the reversal for the pretty surgery. However, the heroism of this action is lost on David, who has found out the truth behind the attack on the Smokies. He learns that Tally was behind it, and feels completely used.

However, not to worry! The rebellion eventually succeeds, and all becomes well... kind of. The...end? The final similarity here is that in dystopian novels, they end (obviously), but the ending is NOT satisfactory.

• Delirium- Good news! The rebellion succeeds in finding the headquarters for the government officials in charge, and stage an attack. Lena learns that Alex has loved her all along, but is now torn between him and another love interest. The series ends at the beginning of the final battle, after the Invalids have breached the wall of a government facility. Lena isn't sure what will happen or who she will end up with, and the battle starts. The end.
• Divergent- This ending was dissatisfying as well. Tris and Four have had some rough times; secrets, lies, and a rebellion to top it all off. They learn that the city they have lived in all their lives was an experiment,  and that Four isn't really Divergent after all. Four goes through a major identity crisis, and Tris learns that the science compound outside the city doesn't have the best interests of the people at heart, either. Tris sacrifices herself for the cause, and Four ends up lonely. The end.
• The Uglies- Tally sacrifices herself, as I mentioned before, but David doesn't seem to be able to get over the fact that she lied to him. In all fairness, it was a pretty drastic lie, but all the same, David never quite acts the same around Tally. Until the end of the series. Tally has undergone several different surgeries and finally ends up working for Special Circumstances, although she eventually cures herself. She is able to find a mass cure and showers it (literally, I believe) upon the people. Although David hasn't talked with her for two books, she leaves a note with the government saying essentially, "See ya, David and I are running away together, but we will keep an eye on y'all, now that you are cured." The end.

Now that I have totally ruined these novels for you, I have to say again that I did enjoy these stories. I didn't regret reading any of them. I just wanted to point out their many, MANY similarities. What other similarities have you seen in dystopian novels (or other novels) that make you feel like you are reading the same story over and over?