I really don't like dystopia. It creeps me out. For instance, The Giver by Lois Lowry creeped me out. (Check out my rant about it in this post) This is why I'm reluctant to read the Hunger Games. Do I really want to read about a society that's so screwed up that it kills twenty-some teenagers every year merely for entertainment?
However, I do like resistance forces, such as the Varden in the Inheritance Cycle by Christoper Paolini. They were awesome. Whilst pondering my preferences, it dawned on me that you can't really have a resistance force without a dystopian setting, or an evil king. This intrigued me. Could it really be possible that something I really don't like was necessary for one of my favorite things? Of course. So, I decided to figure out why it was that I liked the Inheritance Cycle but not the Giver. The answer was simple: a resistance force is a bunch of people fighting for what they believe in and winning their freedom. That's awesome. In the Giver, classic dystopia, Jonas is alone, no one will help him, he runs, and you're not sure whether he's alive or not at the end of the book.
If a resistance force starts out as one person and then grows, I like it. They outsmart the bad guys, the corrupt government falls, and everybody's life improves. But if the one person just runs away, it's not as fun to read. You can't cheer for someone who's running away like Jonas did. You can cheer for those who stand up for what's right and fight for what they believe in. Unless of course they're fighting for something really ridiculous. Like free elephants for everyone. Or the abolition of dihydrogen monoxide.
I currently have a rebellion plot line running through my head where there's a resistance force trying to topple a crooked government. All this thinking has helped it a bit. Bring on the combat boots and battle strategies!
Ahahahaha! I was thinking something like all that, and realized that you could have a resistance force without a corrupt/evil/ridiculous government. This sparked one of the many facets of my NaNo Novel's plot; I wrote about one guy whose careless comment sparked an idea for a revolution in the head of another girl, who put it into action, only to find that when it killed her adoptive grandfather/mentor it wasn't that great after all, but her best friend was intent on finishing what she started, and he got killed as well. The government in question was actually not so bad, though sort of lacking in the people persons department, meaning that the King didn't really realize what his people were going through, which sparked a bunch of large misunderstandings, so when half of the King went off on his own, the other half followed, and the kingdom fell into disarray, allowing the rebellion to take place, which failed. Both the rebellion and the absence of the kingly half of the King were sparked by the siege laid upon the capitol of that kingdom by the King of the neighboring kingdom, who also had a misunderstanding with the first King-of-two-halves, which was sparked by the second King not reading through a letter fully, which was sent because the second King's daughter had a peanut allergy and the second King's favorite food were peanuts.
ReplyDeleteSo. Peanuts caused the whole thing, though there were lots of misunderstandings and sparks. I look forward to editing it.
Wow. That sounds...complicated. And totally awesome. Peanuts. Brilliant. Good luck editing!
DeleteI totally agree with your preferences and I love your analysis of why!
ReplyDeleteBut don't you want to abolish water?? ;D
I think that I like resistance forces and dystopian settings equally. While many people find the dystopian setting depressing, I actually see them quite the opposite. I see a great deal of hope in the dystopian setting because without fail, there is always a person (the protagonist) fighting against all odds to stay afloat/overcome/succeed. I like seeing the unlikable character prove their worth. Or the good character forced by circumstance to make tough decisions (much like Murtagh in Paolini's Inheretance Cylce). Or the unlikely person make it to something better in the end. I like your assessment though, and agree that one usually does not exist without the other. This is definitely a point I've overlooked in the past. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts! You've given me more to think about.
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