Annie Price
The world has been ending for quite some time now.
At least, according to the media. Books and movies in the past few years have grown increasingly centered around dystopian societies, such as The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and Divergent.
These popular series seem to be focused toward young adults especially. Main characters are often teenagers, and movie adaptations feature popular young actors.
This fascination could be rooted in the natural human desire to save the world. People gravitate toward heroes, and like to identify with themselves the same way, as someone who could save humanity in a desperate situation.
Additionally, people like to plan. It’s what we do: we analyze and think ahead and try to figure out what the future holds for us. It’s human instinct. We pick what courses to take to get into a good school to get a good job to make good money to have a good retirement.
In this way, the apocalypse is interesting. An author’s speculation on how the world will function when we are struggling to survive provides something new for people to think about.
There has been controversy around novels like The Hunger Games with such dark topics, especially involving children. Parents often don’t want their kids reading these novels because they present such mature themes.
However, I think this dystopian fiction is beneficial for our society to read. It’s thought-provoking and exciting, and it’s a new take on action-adventure for the technological generation. The concept that advances in technology could end up corrupting our government is- if unrealistic- good to think about.
A view on the future gives readers a new take on humanity and how we would survive in a totally
different world. Different governments and protocol put our own society into perspective. It’s important to gain new insight on how humanity works when put into harsh conditions.
These books get people thinking, wondering how and if they would survive in a world crisis. And for young adults and teenagers, the books can be helpful for shaping their views on society. The goal for students is to learn, and that’s what these books can give them.
So even if the end of the world isn’t upon us, there’s no harm in reading up on Earth after the apocalypse.
