Dystopian literature should be your wake up call
I have spent many mornings drifting away into faraway lands of audiobook narrations in my English classes, occasionally getting lost in my winter fatigue as I cling to a coffee and try to stay awake. But there are moments within these stories that revive my attention as I remember the power of keeping literature alive and paying attention when acclaimed authors tell us to. In stories like “1984” and so many other harsh dystopian writings, the weight of the messages that authors issue as warnings to future generations should not go unheard, and it is in the youngest generations that these messages must be planted.
Like many, I grew up reading typical young adult literature, riddled with the gripping stories of Katniss Everdeen and Harry Potter. The youthful nature of these books are not lost on me, but in reflecting on the consistent themes throughout these novels as I grow older, I have consistently found modern day parallels for seemingly faraway and drastic concepts. The class divide between districts and capitals. The wildfire of recruitment from a murderous villain while victims try to grasp how anyone could be supportive of such violence. The consistent media propaganda that ever-so-easily slips through the cracks of supposedly unbiased entertainment. Such concepts seem far away and hyperbolic, but become ever so familiar when you take a closer look at them.
Just as teachers say that history repeats itself, I believe that no book based on the conceptualization of an overthrown government is too far stretched. Literature is a tangible reflection of how society is manifested in real time and how it directly impacts its people, and young people having the ability to process the literature is vital. Media literacy and the application of classic writing into the real world is an essential skill for the sake of democracy and being an active member of society.
The skills that we practice in our familiar English classrooms are also life skills. Seeing the world through a critical lens, recognizing irony and identifying foreshadowing are skills that fuel upstanding citizens and individuals who are aware of the regime they reside under. I believe that without books and wielding the power they hold, everyone is susceptible to the weaponization of ignorance.
