August: Dystopias

Dystopias! Who doesn't love a good screwed up society with a failed gov't system!

The word brings to mind some pretty great dystopian literature, Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm; Gillman-Perkin's, Herland;  Lowry's The Giver,  but how does the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins compare?


Discussion Questions: 

(1) Does The Hunger Games series live up to what you'd expect a dystopian to do?

(2) Do you feel it adds something new to the genre?

(3) Does it fade in comparison to the classical dystpoian novels written by other writers?

(4) Have you, or would you write a dystopian novel and what would social issue would you focus on exploiting?

My Answers:

(1-3) I think Hunger Games does live up to other dystopian novels mailing because it adds something new to the genre. It does what's been done differently.

I feels it's focus on gov't control, social issues, conformity and the fight against it, and needing someone to believe in to enforce change, speak to universal issues that always serve in dystopian novels to show the cracks in our ideas of what an 'ideal world' would be.

There really is not such thing, and dystopian literature shows us that but also shows us that in order to live in a world worth living in things need to constantly evolve to suite the needs current of the people. The Hunger Games is diff. from more dystopian novel because it shows the society and how the gov't keeps it from crumbling. There's an awareness that change is hard to stop, but choking the hope out of a society does a good job in halting it's progress.

(4) I have written a couple short story that was meant to be the start of something bigger and dystopian. But, now I'm not sure how to make it different, and do something new to the genre. Guess that ideas goes back in my mind's creative-crock pot for now!

It's you're turn to talk!

POST WHAT YOU THINK!