Dystopian Parallels - Surveillance and Defiance

 Dystopian to Real Life: How is it the same?

    Throughout the time of literature, the stories often reflect the world. When we look at the direct parallels between real life and fiction, we find some common themes. In many dystopian films and literature, surveillance is a large part of the story. In this post, there will be many references to popular scenes of books, though they will not be directly cited.

    For example, in The Hunger Games, tributes are livestreamed into the districts via cameras in the arena. Including this, their deaths are broadcasted through canons as well as images of them on the arena roof. How does this parallel to the modern world?

    In our world, social media and celebrities are used to manipulate public opinion and divert attention. Similarly, the Unites States as well as other countries, were found to be gathering location data as the capital did to the tributes in the Games.

    Another great example of surveillance in the dystopian media is in Divergent. This series, similar to the aforementioned, utilizes cameras and technologies to view and track citizens, but also uses serums and other advanced medicine and technology to control people. Behaviorally, people are force to comply with their factions rules to avoid consequences; this is similar to the way people conform to social media trends to avoid negative criticism.

    A second main parallel seen through these two worlds is that of authority and criticism. I have five books that I have seen parallel the world in this case.

    To start with, there is the obvious choice of The Hunger Games, again. In the history of humanity, criticism of the government has ended in serious damage to those criticizing. In Nazi Germany, rebels were rounded and killed; in some countries, criticism can lead to criminal charges like defamation or "spreading misleading information".

    In the novel mentioned, there is the rebellious district 13. Due to their criticism and open defiance of the capital, the area is bombed and destroyed, thought to be killed off. In another act of defiance, Katniss remakes the hanging of the Gamemaker in her second training session. The original mockingjay, Lucy Gray Baird, is silenced, both in her life and her music, due to the critical nature of the songs towards the government. Similar to Katniss' second training, Peeta also rebels as he paints the image of Rue; a symbol of innocence lost to the unnecessary gore.

    In Divergent, the lack of control over the divergents is, in itself, the act of criticism and defiance of the government. The testing for these people, who result in more than one faction, are killed when found out, to further the "peace" of the factions. Choosing a faction that a person was not born in is also seen as defiance and a form of authoritative criticism. Later in the books, the factionless and divergent become a rebel group, fighting against the corrupt factions.

    These parallels exist outside of the popular, mainstream fiction. In The Selection, there exists three groups: The South Rebels vs. Castle/Country vs. The North Rebels. This war between the rebels and the government is a, if not direct, parallel to the American Revolution.