Over
the last decade, dystopian fics have been popular. There's the Hunger
Games, Divergent, the Maze Runner, Unwound, When She Woke, and so on.
The authors of these novels (and plenty more that I didn't mention)
comee up with all sorts of unique worlds/scenarios, with some sort of
plot device that caused the world to become dystopic (natural
disasters, war, nuclear holocaust, religious takeovers, and so on)
and thus the world, or at least a country, is created, or begun anew.
Dystopic stories are one of my favorite sub-genres of fiction, but I
am also a picky… er, discerning reader.
I
will admit first off, that I am a plot Nazi. Ever heard of grammar
Nazis? Sure you have. For me, I tend to focus on the plot and its
background, and how well certain details or subplots of a story fit
together, and if the framework/background is plausible. At the end of
a book, if important questions are left unanswered (without a sequel
forthcoming) my jimmies become rustled.
Among
my writing goals is a science fiction universe (which will have at
least one book in it) and as you guessed, it will be dystopic. I
can't reveal details right now as I am still working out and mapping
the aspects of this world. What I can say is that reading various
dystopic novels, and being a plot Nazi, has helped me in my own
world-mapping.
One
major issue in some novels – not simply dystopic, but some sci fi
works in general, or fantasy, is that when the author introduces us
to his or her world, there are aspects of it that he/she neglects.
Now, each story is different, so certain story or societal elements
in each tale will receive more or less emphasis. Some tales may focus
more on the difference between the rich and poor of that world.
Others will focus on gender issues, or religious issues, relations
with alien races, or so on and so forth.
An
author needs to be careful to create a world that is sustainable and
actually makes sense. They don't need to go into every minute aspect
of this world they created, but they do need to do a lot of thinking
and planning behind the scenes, to make this world be able to support
itself.
One
big example of an author doing it wrong is the Divergent series by
Veronica Roth. I must warn you, there will be spoilers ahead for
those of you who have not read the books.
In
the Divergent world, which is set in our future, the United States as
we know it is no more. There is this society which is ruled by five
factions – Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite. The
members of these Factions have traits which qualify them for their
Factions, and each Faction has a duty to the city (which come with
priilege) and there are certain jobs which belong to each Faction.
Abnegation,
which focuses on selflessness, is tasked with the leadership of the
city, since selflessness is seen as the best quality a leader can
have. Amity, which focuses on living peacefully, is in charge of food
production, as they work and maintain the farms which feed the city.
Candor, whose trait is honesty and an intolerance of lies, serves as
the lawyers of the city. Dauntless, which values courage, serves as
the soldiers of the city. And Erudite, which values intelligence, are
the teachers and scientists.
When
I first started reading Divergent, I enjoyed the book and being
introduced to this world. However, I began to see issues that would
cause this society to collapse within itself pretty quickly.
People
who do not have a Faction are basically screwed. They are second –
heck, third-class – citizens, treated shabbily. Most of them are
homeless, without means to support themselves. There is no mention of
them having jobs, and Abnrgation gives them charity – Tris' mother
does knitting and bakes bread for Factionless.
Children
who are born to people in Factions may choose to stay in this Faction
when they become 16, or transfer to a different Faction where they
must pass an initiation to prove that they have the trait that is
valued by that Faction. If they fail the initiation, they become
Factionless. Nothing is said of the children that are born to
Factionless parents, it seems that they remain Factionless their
whole lives, having no chance at all to have a decent life.
As
I pointed out, each Faction has jobs that it has provenance over.
However, there are plenty of jobs which apparently don't exist
anymore, like construction (many things in the city are in decay,
potholes in the roads, etc. However, some buildings – particularly
the ones that the Factions use or reside in, are maintained) So officially, jobs in construction don't exist because the Factionless
are given no means to support themselves, yet someone has to do the
construction/repair. There are plenty of other jobs that don't fit in
the Factions, either – such as blue collar jobs, i.e.
textile/clothing production, food processing, production of various
goods such as shoes, containers, books, electronics, and so on.
Veronica Roth completely neglects this vital aspect of society,
simply dividing the world of Divergent into the haves and have-nots.
The world of Divergent would not last a year with this system, as
things would go to hell pretty bloody fast. (This society, according
to the Divergent series, has gone on for about eight generations, or
about 200 years, if I recall correctly)
No
society is perfect. Hence dystopia, instead of utopia. But when
creating a society, however oppressive or cruel it is, one has to
consider how such a society and regime would be able to sustain
itself for a meaningful period of time. In the society of the Hunger
Games, Suzanne Collins created the country of Panem, and even though
in the end Pamen comes to an end, Pamen had a system which lasted for
75 years (not including the years before the first rebellion) which
included keeping the majority of the population poor and oppressed,
and using the Hunger Games to keep the districts pitted against one
another instead of cooperating.
Even
though the oppression and cruelty of the Capitol came back to bite it
in the ass (with some help from Katniss Everdeen) the fact remains
that the regime of the Capitol was effective enough to keep the
masses oppressed for 75+ years, and may have gone on longer if not
for Katniss.
Regardless
of what kind of story/world you create, and whether or not you plan
to have the rulers/society of this world eventually come to an end,
you need to lay a good foundation for this world.
