How One Genre is Shaping a Generation
It is no secret that the cultivation of ideas is brought about, in part, by books. Sharing your ideas and beliefs with the world shapes people’s impressionable minds, most of all children. We are all products of our favorite music, the movies we have watched, and the friends we have had. Inevitably, when a specific genre of novels becomes popular, it simultaneously shifts the way an entire generation thinks.
Historical, nonfiction, and classical literature often come to mind when we ponder about what our grandparents read during their formative years. If we take a look at the recurring literary themes of that era, it becomes clear where they got some of the values they uphold today. Many parents of Generation Z are children of baby boomers. However, some are older millennials themselves, and they are in a strange limbo between the seemingly outdated styles of literature and the wildly prevalent genre their own children are being shaped by: dystopian fiction. That said, dystopian fiction is by no means new. It began - most obviously - with George Orwell’s 1984, a mind-bending 1940s take on what the future looked like to one man. Orwell depicted a world devoid of privacy and dominated by thought-controlling and invasive technology. Many say, “Well, none of those horrible things actually happened during the 80s. So, Orwell was wrong.” This mindset - ridden with hindsight bias - is not only applicable to this novel, but to all the dystopian fiction which followed.
Take, for example, Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale. It provides a literary image of a futuristic America; it is modeled after real governments in other parts of the world, and it gives into the most domineering aspects of its government and patriarchal society. Many readers feel that Atwood’s world is so far off from reality that its storyline is not worth addressing today. Little do they realize, however, that her satirical approach is relevant to real-world problems faced by women to this day.
Dystopian fiction is closer to home than one may think, and it seems that Generation Z is recognizing these stories for what they truly are: commentary on the world we live in today. This contributes to the drive in young people to take action on the causes they believe in. Fiction has never simply been fairy tale falsehoods. Every story holds meaning, and many have layers of reality interwoven in their pages. Harry Potter has never been just about wizards and witches, it is a parallel of World War II and the persisting prejudiced mindset that caused it. The Maze Runner is about escaping a corrupt government during a pandemic. The Hunger Games is a story following a girl who becomes the symbol for a major uprising of oppressed peoples against their elitist rulers. Though these books are all about different things, they all have one thing in common: children are the leaders, the soldiers, and the symbol of peace. Children are the ones who create change and save the world. And doesn’t every kid want to be a hero? This is what makes these books nostalgic for Generation Z as they continue to shape our worldview and sense of self, just as other genres did for the generations before us.
Referenced Works:
Orwell, G., Nesti, F., & Kamoun, J. (2020). 1984. Paris: Grasset.
ATWOOD, M. (2020). HANDMAID'S TALE. Place of publication not identified: VINTAGE CLASSICS.
Rowling, J. (2018). Harry Potter. London: Bloosmbury.
Dashner, J. (2013). The maze runner. Frome, England: Chicken House.
Collins, S. (2015). The hunger games. Stuttgart: Klett Sprachen.
