Wattpad brings you a guest post from Hannah Hunt, the writer of our latest featured story, Divine:
“Dystopia: [dis-toh-pee-uh] noun: a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding.” (Dictionary.com)
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Dystopian novels are a hot commodity these days. What, with the all the fandom for The Hunger Games series, it’s only to be expected. However, dystopias have been around since the late 1800’s, starting with George Orwell’s Nineteen-Eighty-Four. (Which I highly recommend reading.)
But, what makes a dystopian simply that? Dystopian? What sets it apart from sci-fi, or even general fiction?
For starters, most dystopian novels have a different form of government than what we experience in the United States, the United Kingdom, and throughout Europe today. These futuristic societies have either a totalitarian or dictator form of government where everything is ruled by a certain person or group of people. Or they have no government at all where the main character is one of the last survivors from an attack/catastrophic event.
In Nineteen-Eighty-Four there was a Ministry for everything – Ministry of Truth falsifies history for the society of Oceana, the Ministry of Plenty rations and controls food, the Ministry of Love identifies, monitors, and arrests suspected rebels; and the Ministry of Peace supports Oceana’s perpetual war with Eurasia or Eastasia, keeping the nation at equipoise, or at balance within itself.
For example, in my own novel, Divine, the government is controlled by a line of the royal family, or a monarchy – think back to your early European history classes, guys. Syd, the ruler of a small chain of islands of used-to-be Italy, has complete control over the food, education, and economy.
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Dystopians can also have futuristic aspects to them, such as the monitors in Nineteen-Eighty-Four, which is how the MiniLuv and Thought Police monitor the civilians of Oceana. In Divine, they have com-centers – a holographic projection pad similar to the device in Star Wars, that projects messages and news updates throughout Cidy.
Okay, so we get that dystopias have strict governments, or none at all, and some futuristic stuff. But, what else?
Dystopias have issues. LOTS of issues. But they all try to pass it off like everything’s totally fine, normal … perfect even.
In Nineteen-Eighty-Four their English vocabulary is one of the only languages that gets smaller and smaller every year, being replaced by newspeak, a form of dumbed-down words such as good and ungood instead of “bad”. They also make no effort to improve the quality of the lives of their citizens as long as they can keep them occupied. Most people live in rundown flats and apartments, but they’re oblivious to the fact that their homes are not the best they can be.
In Divine there’s an economic disaster, where people are forced to trade things like necklaces, candelabras, pocket watches, and pearls for the things they need. There is a currency, but it’s not worth half as much as the material objects one may find around the house, and though Syd reassures the citizens that everything is fine and as it should be, clearly there’s something wrong. There are also sandstorms that whip through the city on a regular basis, and can cause some serious damage, though the people return to their daily lives as if nothing ever happened.
Okay, got anything else?
With dystopias, when writing one anyway, you have to build your world and pay attention to geography and what shifts and events may have happened between the present and the time of your novel. Nineteen-Eighty-Four is based on old London society with a Victorian sort of flair. Divine is architecturally based on the city of Dubai and of Shanghai, while recognizing the fact that with sea levels rising and shifting poles, Italy could in fact be underwater, thus separating the nation into eight total islands with the capital in the center.
The worlds also tend to be separated into districts, as is true with Veronica Roth’s Divergent series. They are based on cultural beliefs: the Dauntless are fearless daredevils, the Abnegation are quiet, selfless, and conservative, etc.
In Divine each district is assigned to a certain aspect of production: One is for politics and Service (their police), Two if for textiles (clothing, shoes, etc.), Three is for: manufacturing of material goods, Four is for farming crops. Five is the trade center to the mainland, Six is farming animals, and Seven is for infrastructure. Center is where they all cross paths. Everyone has his or her part to play within the society.
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For example, Caddy, the main character of Divine, lives in Two with her family. Her mother works at one of the mills to make Service uniforms. Her sister-in-law works as a dress tailor. But she and her brother know that following the paths into the factories isn’t worth it. So they take to the streets and have become some of the best pickpockets in Cidy.
With dystopias, there is always conflict as well (like in every story). In Nineteen-Eighty-Four, Winston is conflicted because he does not believe in Big Brother the way the rest of Oceana seems to. In Divine, things get worse after jewels are stolen from a royal museum, and Syd cracks down on all of Cidy, using Service to interrogate his citizens. The Service lets the power go to their heads and starts making random arrests and searches. (Think Germany in the 1930’s with Hitler and his Gestapo.)
And then there’s the action: what these characters decide to do about their problems.
Well, Winston joins a rebellion, and Caddy struggles to deal with growing up as her mother gets sick and her brother is arrested. But there’s more to it than that. I just don’t want to spoil it for you.
Ready to read more? Check out Hannah Hunt’s Divine on Wattpad!