Posted: April 21, 2025
”Dystopia” is a word that only came into popular use recently. Most people have heard of it: totalitarian or post-apocalyptic worlds in which the characters fight back against oppression and either succeed or are hopelessly crushed. In my opinion, there are two diverging paths of dystopian fiction: those that are actually within the dystopia genre, and those books that are just stories set in dystopian worlds. I enjoy reading each for different reasons. But what makes them different?
This, I personally refer to as “pure” or “classic” dystopia in a way that means there is no happy ending. There is rebellion, sure, and the world is bleak, but the ending is not meant to be satisfying. Like Animal Farm or 1984 by George Orwell. In each of those books, the characters rebel, or attempt to rebel against the higher power, but by the end, their efforts prove futile. They fail in the face of overwhelming power. The Maze Runner by James Dashner can also be considered one of these books, since it doesn’t actually solve the problem, but it teeters on the edge because the characters still get a somewhat happy/peaceful ending.
In the article “Dystopia as an Inverted Hero’s Journey” by Alex R. Howe, he suggests that this story is the inverse of the Hero’s Journey, since the hero does not go down fighting when they lose, but rather are crushed down and most often suffer a “fall from grace”.
These books, I think, are meant to serve as examples of what happens when things get too bad, when things cannot be fixed. They are defined by the fact that the main character or protagonist loses in the end. The reader is meant to feel angry at the conclusion, feel the injustice in their souls. I believe that the point of them is to spur the reader into thinking of ways to fix things, of challenging the reader to solve the problem. Of course, there’s always the possibility that the reader doesn’t rise to meet this challenge, and winds up in a hopeless slump after finishing the tale. Nonetheless, it has a purpose. And it differs, of course, from those dystopian worlds and rebellious characters which solve the problem for the reader and gives them the happy ending they were looking for.
These books, like The Hunger Games and Divergent are set in a world that describes a hopeless situation. There is a higher power controlling the populace and people are suffering because of it. But the main character can see that the world is wrong and fights back against it. Rebellion is sparked, and by the end of each series, the main problem is solved. The Hunger Games end; the Purity War is forcibly forgotten and thus won. This ending is satisfying, and the reader is no longer stirred up in righteous desire for a solution.
That is fine. Dystopian World fiction sets out with a different goal than Dystopian Genre fiction. It fulfills a different purpose.
A bit of research will tell you that there are four total types of dystopian fiction: Orwellian, Huxleyan, Kafkaesque, and Phildickian. Learn more about them in The Four Types of Dystopian Fiction. These “types” refer more to the methods of control each dystopian novel uses, rather than the conclusion of the plot.
First things first: the definition of dystopia is “an imagined state or society in which there is great suffering or injustice, typically one that is totalitarian or post-apocalyptic.” Adding it to your own writing immediately means that you are creating a world in which people suffer. Some people find this easy to write about; others do not. Getting into the head of people who inflict pain or injustice upon others isn’t something that should be taken lightly, but it helps to think of it in the way of writing problems so that you may warn about or solve them.
An important thing to always remember about any story, but especially with Dystopia, is not to lose your message. What exactly are you writing about? Don’t get too lost in the world you’ve created. What do you want your readers to be aware of? You must ensure that you don’t just copy other popular works of fiction. Much more than surface level details like gladiator matches or human experimentation make a story. It’s the message behind those settings that make or break your story.
In 1984, it’s the question of whether peace and war are different at all. Does it matter if the world is at peace or at war if the government has complete control? It’s a warning against totalitarianism. Opposingly, in The Hunger Games, the message is more aggressive. Yes, it warns against inequality and oppression as forms of control, but it highlights the importance of rebellion. It shows successful results of an uprising against that oppression, which makes it a positive message, rather than a negative one. Will your message be positive or negative?
In The Maze Runner and the rest of that trilogy, everything they’ve done seems to be for naught. WICKED is attempting to map the brain and find a cure for the disease ravaging the world—a disease which they unleashed in the first place—and yet it never happens. It’s not even that they find a cure and can’t distribute it; the antagonists just succumb to the illness and the kids get away to live out the rest of their lives in a nice, peaceful place. That is why this series balances on the knife’s edge for me between true dystopia and just rebellion in a dystopian world. Divergent is also a series which forces the experiments to stop before any solution could be reached. The solution is simply to stop. To accept the world as it is and move on instead of trying to strive for perfection. That, in itself, is an important message, but somewhat lost in the weeds, as the trilogy was not quite cohesive as an arc.
In conclusion, when writing Dystopia, remember your message and the importance of the lesson you wish to impart. Will it be a positive message of change and rising up against a dystopian society, or will it be a warning against negative outcomes as an act of prevention?
Angels & Demons in Fiction
Deities in Fiction
Dragons in Fiction
Dwarves in Fiction
Dystopia in Fiction
Elves in Fiction
Fast Burn in Fiction
Heroes in Fiction
Love Triangles in Fiction
Magic in Fiction
Mythical Creatures in Fiction
Orcs in Fiction
Powers in Fiction
Pregnancy in Fiction
Prophecies in Fiction
Romance in Fiction
Shapeshifters in Fiction
Slow Burn in Fiction
Vampires in Fiction
Vampires in Fiction II
Villains in Fiction
Werewolves in Fiction
Witches & Warlocks in Fiction
The Hunger Games Book 1: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Divergent Book 1: Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Maze Runner Book 1: The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Animal Farm by George Orwell
1984 (Nineteen Eighty-four) by George Orwell
Tigerpetal Press is a small book press dedicated to publishing local authors and poets.