Sean Farrell - Blog Post 3

In Moylans, "Preface," he goes into detail about defining and characterizing dystopias of the 20th century. "Dystopian narrative is largely the product of the terrors of the twentieth century" (xi). He makes it quite clear that dystopian novels reflect the harsh realities that go unseen in every society. The idea that what we have done is going to doom us all. This is in contrast with Veronica Roth's Divergent, where it seems that she does not go in depth on what has happened, but as to what "...from what, [they] don't know" (7). As soon as you dive into Divergent, you notice the class system they have set up (factions). Roth explains why they need these factions and how they prevent things from happening, but, she never unfolds why these classes were implemented. Instead of basing the story off of what happened, modern dystopias base their stories off of what might happen and what these strict rules prevent. 

If Moylan were to write this in the 21st century I believe he would be shocked by the differences. The world we live in today is forever evolving. Going to school, getting a job, and succeeding are all expectations now, maybe even necessities. Fitting in has become a main stress for people as your social life takes on the role of a job. What Moylan might perceive as a dark dystopia is very different as to what a high schooler in 2015 may think.