Blog Post 8--Aditi Bhatnagar

1. Inquiry question: To what extent can hope within a society in a dystopian work affect the real world?
   
2. Miller, Jim. “Post-Apocalyptic Hoping: Octavia Butler’s Dystopian/Utopian Vision.” Science Fiction Studies Vol 25, No. 2. (Jul 1998): 336-360. Web.
   
3. In this article, Jim Miller uses examples from the works of Octavia Butler to define Thomas Moylan’s concept of a “critical dystopia.” According to Miller, instead of a narrative that shows the effects of a dystopian society, a critical dystopia is a narrative that shows the “socio-historic causes” of common dystopian characteristics are based off of cultural issues. To support this claim Miller references the Butler’s XENOGENESIS trilogy and and Parable of the Sower. According to Miller, these works show a seemingly doomed dystopian future, but also creates the desire for a more preferable world.
   
4. Although this article it discusses how dystopias reflect problems in the real world, it is relevant my inquiry question because of the hope found within dystopia. This allows us as readers to have hope that we can change our society and fix our problems.