government as antagonist
by Killian H. of HIgh Tech High International '14
Very rarely do you find a dystopian book where the government is the good guy. In Allegiant, the third Divergent book, the government is trying to do what they think is right, but are not necessarily doing it in the most beneficial way for the individuals. Sometimes the government evolves into a helpful figure, even if not everyone in the book believes that, as is show in the third Legend book, Champion. Other times the book is about people forced into a government like leadership, as is shown in Hunger, the second Gone novel. However, the government is never truly liked by all the characters in the book.
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Allegiant by Veronica Roth - 526 pages Allegiant is the third book in the Divergent series. In this exhilarating conclusion to the Divergent trilogy, Four and Tris venture beyond the city borders to explore the world outside. They discover a world filled with morally corrupt scientists who are trying to fix the wrongs they have done but in all the wrong ways. Author Veronica Roth demonstrates that though a government may construct ideals that the people agree with, any attempt which goes against the morals or well being of the people to achieve these mutual goals will only result in defiance. |
Champion by Marie Lu - 369 pages Champion is the third book in the Legend series. This book exemplifies how an antagonist government can still appear that way even after a drastic change has been made. In the first two books the government was what Day and June, the main characters, were fighting against. But in the third book, because the government is under a new ruler who wants to change the way things work, Day and June join forces to help him save the country from an invasion. Although an antagonist figure in a book may have really changed, it can still appear in a negative light to characters who can't see the underlying change because the change is not yet apparent on the surface. |
Hunger Michael Grant - 590 pages Hunger is the second book in the Gone series. The series is about two schools of children, some who have powers, trapped inside of a dome without any adults. They call this the FAYZ. Hunger is about the struggle to survive, despite the dwindling supply of food, and fighting between both the two schools and the 'freaks' (those with powers) vs. 'normals' (those without). One student, Sam, is pushed into leadership over the majority of the population because of his actions before and during the FAYZ. But as the hunger and fights get worse, people start to blame him for not fixing everything. Meanwhile he is attempting to do everything at once with little support from the rest of the town. In this book the real antagonist is the opposing government, but a lot of the kids in town blame Sam for what he has been trying so hard to fix. |