Raising cynics

Dystopian novels are instructive, but also despairing

Young men are depressed. That’s what a psychiatrist friend recently told me. His patient list has been skewing more towards this demographic, and among this subset of patients, many of the young men share a common lifestyle choice: They stay up late into the night playing video games. Not just any video game, but games that portray a world in total decay. Where nothing is functioning properly and players have to fend for themselves. These sorts of games make players feel heroic, if they win, but life in a dystopian world, even if fictitious, can change a young man’s perception of the real world, making it seem more dark and despairing than it actually is. They can turn young players into cynics.

Dystopian novels may do the same thing. If all a young person ever reads are novels that depict the world in shambles and host a cast of characters who exhibit the worst tendencies of humans, how the real world appears to them is likely to change. Partly because spending your leisure in darkness colors how you see the world, but also because teenagers have a limited view of the world as it is, simply because of the number of years that they have been alive and because they are, by and large, under someone else’s care, not out on their own. The books they read may play an outsized role in shaping their perception of reality because they lack experiences that show them a brighter side.

I enjoy reading dystopian novels from time to time. The themes and events within such books often mirror the material world in ways that I find intriguing. But I already have, what I think is, a healthy distrust of authority, and this genre of fiction confirms for me why I ought to. I can easily see how scenarios in books like Animal Farm and Brave New World can (and do) play out in modern society. And if I spent too much time reading dystopian novels and watching dystopian films I too, no doubt, would be a through and through cynic.

Dystopian video games and novels cannot be wholly blamed for the youth winding up cynical, of course. News outlets tend to only share negative portrayals of humanity, internet personalities get clicks by warning of the dangers out in the world, and politicians are more likely to tell voters about all of the bad things the other team does or will do than the good things they themselves aim to do. How the presidential nominations shook out for this election is enough to make any young idealist a cynic, if for no other reason than because what they are taught about how elections in the US work did not match how the process went.

Authors of the best dystopian fiction novels have studied human nature and have a deep understanding of the best and worst that humans are capable of. They ignite the imagination and prove to be an interesting read but more than that, such stories offer necessary cautionary tales. But when the world around a reader seems to be in decay, too closely mirroring the worst elements of these fictional stories, it might be wise to limit consumption of them.

Young readers who live in neighborhoods dotted with blue light cameras can’t help noticing that George Owell was right—Big Brother is always watching. When everyone in their high school seems to be on some sort of pill aimed at deadening a human emotion or sensation, young people can’t help but wonder if they’re living in a Brave New World. When books are banned and important conversations must be whispered within the confines of one’s home, teenagers might ask themselves: are we living in the world of Fahrenheit 451?

These books offer keen observations of humanity, and they are considered classics for a reason: something in them resonates with readers, which is why they have not only endured, but are talked about often—in schools and in public discourse. And reading them is not a waste of time. Thinking about how everything could go wrong in a society managed by humans is an important exercise. Humans are flawed and reminding ourselves of that ought to be humbling. But such books should be paired with literature that paints a picture of the best of humans, especially during times when young people are inundated with doom and gloom in the nonfictional world.

If you don’t have much experience, because your number of years on earth is few, and you read often, because you love to or because you’re required to in school, how you view the world may largely come from books. If what you read tells you over and over again that people are out to get you, or that forces you can’t see wish to harm you, and that seems to, indeed, be true based on the experience you have had in the material world, you may become hopeless and despairing. Your sense of joy will be at risk of diminishing. 

If young people want to read dystopian fiction, they should. Not allowing them to makes Fahrenheit 451 a reality. But they should also read classic stories that showcase the best of humans and how they triumph over adversity, like the Secret Garden and A Christmas Carol, as well as stories that are just fun to read, like Peter Pan and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Not every book needs to be instructive of how to live life, after all. Fiction is meant to be enjoyed, and if you walk away from every book feeling down and cynical, why bother reading fiction?