By Maggie Kelly | Staff Writer
The dystopian novel isn’t new– in fact, it can be traced back to the 19th century when Yevgeny Zamyatin penned We, a political commentary on the Russian government under the likes of Lenin and Putin. The dystopian genre continued to be used as a vessel to comment, and in some cases forewarn, the often disastrous effects of political and social problems in the world. However, for a majority of its history, the dystopian genre was consumed mainly by adults, with children rarely being considered as possible readers. This narrative changed in 1993, when Lois Lowry released The Giver. This novel launched the dystopian genre into a brand new era; one in which young adults could now understand and participate in the discussion. As political participation in the youth population grew, they became a target for dystopian writers and marketing. The culmination of this era was Suzanne Collins’ 2008 release of The Hunger Games, along with its sequels Catching Fire and Mockingjay, published in 2009 and 2010 respectively. The series exploded across the world, with overwhelming praise for Collins’ depiction of action and the novel’s addictive quality. By 2011, production had already begun on a film adaptation of the first novel in the series, adapted for the screen by Collins’ herself.
The Hunger Games is a dystopian series that depicts the futuristic world of Panem, a country under the oppressive leadership of the Capital and its lethal president. The narrator, 16-year old Katniss Everdeen, resides in one outlying and poor district out of twelve varying districts altogether. She explains that due to a past war, the twelve districts must offer up one boy and girl, each between 12 and 18 years old, every year for an epic pageant titled “The Hunger Games”. In this terrifying arena, the children must fight to the death until there is one victor left standing. The Hunger Games became a huge phenomenon among all ages. The film adaptations drew in even more of an audience, as casting was met with extreme praise and excitement. Fairly new and young stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson were joined by legendary actors like Lenny Kravitz and Woody Harrelson to make a series of movies that broke records and established a new era in worldwide media: the rise of young adult dystopia. Works like the Divergent and The Maze Runner series built upon the foundation that had been set by The Hunger Games, adding on to the massive success that the genre was generating.
However, because nothing truly lasts forever, the last installment of The Hunger Games film series in 2016 began the fizzling out of the dystopian era. Eventually, the genre faded into the media background. It is rare that an author can successfully produce a new novel years after such a success as The Hunger Games series. Often, a huge problem is a lack of connection between the new work and its previous installments. However, in 2020 Suzanne Collins produced, at least in my personal opinion, one of the most successful later series novel installments in the history of literature. The Ballad of Songbirds of Snakes is a prequel based on the story of the sadistic President Snow, the central villain of The Hunger Games trilogy. It details how he rose to power, decades before Katniss Everdeen entered the arena. With works like these, it seems that authors are often torn between two extremes. Either they are desperate to cling to the atmosphere created by their previous works, or wrench so far away from them that there is a complete lack of connection. However, with The Ballad of Songbirds of Snakes, Collins was able to find the middle ground. Katniss Everdeen is never mentioned in the novel, but her presence is felt by readers. The prequel reveals why the idea of Katniss Everdeen threatened President Snow’s very existence from the first moment he saw her, even though the novel is set generations before her birth. The book garnered immense praise after its release, and almost immediately, rumors spread about a possible film adaptation. The Hunger Games had its own reawakening, and Netflix even released the movies on their own platform in early 2023. Now, as the movie’s release is mere days away, audiences wait with bated breath to see if this new film could truly bring about the dystopian renaissance.
Photos from Unsplash.
