This is a decent article. I think there are much better ways to illustrate and defend the value of dystopian literature; but the author makes a few good points.
All non-realist literature offers the ability to set human nature against the light of our expectations and consider what we’re really like.
Dystopian fiction has become much more popular for young adults. Perhaps we are willing to look at some tough questions along with our adolescents now–more so than 50 years ago? I don’t know.
Maybe dystopian young adult lit fills in the hard lessons that kids learned on the farm or the cotton mill — people die, life is hard, death is close.
