Blog Dive into Dystopia

Part 1:

 I feel like dystopian novels have become so popular because they make people realize how lucky we are to live a normal life with little to no hardships. In these novels, people's lives are somewhat similar, yet entirely different because of one major event. Along with this, it's interesting to think about what would happen to our world if a major disaster happened. People don't want to read about our boring world, but they will read if something interesting happens to it. According to the article, the plots of these books connect with modern teenagers. Right now, teenagers are living through a time when the whole world is against them, yet they are expected to perform like adults. Researchers back this up by showing that parents are extremely controlling over their children's lives, which causes them to want to break out. 

After watching the trailer, I can tell that the book is about a disease that takes over and spawns fear in the minds of the general population. From the trailer, it looks like there is an elongated winter. The virus looks like it kills many people, as buildings look deserted. The story seems like it follows the story of an older man and a younger girl, who might be father and daughter. 

Part 2:

1. I think that the quote connects to the dystopian theme because it's basically hinting that bad things are going to happen. The first line, "The bright side of earth moves towards darkness," shows this idea, though they are talking about sleeping, it has a deeper meaning. No matter what happens on our planet to make it happy, bad things will always happen. Our world isn't defined by the happy moments, but rather by the life-impacting, horrible moments throughout history. 

2. I think that the book opens in the play to create a story within a story. This story is meant to get readers on edge before the true story starts, especially in the last two sentences of the second chapter. So far, I'd think that Jeevan and the little girl are going to be important characters moving forward since the story is mostly through Jeevan's eyes, and the little girl wouldn't be in the first story if she didn't need to be. The other characters feel like typical people, though we know that they all die because of the end of chapter two. In a time of tragedy, they turn to alcohol to cope. I think that Arthur struggled to find love throughout his life, but as Jeevan said, he went out doing what he loved which was acting. Overall, the characters seem pretty typical to start, but I'm interested to see where the story goes. Really the only thing I want to know is how everyone dies and what Jeevan does. Jeevan seems very unappreciative of his girlfriend and really his life since he is changing career paths, so I'm interested to see where his story goes. 

3. A quote that I found interesting was, "From the bar the snow was almost abstract, a film about bad weather on a deserted street." The quote stood out to me because it's the first time that anyone has really noticed the significant snow, which is a recurring theme at the start of the novel. Each page seems to have made mention of the snow, yet none of the characters have really acknowledged it. The only people to notice are Jeevan when he was undergoing CPR and walking outside, along with the other people on stage when the snow was still falling. I have a suspicion that snow is connected to a deeper meaning, since it was so common in these first chapters, along with being shown frequently in the trailer.