When I was in middle school, there were two types of books I loved to read and one of them was the “Post Apocalyptic World” type. The Post Apocalyptic sub-genre exists within the dystopian genre. Today, I am going to talk about why I love this sub genre the most, and why it attracts so many of us.
First, I want to start of by giving you a definition of the word apocalyptic. We all have some idea of what is it, but I wanted to find a universal definition. What does apocalyptic mean then? It means “Describing or prophesying the complete destruction of the world” or something “Momentous or catastrophic” (Source: Oxford Dictionary). Now, a post apocalyptic book would be a book after a war that destroys the world. There are several series today that can fit in some way or form in this sub genre. Those are The Divergent Trilogy, The 5th Wave Trilogy, The Testing Trilogy, and a couple more. A lot of the series I’ve mentioned have been in the New York Times Best Seller List, have been made into movies, or a film company has bought the movie rights. This sub genre is very big in our day in age and I think I know why.
The Post Apocalyptic stories give us survival stories. We like to believe that even if the world would come to an end, some of us would survive. The stories within this genre are inspiring. They give us hope. They empower us, making us feel like we too can do brave, life-altering things. These stories give us hope in humanity, that even though some destroyed it, there are a few who can restore once again. This sub genre brings out the best and worst in human nature, and for some reason, we love to see that.
I myself love these type of stories because they empower me to be stronger. There are so many horrible things happening around the world today, that sometimes it feels like some of the stories I read will become reality. The stories in this sub genre give me hope for the future. They provide not only prove me with entertainment, but a view into what might happen if that event or war occurred. I know some of you may say “Veronica, this is fiction we are taking about,” and I totally agree with you, but a “human being” is writing the fiction. I think that says a lot more than we sometimes want to think it says.
I initially thought I was going to write a fun post about the Post Apocalyptic sub-genre, but this is what came out instead. Oops.
So tell me, why do you love to read stories in the Post-Apocalyptic World sub-genre? or the Dystopian genre in general?
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