Wednesday, August 19, 2015

To The Orphans in Dystopian Novels

Things look pretty bleak right now. Bad. Real bad.
 
And I’m not gonna lie and say that they aren’t, that everything will work out. You’ve lost your parents and you are living far away from whatever home you used to know. You have no idea whom to trust and the truth of the matter is, although you don’t know it yet, the moral and economic future of the entire plant somehow rests with you.

You and your siblings, if you have siblings. 


If you don’t, make sure to meet all the other orphans. You can’t trust any of the adults. Everything you suspected about adults your whole life is true: they are ruthless and heartless. They don’t actually like kids; they just want to use them for cheap labor, build empires on the backs of 6-11 year olds. Be suspicious of all of them.

The problem with the other orphans is that some won’t be very smart, some are not very brave and most are just too young to comprehend that you have to make a plan. But all will be able to help. Orphans, at any age, are shockingly resourceful and quick. They will test your leadership and you will doubt yourself almost every step of the way.

And though I cannot assure you everything will be ok, and I suspect some of you will even die, I do know that our collective vision for all that is right and possible in the world is whatever you see. The reason you are our heros, the reason your story never gets old is because you are the shape and voice of all that hope. The truth is, now is a dystopia. We call it the future, but it isn’t. It’s now. But we also know that within it, orphans are gathering in the hallways, practicing how to use ancient weapons and developing their own language. Being parentless frees them, and instead of spending hours learning how to play piano or practice cursive, they are concerned with survival.

The orphans always win.

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