Delirium

Delirium depicts a controlling totalitarian government, a common trope of dystopian fiction. Totalitarianism is a system in which either a single dictator or a group of people holds complete social and political power and demands obedience from their subjects. A dystopia is the opposite of a utopia (i.e., a deeply flawed and oppressive world as opposed to a “perfect” one) and often features injustice at the hands of a tyrannical government that heavily restricts its citizens’ freedoms. Other YA novels with similar dystopian settings are The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, The Giver by Lois Lowry, and the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. Novels like these may be influenced by real-life totalitarian regimes and typically feature a young protagonist who embarks on a journey to overthrow those in power. The protagonist often becomes a figure of freedom, resistance, and hope. A romantic subplot is also common in contemporary YA dystopian fiction. Delirium is therefore unique, because it combines all of these elements by making romance itself an act of revolution against the totalitarian regime. Lena’s ideological evolution is thus catalyzed and enhanced by her love for Alex because this totalitarian regime has declared love to be illegal.

Other common tropes of dystopian fiction are government surveillance, control of information, threatening rhetoric, violent punishment for dissent, and loss of free will and individuality. All of these elements are clearly depicted in Delirium. Lena fears speaking openly about her initial doubts of the system, and she anxiously polices Hana’s verbal dissent because she knows that the government spies on its citizens using cameras and listening devices. The government has also decided what music, movies, books, and “facts” its citizens can consume via the country’s limited intranet; even poetry is banned. Dangerous government propaganda is disguised as scientific or benign information and is disseminated in early childhood. Random and often violent raids are conducted to monitor the population. Those who are caught breaking the rules are punished with physical violence, imprisonment, and/or death. This means that citizens lose their individual autonomy; they cannot act freely for fear of being labeled a dissenter or opposition sympathizer. However, the novel once again reimagines dystopian conventions by making conformity somewhat involuntary; those who are cured automatically conform because the procedure removes their will to rebel.

Moreover, the novel highlights the importance of dystopian fiction for a YA audience. Young protagonists who fight against an oppressive entity in order to achieve independence mirror young adults who yearn for their own real-life independence. Adolescents often must face the uncertainty of adulthood, the overwhelming pressure from society to conform, and the urge to rebel against tradition. YA or coming-of-age fiction typically addresses these concerns, but dystopian settings take them one step further by presenting an empowering metaphor for youthful rebellion. Fictional totalitarian governments thus become symbols for the controlling, often suffocating aspects of real-life societal norms, and in this light, fictional revolution may provide hope to young readers who face real issues and impossible situations that they cannot readily escape.