50 pages • 1 hour read
Lauren OliverDelirium
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2011A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Love as a Strength and Weakness
The primary conflict lies in this totalitarian society’s condemnation of love as a disease called amor deliria nervosa, for Lena must confront her own growing love for Alex in a world where romance is illegal and love itself is actively eradicated in every citizen. In America, love has been identified as a disease for the last 64 years, and the “cure” has been imposed on all citizens for the last 43 years. As outlined by The Book of Shhh, society’s single most authoritative text designed to perpetuate this propaganda, love is historically dangerous. In fact, the emotion is portrayed as being the cause of all society’s premodern and modern problems. According to the ruling government, all problematic human emotions are just symptoms of the larger disease of love, for it stands as the catalyst for war, the cause for destruction, and the inspiration for greed. This historical evidence of the disease is always linked back to the biblical story of Adam and Eve, in which humans are depicted as living in paradise until Eve is tempted by sinful emotion, resulting in their banishment from Eden (24, 234).
Thus, love is depicted as a weakness of the human mind and body that causes obsessive thoughts, paranoia, an inability to focus, and more. In addition to vilifying the emotional issues common in love, the government also pathologizes the biological effects (dizziness, sweaty palms, heart palpitations, etc.) and describes them in medical language that is normally used to denote symptoms, a deliberate mischaracterization that allows the ruling regime to successfully claim that love is a powerful and deadly disease (147-48). This approach leads to the rationalization that the surgery to erase love is in fact a cure, and when people died by suicide out of sheer desperation not to lose themselves to this “cure,” the trend ironically is used to buttress the government’s argument that clearly, love is lethal. By framing love as a weakness meant to be removed from the body, the government collectively casts itself in the role of the benevolent savior of humanity. Ironically, the belief that love is a destructive disease grants the government permission to destroy those who embrace the emotion instead of renouncing it, and thus, they commit crimes against humanity in the name of defending peace. Anyone who sympathizes with the idea that the cure is wrong is attacked, imprisoned, or killed for disrupting the status quo.
Ultimately, the government’s goal for America is a return to the mythical Eden before Eve’s fall from grace, which elucidates why most American citizens, including Lena, are ready and willing to be cured of the dormant killer inside them. However, as Lena soon discovers, there are more sympathizers lying dormant in society than the government realizes. These sympathizers understand that love is a strength, not a weakness, and Lena’s own experiences eventually lead her to agree. Although she initially fears that she will be “infected” by Alex the way her mother was weakened by love, Lena realizes that this “infection” makes the world more beautiful, and that even non-romantic love is a strength. She begins to understand that her love for her mother, Hana, and Grace also makes her more happy, confident, sympathetic, and compassionate. In a more powerful example of this dynamic, her friendship with Hana serves as a particular source of strength, for it is a bittersweet reminder of both the freely given love of youth and the advent of a cure-initiated adulthood designed to limit the expression of affection. Overall, Lena learns that love does indeed bring pain and fear, just as the government has taught her. However, she discovers that love is worth the risk of suffering for the mere chance to experience its joy.
The Dangers of Conformity and Government Control
Like most dystopian fiction, Delirium features a totalitarian government that limits freedom, controls the population by instilling fear, and punishes those who oppose the system, and Lauren Oliver’s novel utilizes this common theme while injecting quite a bit of innovation into the particulars of totalitarian control methods in her world-building. In this alternate world, America’s cities are all fenced in and surrounded by uncivilized areas known as the “Wilds,” where the government’s reach is nonexistent. The city borders are therefore heavily monitored by the military; officially, no one is allowed in or out, although there are secret methods of passage. The citizens believe that all the fences are electrified, but this is just one of the many lies designed to ensure obedience. According to the government, the borders “keep the very worst disease away, so [the citizens] can all stay healthy” (23). The Wilds were cleared during what they call “The Great Sanitation,” a term which itself sanitizes what truly happened (173). In reality, however, the Wilds were heavily bombed, and thousands of people died in the name of keeping those within the bordered city safe from amor deliria nervosa. The government also claims that as the cure for the disease was first being developed, people lined up to demand it and willingly sacrificed their lives in medical trials for it (198). These are examples of how a totalitarian government stays in power: by rewriting history and facts as propaganda to further their goals.
The novel also presents other ways in which its government secures control. For example, government rhetoric is easily accessible and highly visible throughout Portland. Even the currency is not exempt, for bills are printed with a Latin motto that translates to “From the cure, salvation” (322), thus echoing and twisting the common practice of real-world America to print ideological statements on its currency. Similarly, the gates of the prison known as the Crypts read “Liberty in acceptance; Peace in enclosure; Happiness in renunciation” (338), a deliberate use of nonsensical contradiction that mirrors similar slogans in previous works of dystopian literature such as George Orwell’s 1984; this continuation of the theme demonstrates Oliver’s literary knowledge and her ability to modify key themes to suit her own narrative ends.
In a more sinister example of the same trend, Oliver employs the epigraphs in each chapter to emphasize the depths of the control exercised by this totalitarian regime, for the deliberate use of quotations from nursery rhymes or children’s books implies that people in Portland are indoctrinated from a very young age to believe in the danger of the disease and the benevolence of the government. As the public consumes this conspicuous propaganda, they more easily conform to the government’s will. Conformity in a dystopian, totalitarian society is dangerous not just because citizens lose their individuality, but also because the very nature of this kind of system does not tolerate any dissent. Although conformists like Carol and Rachel are not driven by fear, they remain safe because their acceptance of the cure has proven them to be citizens willing to follow the rules. By contrast, hidden sympathizers must outwardly conform while secretly resisting. This is why Lena and Alex must hide their relationship: They know that death awaits them at the Crypts if they are caught. In fact, Lena relates that all fourth graders must take a field trip to the Crypts to warn them about punishment. Citizens live in fear of this punishment and therefore lose their free will. In this way, the novel aims to show how dangerous government control can become if left unchecked. Lena’s refusal to conform in the end demonstrates that revolution is necessary and can take place on many different levels.
The Fear of Growing Up
Because the novel is geared toward a young adult audience, it grapples with concerns common for adolescents, namely, the anxiety of growing up and leaving childhood behind. This fear is compounded for Lena and other teens in this dystopia because the transition to maturity is clearly and starkly marked: At age 18, they must undergo surgery known to “cure” the natural tendency to feel and exhibit emotion. The cure literally leaves a mark on the body in the form of three scars behind the ear, and people cut their hair short to show off these scars with pride; they embrace the surgical scars as a symbol of adulthood. Because of the dramatic changes brought about by this procedure, children and adults are expected to behave differently. Children are given a “pass” to feel and act more freely because they have yet to undergo the cure; meanwhile, adults are expected to evolve beyond childish tantrums and display a more composed demeanor. Thus, children are associated with problematic emotions, and adults are associated with unemotional reason. This clear demarcation is troubling to Lena as she awaits her imminent cure. She has been taught to look down on childishness but cannot help feeling overcome with emotions like fear, anger, and of course, love. Thus, falling in love with Alex becomes a clear sign that Lena remains a free-spirited youth.
Like most young adults, Lena is also afraid of the future. She worries about losing her joy of running and her closeness with Hana after she officially becomes an adult. Time becomes an enemy, for as she says, “I’m just struck with a sense of time passing so quickly, rushing forward. One day I’ll wake up and my whole life will be behind me, and it will seem to have gone as quickly as a dream” (317). She feels ideologically and emotionally unprepared for adulthood. Before her revolutionary awakening, adulthood means uncertainty but also safety and predictability, but as she discovers the government’s lies and begins to dissent, she feels even more fearful of growing up because by choosing a rebellious path, she is leaving the safety of conformity far behind. In the end, Lena’s escape into the Wilds becomes a metaphor representing the journey into adulthood; she is free of her childhood in restrictive Portland and now has her whole future ahead of her. Growing up is a part of life, and Lena eventually learns to accept this, admitting, “You have to go forward. It’s the only way. You have to go forward no matter what happens. This is the universal law” (386).
