In Matched, the Society is organized by class. From the lowest Anomalies, to the only-slightly-more-desirable Aberrations, to regular citizens, to the Officials who control everything, class permeates everything from where you're assigned to live to the what job you're assigned to work to who you're assigned to marry (if you're lucky), to whether you can procreate, to how you die.
And is there anyone above the Officials? We're not sure yet who they answer to. By the end of the book though, Cassia's realized how ridiculous this all is and starts trying to fight it… but our main girl's got a long way to go.
Questions About Society and Class
- Do Cassia's views on lower-class Anomalies and Aberrations change throughout the novel?
- The Society is supposedly based on equality for all—do you think this Society has more or less equality than our own?
- Do you see ways in which the inequality in our own world could eventually lead to a Society like this?
Chew on This
The main issue with Cassia's Society is that equality has not been fully realized. If Aberrations and Anomalies were treated equally, it would be a more desirable place to live.
Matched shows us all the ways in which an equal Society is not necessarily desirable—it is more important to preserve differences and choices.