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Ender's Game, Harlequin, and The Lorax 2743 Views


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Description:

Yes, these three stories do actually have something in common. No, it is not a small, orange-brown, mustachioed creature who "speaks for the trees!" That would be one strange coincidence.

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Transcript

00:04

Ender's Game, Harlequin, and The Lorax a la Shmoop.

00:10

Being in space can make anything exciting.

00:13

Chess.

00:15

Water polo.

00:16

Boring high school classes.

00:17

Unfortunately…this is dystopia.

00:23

Although School in Space does sound cool, in Ender’s Game it ends up being pretty

00:27

terrible.

00:28

Ender’s Game has tons of dystopian elements hidden among the stars.

00:32

Adults manipulating others for nefarious purposes…

00:37

…and unflattering space suits, just to name a couple.

00:42

Does anybody know why the official fabric of dystopia has to be Spandex?

00:50

It’s a place where seemingly harmless tests in school might just turn out to be a whole

00:55

lot more.

00:57

And by a whole lot more…we mean the extermination of giant space bugs.

01:02

Picking out the dystopian elements from Ender’s Game…

01:04

…will prepare you to be able to spot them in other works.

01:07

Even if they’re parody, like Harlan Ellison’s “‘Repent, Harlequin,’ said the Ticktockman”…

01:12

…in which a rabble-rousing Harlequin is stuck in a world where every second of every

01:17

day for every person is monitored by the oppressive Ticktockman.

01:22

So… like so many dystopian heroes before him, the Harlequin sets out to defy his control

01:27

freak society with the greatest weapon of all....

01:31

Jellybeans.

01:31

OK, it’s not the most effective means of rebellion, but you have to give him points

01:36

for originality.

01:37

You’ll also spot dystopian elements in Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax…

01:40

…in which we learn about the dangers of over-industrialization through the plight

01:45

of a fuzzy, orange creature of an unidentifiable species… called the Lorax.

01:50

Though it’s technically a kids’ book…

01:52

…The Lorax fits right into the dystopic genre by showing us a bleak future in which

01:57

one entity has gained too much power and things have gone terribly wrong.

02:05

In this case, all the trees have been devoured by the veracious factory of the greedy Once-ler.

02:10

<<ONCE-lurr>>

02:11

Now, the Once-ler lives in a rundown house and laments the day that he drove away the

02:15

Lorax, who tried to make him see the error of his ways.

02:18

Though what he might really be lamenting is that second mortgage he took out right before

02:22

he cut down the last of the trees that fueled his industrial empire.

02:26

So whether you’re reading about the environment, wisecracking dissidents, or the space school…

02:31

…one weapon is more valuable than any other: knowledge.

02:44

Set your phasers to “dystopia” and fire away.

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