Introduction
Sherman Alexie’s quote is quite harsh, but true: young adult fiction should not become milder or sweeter just because some of the critics see is as too daunting. Instead, YA literature’s aims should focus on addressing all children and being relevant to all social classes, without including or excluding only some of them. The problem of privilege and privileged citizens is a controversial one because not everyone tends to agree that privileges exist, moreover highly influence the person’s worldview and awareness of other issues. It seems that some of those critics mentioned by Alexie can be simply blind to the existing problem of inequality, racism, classism, etc.
A large set of existing literature, even classics, is built upon this blindness, either because it was written by people who did not see the issue, or because it did not seem reasonable to them to recognize it and discuss it in their books. Therefore, some literature for young adults and adolescents is too “sweet”, while the world is not. This creates discrepancies and misunderstandings, which can lead to general dissatisfaction with the country and the world we live in. Instead of trying to present a fake “brave new world” in YA literature, writers need to focus on the issues that some of the readers face every day, to make other readers aware of how different and complicated life can be.
Truths about Our World
The Compound is a science-fiction dystopian book that was written by S.A. Bodeen and published in 2008. In this book, the author discusses various issues, including the power of authority, religion, obsessions, parental control, insanity, and human disparities. In the book, the main antagonist, Rex Yanakakis, locks up his family in a bunker, telling them that there was a nuclear war. It is a lie, but Rex’s obsession with nuclear wars supports his decision to keep his family in fear. Although presented on a bigger scale, it seems that the author used Rex’s obsession as a metaphor for closed, controlled, and often hostile family worlds where children have to suffer from parental abuse and overwhelming control. The problem of child abuse is a global one; family abuse is only a part of the issue, while child trafficking is still flourishing, and not only in third-world countries.
Impact on Adolescents
First of all, the significance of authority is a lesson that every child learns. However, not all children understand that authorities can be different, and they are not always right. The book, in return, is a good example of how authorities can manipulate and mislead others in order to pursue their goals. When Rex is asked why he had deceived his family with ideas about food and cloning, he answers: “That was merely a matter of seeing how far you would all go to survive” (Bodeen, 2008, p. 171). In this simple quote, the reader understands that there was not any specific or great aim behind Rex’s actions – he was merely testing his own family. Obsession with dangerous ideas, the author stresses, can lead to tragedies and deaths, especially if the obsessed person has enough power to embody those ideas.
This idea “those who are in power and have money are not always right” is great for supporting the way to social justice and change in a young reader. It can make them re-evaluate the idea of authority as a whole and see how society is currently struggling to defeat the dangerous ideas people have been obsessed with for many generations.
Books Save the World
Honest storytelling is capable of saving the world. However, “saving the world” does not mean resolving a dangerous problem that already exists. Instead, it means bringing up generations that will be attentive to the past and history, will learn from humanity’s mistakes, and prevent any dangerous problem from spreading and expanding. If we see books as teachers and storytelling as a tool to create more developed, thoughtful, and aware people, then books indeed can save the world.
Honest storytelling does not have to be too realistic or too brutal. Instead, it should focus on those questions that accompany every person: questions about death, life, the meaning of it, human connection, spirituality, wisdom, and happiness. Books do not always guide readers, but they can teach the art of asking the right questions. As Brandon Sanderson (2010) said: “The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon” (p. 345). If stories dictated rules, they would not be very different from authorities and leaders that explain to others what is right and what is wrong. Honest storytelling is, above all, a method that writers use to make their readers reflect upon those matters they might see every day but never properly think through. If books can make people more aware, they can certainly save the world too.
References
Bodeen, S. A. (2008). The compound. London, England: Feiwel and Friends.
Sanderson, B. (2010). The way of kings. New York, NY: Tor Books