Article written by Ashleigh Lowry.
You and the small group of survivors you reluctantly call your new family have settled in the remains of an abandoned house for the night. Looking around for some kindling you find a photo in a frame. Clearing away the broken glass you see a candid photo of a family. Bright smiles and laughing, no idea the world would end. You had no idea it would end either but here you are...
Surviving.
The post apocalyptic genre of novels has had a massive rise over the last decade. This could have a multitude of reasons. The growing political climate, conspiracy theories about the multiple ways the world could end or just the realisation that a literal clean state is exactly what the world needs to create a better version of society.
One major reason why many people love post-apocalyptic stories is the ability to see a raw version of humanity and assess it. What are we really made of? Are we truly a selfish race? Currently the world stands divided. Fighting each other over nothing and getting hurt because someone didn’t use the right condiment on our burger. Many people wonder if having an apocalypse would pull us apart or bring us together.
There is a popular belief that we will divide into groups of like minded people and try to survive. Fighting against the other groups to become the best survival group there is. Others see this in a different light, that maybe, just maybe, when everything else is looking to kill us at least we will have the other survivors to keep us human.
Another common thread in many apocalyptic novels is the banding together to combat a common enemy, be it zombies, aliens or the barren, nuclear soaked, wastelands of past dead leaders’ mistakes. Writers and readers like to believe that humans will band together and fight as team. No matter how different the opinions or beliefs, if there is a common threat then people will put all differences aside and fight as one. Whether this is true or not is up for debate, but for now the positivity that thinking this could happen allows us to believe that maybe, just maybe, people are not all bad.
Through this clean slate and togetherness, people are given the opportunity to rebuild the broken and desolate world they once lived in. They can form societies that will never become corrupt and create a healthier, better prepared generation for the future. This can be done in multiple ways according to novels in the post apocalyptic genre, one of the most popular being the rebellion or great war. The story of a group of plucky underdogs verses a negligent or outright evil government or big brand company makes for a wonderful hero's tale. Giving us a set of characters we can relate to and think about our own choices if we found ourselves in the distant or not so distant future depending on when said novel is set. Building up forces and gaining the confidence to think of underdogs as more than just said plucky kid from insert-western-civilisation-town-here. Maybe they had this confidence and skill all along.
Something to consider is post apocalyptic novels are a celebration of human willpower. The ability to persevere no matter how difficult or impossible the world around them might be. Humans as a species are resourceful and incredibly resilient. When times get tough we find a way to adapt and thrive, be it as fighters, survivors and/or nomads. We find a way to provide ourselves with ability to survive and thrive in the nothingness provided to us.
In personal research for this article, I found a common thread and now pet peeve (bonus points!), I had never really considered was present in many post apocalyptic novels, especially those in the young adult sub-genre. The common person becoming the chosen one only because they were slightly different than everyone else. Be it more adventurous, rebellious or just downright defiant, these ‘chosen’ are quickly seen as outcasts, socially awkward or just plain jackarses. They either do the stupidly brave or bravely stupid thing (these are vastly different but I assure you, it will always be one of these two.) and discover the ‘meaning behind it all’ is a corrupt bunch of men and/or women in lab coats and/or black suits that are using them for research and/or personal gain. Then the chosen form a team of trusted, and one or two untrustworthy, people, storm the castle/lab/capital and win the day. There may be the loss of a family member, lover or furry companion sprinkled throughout but in the end all is triumphant.
Other than this one pet peeve from a singular sub-genre, post apocalyptic novels have gained popularity because of their intense look into the humanity and asks “What are we capable of?”. Some look at this with a positive outlook, others negative. Either way they encourage people to look at themselves and ask the same question.
“What am I capable of?”
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