Annabelle Jay’s Top 5 Dystopias

The idea of having a list of my favorite dystopias seems strange, since they are books or movies about versions of our society where everything is terrible. From bad rulers to environmental destruction, from fearful citizens to forced societies meant to appear perfect, dystopias show us our greatest fears taken to the extreme. 

Still, I love them. 

Here are my top five, with a quote from each to show you just why I love each book or movie so much. 

1. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood 

This book has gotten more recognition since the Netflix show came out, and I’m so glad! 

Quote: “A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze.” 

2. 1984 by George Orwell

If you’ve heard someone use the term “big brother,” they might be alluding to 1984. This book was published in 1949, yet the ideas are just as relevant now. 

Quote: “The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness and for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better.” 

3. The Hunger Games –Movies (and books!)

Of all of the movies I’ve ever seen, I think I’ve watched parts of The Hunger Games the most (and, of course, I read and loved the books too!). The girl on fire. The hanging tree. OMG I’m going to go watch them all again right now. 

Quote from President Snow: “It is the things we love most that destroy us.”

4. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 

This book lives out my personal dystopia: outlawed books. 

Quote: “‘Books were only one type of receptacle where we stored a lot of things we were afraid we might forget. There is nothing magical in them, at all. The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us.’” 

5. The Matrix 

Red pill…or blue pill? 

Quote: from Morpheus: “What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.”

Let me know your favorite in the comments!