Art Imitates Life: How Dystopia Has Been Used To Visualize The Plights of Native Americans Post apocalyptic worlds have been created in fiction for years, used as a literary device to draw comparisons within our own world. For a much longer period of time, the Native American community has faced varying degrees of struggle that has carried over into modern day. Though many express empathy towards marginalized groups and the plights they face, very little action is completed to rectify any of these issues. Literature is one of the means of artistic communication that can serve as a call to action for social justice, and the dystopian world can emphasize these struggles in a hyperbolic way that resonates with readers in a strong manner. Bearheart:…show more content… The dystopian lens makes readers horrified at the atrocities being committed against these characters, forcing them to question how such things can be justified. This will, of course, lead them to the inevitable conclusion that such actions have been justified for centuries, and that the bleak landscape depicted within the novel is a repetition of history rather than a completely new concept. The story of Bearheart: The Heirship Chronicles by Gerald Vizenor is able to create a dramatized world in which Natives are meant to suffer many losses, and while the post apocalyptic setting is a fictitious rendition of America, the events have direct correlation to the history of the real life nation. Holding a mirror to history, Vizenor has drawn comparisons to many horrific crimes committed against Native Americans, placing them in a setting that reminds its audience that these are the actions of dystopia victims. To put such real events into this post apocalyptic scenario puts into perspective the idea that by standing idly by and or enabling these actions puts us on the wrong side of history and fosters a nightmarish
