Totalitarian Power Stance: a Literary Analysis of Matched
Sarika Hanif
037913142
2016-02-01
Word Count: 951
Ally Condie’s “Matched”, revolves around the totalitarian society of Oria. The society has been engineered to limit the choices of citizens. Every citizen’s regime is based off of statistical probability that is supposed to yield the greatest possible outcome. It is a society where every action is efficient and purposeful. “Matched” explores the journey of Cassia Reyes who starts off as a compliant satisfied citizen of Oria. As the novel progresses to where her grandfather passes, it becomes a pivotal moment where Cassia begins to question the rules of the Society. Condie’s central theme revolves around the reign of…show more content… They oversee that their power is dominant by ensuring there is dependency on the Society and enforcing strict limitations. “I peel back the foilware and look at my portion. Next to Xander's, it seems miniscule. Maybe I'm making this up, but my portions seem to be smaller lately. […] It must be my imagination” (Condie 193). This quote explains some of the strict limitations that the citizens face throughout the novel, such as diet regulations. Citizens are only to eat for nutrients and are provided with the optimal portion size and select food every day. This action restricts any freedom of eating what, where and when the citizen…show more content… Because of the Societies controlling nature this force poses a threat to maintaining their power, therefore the trees must be cut down. These maple trees can also be viewed as a reflection of the Cassia under the Societies reign. Cassia has become too much of a problem to the Society because she diverges greatly from the norm. She starts to slowly rebel against the society, shown in the quote, “I’ve hidden artifacts, read stolen poems, learned how to write. I’ve fallen in love with someone who’s not my Match and I’m keeping that fact from my Match” (Condie 244), because of the Society’s controlling nature, diverging from the laws and evading their system results in Cassia not growing uniformly as the other citizens. This results to Cassia being “cut down” such as the trees in the
