Dystopian vs. Apocalyptic Fiction: What’s the difference?

Much has been written that crosses the boundaries between dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction. To me, the biggest distinction is the conflict. Remember back to your high school English literature days… Remember when the teacher would ask you to identify whether a story was “man vs. man” or “man vs. nature”?

Dystopian fiction tends to focus on character vs. society, whereas post-apoc often leans toward character vs. nature or character vs. character.

Dystopia

Common Themes in Dystopian Stories

what it means to be human
corruption
abuse of power
authority
injustice
class system
freedom and the price of freedom
oppression

Examples of Dystopias

These examples go from the more top-of-mind to less so. I also included a quick summary, though it’s hard to summarize such great and classic books!

The Hunger Games: A corrupt state controls the populace through fear and annual Hunger Games
The Giver: Tightly regimented society with only a few who remember the old ways
1984: Classic police state and an oppressive government
Brave New World: Totalitarian state creates caste system and drugs to control the populace
Fahrenheit 451: Totalitarian state controls populace through censorship (books)
Little Brother: Controlling government misuses technology to maintain power
The Handmaid’s Tale: New republic controls procreation and women’s access to knowledge
V for Vendetta: Authoritarian government controls news broadcasts
Maze Runner: Kids are put into a maze and forced to find a way out, similar to Hunger Games
Matched: Each person is paired with their “ideal mate”

Post-Apocalypse

Common Themes in Post-Apocalyptic Stories

Certainly, many of the above dystopian novels can be deemed “post-apocalyptic” as they’re literally “after the apocalypse,” but books that sit solidly in the PA genre generally use these themes:

what it means to be human
survival
civility
rebuilding civilization
starting over
learning from our mistakes

Examples of the Post-Apocalypse

Mad Max: After the end of the world, people struggle to survive
The Walking Dead: Zombies show up and most people turn into the worst versions of themselves
The Road: A man and boy struggle to survive vs. cannibals
The Stand: People struggle to reorganize into societies and find meaning in this new world
World War Z: Eyewitness accounts of the zombie war
Seveneves: 5,000 years after the apocalypse, the survivors return to Earth
Station Eleven: A troupe of actors and musicians keep the remnants of art alive
One Second After: A patriot survives the end of the world and struggles to keep his daughters safe
Wool: The survivors of the apocalypse confine themselves to old silos

What’s Next?

As with most things fantasy and science fictional, it’s not always easy to draw a hard line between dystopian fiction and post-apocalyptic fiction. My next post explores what happens when one is the subgenre of the other. Certainly, many of the above dystopian novels can be deemed “post-apocalyptic” as they’re literally “after the apocalypse,” but books that sit solidly in the PA genre generally follow a few themes. While you’re waiting, check out this awesome dystopian vs. post-apocalyptic flowchart. (Though I don’t agree with everything on it!)

Post-Apocalyptic Novel

Right now, you can get my post-apocalyptic adventure novel, The Last of the Ageless, for $2.99.

Thanks for reading this post. Let me know how you differentiate dystopia from post-apocalypse in the comments.