Post Apocalyptic or Dystopian? What’s the difference?

Post apocalyptic or Dystopian – yes, there is a difference!

I know I’m picky (my students and kids tell me this all the time), but I keep reading reviews of books in which these two terms are used interchangeably.  Let me clear up the mystery.

Post Apocalyptic

An apocalypse is something that completely alters or destroys society as we know it.  An atomic bomb, a super-flu, or a worldwide economic collapse could be the cause, but the result is that everyone is scrambling to survive.  Books like Stephen King’s The Stand, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, or the TV show Walking Dead are all examples of post apocalyptic fiction.

Zombie apocalypse = life as we know it goes bye-bye

Dystopia

This is the opposite of utopia (a perfect society.)  Dystopian fiction takes place in a world that dehumanizes people.  The world itself might be pleasant enough (The Giver by Lois Lowry), but the people within it live terrible lives – usually unbeknownst to themselves (Brave New World by Adlous Huxley.)  At other times, both the world and the lives of the people are crap (1984 by George Orwell.)

Yup. That’s Big Brother. And he’s watching.

See the difference?  You could read/write about a dystopian society that has occurred after an apocalypse, or you could read about an apocalypse that doesn’t contain a dystopia.  But the key here is that the two words are not interchangeable.

Now, go forth and be knowledgeable!