Can I Take a Message?

Every book is written because the author wants to convey some sort of message. He/She wants the readers to believe something, or see something in a different way. 

In Matched, Ally Condie wants to tell readers that free thinking and imagination is what makes us truly unique, and that taking that away is taking away our identity. In making everyone look the same, and do the same things, controlling everything people do, and bombarding everyone with propaganda, the Society is slowly stripping away everyone's creativity. Without it, we are all just mindless machines that follow routine and blindly follow unjust rules.

We don't know just how lucky we are to live in a such a society in which we are allowed to do what we want, eat where/when/what we want, and marry who we love. We are free to make mistakes and live our lives how we want to. Because "It’s better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing, than a long life spent in a miserable way" -Allan Watts.

To sum it up into one phrase, Condie's message in Matched is "knowledge versus ignorance". 

I believe Ally Condie conveyed this message well and thoroughly, as it was easy to understand, and made sense. Today, we take many things for granted, and imagination is one of them. Condie gave a message that was clear and related to the real world, and made readers really think about what the world would be without everything we have today. 

Condie's message is repeated several times, and that is one of the things Cassia wants. The novel shows the ignorant side of society (which is practically everyone), and how a girl is becoming less and less so; she is gaining knowledge. 

Matched in Today's World

Ally Condie has written about many social justice issues that citizens in the Society face in Matched. Many of them are real issues that are faced today.

The most obvious and prominent social justice issue in today's society is eliminating the individual. As we are all struggling to become 'normal' and to fit in with the crowd, we are getting rid of the creativity inside us, and soon enough, that is all we'll ever be: the same. In Matched, Condie stresses the point that without the power of free will, we have nothing. We live nothing lives doing nothing jobs and eating nothing food. We live to procreate and keep the human race from dying out. In the Society, where no one is free to think the way they want to, there is nothing to live for.

These days, when everyone is striving to wear the same clothes, have the same hair, and live the same life, we are becoming more and more what the Society wants us to be. We are becoming monkeys that will follow every command without a blink of hesitation. They want us to be the same, so that we can all be easily controlled.

We live in a time where we are free to be ourselves; even encouraged to do so. In a few hundred years, we may not even have that.

Something good that Ally Condie is showing us about The Society that is different from our world is discrimination (or lack of it). She is showing us how much better we function as humans without judging others by their skin colour, and looking past their stereotypes to see what they're really like. In the Society, where skin colour isn't mentioned, or looked down upon (we as readers don't even know whether there is more than one 'normal' skin colour), everyone is treated as well/badly as the next person. They are not given jobs based on their race (because there is none), or gender, but rather on their skill sets. Everything functions more smoothly when there is nothing to judge others by, or discriminate them in any way.

Social (In)Justice

There are many social injustices in the novel Matched, but among all the bad, there is some good as well.

Social Justices

• Discrimination
• In this future world, there seems to be no discrimination. Everyone is equal (or so it seems) and no one is treated differently because of their skin colour (even though there is no 'race'), gender, religion (there is none), clothing (as everyone wears the same thing), or sexual orientation (there is none other than the 'normal')
• Distribution of Wealth
• Even though the leaders of the Society obviously have the most power, that is where the 'unequal distribution of wealth' ends. In this society, there is no money; nothing to trade. You work, but you don't get paid directly. You and your family get food, clothing, schools and recreational activities. Everyone has the same things as everyone else, and there is no 'higher class' in the society.

However, every perfect society has its imperfections.

Social Injustices

• Distribution of Power
• When there is no money to be earned, knowledge is the most powerful thing. To quote the book, "Knowledge doesn't fail us."
• The more you know, the more you are likely to see that what the Society is doing is wrong, and the more you will want to rebel. So, instead of telling people the truth; that free will is something everyone should have, and it should never be traded for a long life.
• The Society worked for years and years to build a perfect place to live in where everyone is equal, yet have no control over their lives.
• Inhumane treatment of criminals
• The fact that one can be banished into the 'Outer Provinces' for a crime they didn't commit is a large issue in the book. However, being banished is not the only thing that happens to you when you commit a crime. The Society takes you to the Outer Provinces before you are killed off, forgotten by your peers.
• Jobs
• As 'perfect' as the jobs are, they are still given out according to 'status'. If you are an Aberration, you get the toughest jobs not meant for other members of the Society. For example, Ky is put to work (earlier than all his friends) at the food disposal factory, where, even though gloves are worn, the hot water burns his skin.
• Eliminating the Individual
• Without the power to think, do or act as one wishes, one doesn't have any individuality.
• You are not free to be your own person, but must do everything according to plan and careful predictions of other people.
• No freedom of speech, expression or will

Dystopia? You bet.

Dystopia: A futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and
the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic,
technological, moral, or totalitarian control. Dystopias, through an exaggerated
worst-case scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or
political system.

If it wasn't already obvious that Matched is a dystopia, here are a few things that are sure to convince you:

Elements of Dystopia in Matched

• The illusion of utopia
• The Society picks out the best thing for everyone, and makes the citizens think that a perfect match/job is a perfect life
• Citizens are tricked into thinking that the Society is perfect, and that this perfection will make their lives perfect, too
• Uniformity> Individuality
• Everyone has to wear the same clothing; brown pants and a brown shirt
• Workers are to wear blue (all the time)
• Even girls that are being Matched only have a certain amount of choices for dress. The illusion of freedom of choice is shown here, when actually, everything is so well predicted, that there is practically no choice at all
• Constant surveillance
• Citizens are constantly monitored by the Society. You cannot tell a friend a secret without an Official knowing exactly what you said. Also, nothing can happen in your house without it being heard by the 'port'.
• Even garbage disposals are monitored to detect unusual substances sent down them
• Propaganda
• Free thinking is bad; look at the great life we've given you, why do you need to think about it yourself?
• The Society decides what movies teens will watch during their free time; of course, they use this time to remind them how bad the past was (filled with pictures of war and fighting), and when the Society is mentioned, happy faces and smiles fill the screen
• Forbiddance of ideas and information
• There are only a certain amount of books, songs and poems that the citizens can enjoy, the rest are burned and forgotten forever.
• Also, the Society almost never tells the citizens the complete truth.
• In the event of an emergency, citizens are forced to take a red pill that will make them forget everything the Society doesn't want them to remember.
• People live in a dehumanized state
• The Society doesn't treat its criminals in a humane way.
• The government has the right to declare a person an 'Aberration' for a crime they didn't commit. They can banish people to wherever they like without any evidence of what they did 'wrong'.
• Also, the Society dehumanizes its citizens by making all the important decisions for them (where they work, who they marry, what they eat, how they die)