Delirium

Delirium depicts a controlling totalitarian government, a common trope of dystopian fiction. Totalitarianism is a system in which either a single dictator or a group of people holds complete social and political power and demands obedience from their subjects. A dystopia is the opposite of a utopia (i.e., a deeply flawed and oppressive world as opposed to a “perfect” one) and often features injustice at the hands of a tyrannical government that heavily restricts its citizens’ freedoms. Other YA novels with similar dystopian settings are The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, The Giver by Lois Lowry, and the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. Novels like these may be influenced by real-life totalitarian regimes and typically feature a young protagonist who embarks on a journey to overthrow those in power. The protagonist often becomes a figure of freedom, resistance, and hope. A romantic subplot is also common in contemporary YA dystopian fiction. Delirium is therefore unique, because it combines all of these elements by making romance itself an act of revolution against the totalitarian regime. Lena’s ideological evolution is thus catalyzed and enhanced by her love for Alex because this totalitarian regime has declared love to be illegal.