Dystopian Essay Example: The Shade of the Moon by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Sometimes thinking about the government and what they are able to control is just odd to me because some of the actions that they have put out with the huge push of power onto the people that it’s almost unjust; In the book, the shade of the moon, Susan Beth Pfeffer brings a lot about each character’s powers and help develop them by some examples such as Jon resists much of its power from other people, the guards, law enforcements exerting their power against the weaker people and even sometimes the richest, and the grubs (people who are poor), who submit to the power of the rich.

Mainly, for many of the main characters of dystopian literature, they will seek or resist the power that some sort of the leaders like in the Harrison Bergerson setup where Harrison attempts to resist the many handicaps that he has because of being “intellectually” smarter. In the way that the shade of the moon relates, the guards bring out the amount of power they have forcing the people that aren’t up to the guard’s likings, to not live in the richest of the bestest cities like the survival of the fittest in nature as you have to adapt in order to survive a new ever changing environment. The people that don’t fit the guard’s guidelines/wants have to change and go to intense, risky labor jobs that could possibly kill them but earn the best rewards. “‘Alex is tired. He hasn’t had a day off in weeks.’ ‘It’s not slave labor,’ Alex said with a grin. ‘Just making as much money as we can before the baby’s born’ (Pfeffer, 76).“ With how hard living is for many third world countries, many have to work in dangerous conditions such as a gold mine where they risk being killed because of a collapse in the mines or even a rock hitting their head, in turn that gives them possible skull or brain damage.

WIth this in mind, some always shine out because they know that someone is wrong like how Martin Luther King ended slavery with the peaceful protests they had starting with boycotting paying for buses. Jon in the shade of the moon, appears to have possibly confronted, resist the powers that they have faced from law enforcers such as the guards ever since they moved in with Alex Morales’ family. They discover what may be really wrong in the city of Sexton: for one, Jon was kicked out of the city after marrying a “Grub” girl which was just quickly made up by the guard for more excuses but had tried with all he can to resist the power by making negotiations that unfortunately didn’t sit well, or they managed to take back a baby that originally was lied to about how it died quickly because of birth defects from chemicals that were caught by working in a place like a greenhouse. that was stolen by a family in the city and lied about themselves being that they were some special hospital units needing to take back a baby. “‘Mr. Stockton, your baby is highly contagious,’ Sarah said. ‘You have to listen to me. Your life, all your lives are in danger.’ [...] Sarah handed him the baby. ‘Give her to Miranda,’ she whispered. ‘We have to get out of here fast’  (Pfeffer, 225).” It’s what holds that some people may make a change even though it can be tough at times, it may look like some sort of fantasy to you that you may not be doing these things, but it can happen at some point and you have to be prepared for such and get ready to resist and defend yourself from many who will disagree with you.

Afterall, just like how people are split between whether they are rich or poor in the present-day life, many of the people living there had to follow some sort of rule and submit to the powers that the more upper people had forcing them to do things for the richest like how they could be their maids, or domestics to live in the city of Sexton, or even worse with what the current world doesn’t have unlike this time, they force people with curfews to go back in their homes with an alarm just so that they have more control. “‘She tried last night,’ Laura said, ‘but there were five people ahead of her when the curfew siren went off. She said Matt’s going to be there next Sunday’ (Pfeffer, 14).” People need to realize what is going on in the world and form a community that can help save the lives of innocent people out there that are doing their efforts to serve a force like climate change. However, despite the amount of time it would take, with the war and inequality that the world has in between countries, people are much more power-hungry in order to think they can be the next of leaders and take control of the world.

Altogether, the shade of the moon explains to us how power is changing through an apocalypse in the world by Jon’s resistance to the power of others like clavers, many of the poor people submitting to the rich and anyone working for the law and public services exerting their power. It’s what helps to relate the present-world government like in the United States or the people living in poverty to the people in the book that are classified as “grubs”. It’s a possible piece of hope that something could be done to prevent what the book demonstrates that could realistically happen.