The Year of the Flood
makes us question if our society is heading towards the deadly epidemic that
swept over the people of this book. While it’s true that a lot of us have
started to become increasingly aware of the problems going on with our consumerist
society, why have no concrete actions been taken? Many think that nothing can
be done; no real solution can ever appear, so why bother? Even while reading The Year of the Flood, there is a sense
of futility. Most of the people that live in the HelthWyzer compound are
oblivious to the problems going on, and when other people do attempt change,
such as Bernice and all the other protesters, they are simply killed off. People are indoctrinated to believe the Corporations are perfect and to live outside the compound's safe haven would be hell.
What makes people so compliant to follow the rules of society?
One of the main issues is our educational system. Even in the Atwood's book, there is a strong parallel between the impact of two very different educational systems, one that resembles more to the one we use in North America, and one that is more hands on education, tailored to specific needs. In the HelthWyzer compound, children go to high school and college, and when they do not make it into prestigious jobs among the numerous branches of the Corporation, they get sent into the pleebs or into other mundane jobs. That is not too different than schools we go to today. The main problem with our educational system, and that of the HelthWyzer compound, is that students learn to conform and obey. There is no need to find an answer that does not fit within the choices of A B C D. Children are afraid of going below the "average" range of standardized testing, because they are always told that to be below could be detrimental to their education and therefore their futures.
We are not teaching students to cooperate with one another, to think creatively, to think about ways to improve the world we live in. No. We are teaching them to listen to ONE single person standing in front of them. Teachers often joke that classes are dictatorships, but we all know it is no joke. What were to happen if we taught our children more hands on skills, like the Gardeners of Atwood's novel? The Gardeners teach their children the necessary skills to be able to fend for themselves, how to be part of a prosperous eco-system instead of trying to be dictators of the beings. At the end of the day, the Gardeners adapt the schooling of their young to teach them skills that they can actually apply to their lives, instead of just enforcing results in standardized exams. They have better adapted to their reality, unlike the HelthWyzer compound, and actually worry about the future of their children.
However, there are flaws in the Gardener's educational system too. By the end of the book, only a small amount of individuals survived. It is clear that the Gardeners were not able to fully survive and were slowly falling to the Waterless Flood. They also had very narrow minded educations that only focused on certain limited aspects and refused to see outside out of their groups and ideas.
There needs to be a serious reform in our educational system, not an extreme overthrow to the other side of the spectrum. There needs to be right balance between the Gardeners teaching methods of practical skills and teaching the standard theory of subjects found in regular school systems.
Educating the young to obey their teachers, and inevitably the government, is not the only problem in our society. What are some of the other factors as to why people willingly follow? Do you think education is one of the problems?
Works Cited
Image 1: "What Does School Really Teach Children?" January 18, 2013. Knowledgeoftoday.org. Web. May 3, 2014
Image 2: "Benefits of Homeschooling?" February 2014. Bruggietales.blogspot.ca. Web. May 3, 2014
