Romanticism

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Plot

The story is set in Portland, Maine, in an alternate present. Civilization is concentrated in those cities which escaped the severe bombings of decades past. Travel between cities is highly restricted. Electric fences separate the city from the Wilds--unregulated territory which was presumably mostly destroyed by bombs.

The totalitarian government teaches that love is a disease, amor deliria nervosa, commonly referred to as the delirium. A surgical cure for the delirium has been developed and is mandatory for citizens 18 years old and over. Lena has looked forward to the procedure for years, convinced as she is by the government that love is a horrible disease that must be destroyed from mankind's system.

However, mere months before her scheduled procedure, Lena falls in love with an Invalid (a person over 18 who has not taken the Cure and lives in the Wilds) named Alex. He was born in the Wilds outside the city, and has pretended to be cured in order to live undetected in the city. He offers Lena the means of escape from the procedure that will destroy her ability to love. The two of them would leave the city and live in the Wilds, joining the rebels who oppose the procedure and the government. Although Lena struggles with the thought of leaving her life behind, she ultimately decides to go just seven days before her procedure.

Alex and Lena are discovered meeting together a few nights before their planned escape. Lena is captured and held in her home, tied down and under guard, until she can have the procedure to cure her of her lovesickness--and render her docile and unresisting. Alex rescues her and they attempt to escape the city, but Alex allows himself to be captured and shot on the spot to save Lena. She runs off into the Wilds, not wanting Alex's sacrifice to be in vain.

(from Wikipedia)

Analysis

I first saw this book after I read the book Before I Fall (from the same author). I was really interested by this so I decided to give it a shot. Although this book is classified as a dystopian novel, I still think that this falls under romanticism. There is a spontaneous overflow of a powerful feeling which is love. It is first and foremost a love story. But it isn't just a love story, it did not only focused on romantic relationship. It also tackled how this cure affected Lena's family and friends. It shows how families break without love and how friendships change without love.

In the story people are afraid of love. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen, but with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love. You will see here the things Lena did in order for her to still feel love.