Legend

In most dystopian stories, there is a gross power imbalance between the Haves and the Have Nots. Those with power come from a world of plenty, where they want for nothing and enjoy a wide range of privileges. Those without power, however, suffer as a result of this system. Lu constructs a world of inequality to demonstrate the idea that the prosperity of one group is often built upon the suffering of others.

June and Metias live a life of luxury. Their parents were wealthy, Metias and June both earned high scores on their Trial, and Metias’s military title also earned them social standing. They live in the Ruby sector in a high-rise apartment and are far removed from the reality of living on the streets. June, in particular, demonstrates her privilege and contempt for the impoverished people of Los Angeles. She complains about the poor and wonders, “Can’t these street beggars stay a little farther from our jeep?” (20) when she is driven home at the novel's beginning. When she goes undercover and has to live on the streets, she “wonder[s] if [she] can catch the plague from these people, even though [she’s] vaccinated,” because after all, “who knows where they’ve been” (97)?

Day’s family, however, hasn’t had any of the luxuries that June’s family has had. While June wears an extravagant, expensive dress for Metias’s funeral and again at the celebration gala, Day’s mother has to rip up her own clothes to make washcloths for her children. When Day feigns being sick and has to pay to enter the hospital, he remarks that “If [he] was a goddy rich sector boy, [he’d] be admitted without charge. Or they’d send a doctor for free straight up to where [he] live[d]” (26). While people like Day have to pay for medical treatment and plague cures, vaccinations, food, clothing, and medicine are readily available and cater to people like June.

June is so far removed from the reality of living on the streets that she dares to ask Day why he cares so much about getting money. Day replies, “Don’t we all want more money? Can you ever have enough?” (136). He goes on to explain that “money is the most important thing in the world” because “money can buy you happiness [...] relief, status, friends, safety” (136), and in Day’s case, it will buy his brother’s life. June has never wanted for anything, and she doesn’t understand the importance of stability and security because she has never missed them in her own life.

The education system in many countries has come under fire for placing too much importance on standardized testing as a measuring stick of student success. Studies estimate that school-age children in America spend one-third of their school year preparing for some form of standardized testing. Lu uses the Trial and the scores that follow to explore the dangers of placing too much importance on standardized testing and the idea of assigning a numeric value to human life.

June prides herself on her exceptional Trial score. She claims that she has good genes, which is why she did so well, and according to her professors, “better genes make for better soldiers make for better chance of victory against the Colonies” (13). The Republic claims to want to lift up and celebrate the best and the brightest among them, but Day’s story seems to hint at the opposite. Day got the same score as June, but because he is from the poor sector, he is seen as a biological freak that must be dissected and studied. After all, poor children don’t get good Trial scores. The Republic never saw Day as a real human being worthy of protection, and his high score doesn’t protect him in the end but puts a target on his back. Day was too rebellious, and regardless of his score, he doesn’t fit the mold that the Republic has created. June even comments that the Republic must have thought that “it’d be riskier to educate him than to sacrifice his possible contributions to society” (202).

Lu also explores the correlation between scores and a child’s future: a concept closely linked to real-world tests like the SAT and ACT. Higher scores, according to society, correlate to higher chances of success. With a decent score on the Trial, a child will “get to continue on to high school, and then [they’re] assigned to a college” (7), whereas a child with a very low passing score will be forbidden from continuing their education. Instead, they will “join the poor, like [Day’s] family. [They’ll] probably either drown while working the water turbines or get steamed to death in the power plant” (7). Poor Trial scores mean failure, and even though the Trial doesn’t change for children who need accommodations, the test is unfair from the beginning.