Theme Of Delirium By Lauren Oliver

Delirium is a novel about a dystopian society written by Lauren Oliver, published in 2011. It is about a young girl, Lena Haloway, who falls in love in a society where love is seen as a disease, called Deliria. The story is set in Portland, Maine, the year 2091. Civilization is fixed in cities that had escaped deadly bombings, called the Blitz. The government came out with a “cure”, or a procedure that strips people of love and emotion. Before Lena could have her procedure, she catches deliria when she fell in love with Alex. In Lauren Oliver’s novel, Delirium, the theme is that love can make us do dangerous things and set different priorities, but without it there will be no genuine emotions, therefore it fuels our momentum or passion for …show more content…
For example, when Oliver is describing the violence during a raid, she proclaims that “People are shoving, pulling, using one another as shields...The dog has got his jaws around my calf...Alex must have pulled me to safety...I know that I must be slowing Alex down, but he doesn’t let me go, not for a second.” (Oliver 217-219). This is relevant because of the danger that Alex was put in to save Lena. Because Alex loved Lena, he was put into a dangerous situation that could have possibly ended his life. Just like taking a bullet for someone, he was taking the risk of losing his life for Lena just to try to save her. To add on, when Lena finds out that she’s slowing Alex down and that he doesn’t let go, that means that his love for her motivates him to keep her protected at all costs. He could have run to save himself …show more content…
For instance, Delirium states,“I watched them come to her, to bring her to the labs; I sat in a corner, terrified, while she spits and hissed and kicked...In the end, my sister was cured. She came back to me gentle and content” (Oliver 175). This reveals that her sister did not want to be cured. She was acting violent and tried to protest against them by kicking and yelling because she wanted to keep herself in the state she was, which is with deliria, or love. After she was cured, she appeared to be at ease and calm. Before her love was taken away she was freaking out and being very violent about the cure, but after, she was emotionless. The cure took away not only her love but her passion and her connection to others. Love can cause pain, such as heartbreak, and it can also cause affection for something, like having feelings for someone. Now that her sister cannot feel such things, she can’t feel sympathy for someone and hold them close, she can’t find love even in who she marries, and she can’t have a true connection to her children, neighbors, or parents. Love is what holds those things in its