At io9 Lauren Davis named ten of science fiction’s most depressing futuristic retirement scenarios, including:Being murdered by your government: This is a pretty common scifi scenario for the elderly, especially the elderly who live in fascist societies (often disguised as false utopias). Sometimes, the dying part is a bittersweet occasion; in Ally Condie's Matched, your death day is a party attended by your family and you die with the taste of cake on your lips. Other times, you're mislead about what's going to happen; in Lois Lowry's The Giver, you think you're headed off into the wildernessRead about another entry on the list.(which, granted, has a bit of a "being sent off on an iceberg" feel to begin with), only to die on the end of a needle. Often, it's a question of economics — the society decides that the elderly are of no use, so why not make more resources for other people? (In V for Vendetta, thugs murder nursing home residents simply to open up more beds.) Soylent Green goes one step further, convincing the elderly to seek euthenasia so that the government can process their bodies into food for the populace.
V for Vendetta is one of Malorie Blackman's top 10 graphic novels for teenagers.
--Marshal Zeringue
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