Are the events depicted in the story happening today? Could they happen? Why might a society allow them to happen? I didn't think anything like this...

I agree with
you.  I have always wondered why
novels likeare so popular when I do not think they resemble the
modern world
in any way.

I do not believe they could happen today, at
least
not in the United States.  We are too accustomed to freedom and to
luxuries that I...