Dread Nation

Throughout Dread Nation, the novel depicts a complicated relationship between religion and the oppression of other people. Ireland uses characters like Pastor Snyder and the Survivalist Mayor Carr to highlight how those in power use the Bible and Christian beliefs to justify the oppression of Black and Indigenous Americans.

At the beginning of the novel, Jane admits that she “ain’t a very good Christian” (13), and she has an apparent distrust of religious entities. Miss Duncan mentions how preachers insist that sins “of one sort or another, that have caused this plague upon [their] soil” (47-48). However, as a clever girl who has a mind for scientific discoveries, Jane expresses skepticism at this thought. Still, Miss Duncan’s comment sets the stage for the Survivalist idea that humans caused the shambler uprising because they did something to displease God.

According to Jane, the Survivalists believe that “the continued existence of humanity depends on securing the safety of white Christian men and women—whites being superior and closest to God—so that they might ‘set about rebuilding the country in the image of its former glory’” (64). In short, the Survivalists are a regressive political group who believe that America would be better off enacting a racist social hierarchy and the return of slavery.