History Literature / Matched

* TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong: Lon, a classmate of Cassia's who irritates everyone with his constant questions. Later on she actually comes to appreciate his outspoken nature.

* TomatoInTheMirror: At the end of ''Matched'' Cassia is told that someone put the Abberations into the matching pool, which is how Ky ended up on her microcard. [[spoiler: During ''Reached'' Cassia remembers that it was actually ''her'' that did it.]]

* XanatosGambit: Near the end of the first novel, it's revealed that The Society have known about Cassia's secret relationship with Ky the whole time, and have been using it as an experiment to prove that Matching indeed makes people fall in love, since without it she would never have known Ky. If she had picked Xander, then they would have known that she was willing to obey what was expected of her. Either way, the Society would get what they wanted.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Ky's father associating with the rebels lead the family to be reclassified as Aberrations and moved to the desolate Outer Provinces. When the area was bombed Ky was the only survivor. He was taken away by Society officals before he could bury his parents. Since the memory-wiping [[RedPillBluePill drug]] doesn't affect him, he remembers all of this but can never speak to anyone about it.

* GovernmentDrugEnforcement: The pills everyone carries with them at all times, and are occasionally ordered to take by an offical. The green pill is taken to calm people down, the blue pill is [[spoiler: poison disguised as]] an emergency nutrient, and the red pill [[spoiler: wipes your memory of the past 12 hours.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: As part of Cassia's job as a sorter, she's asked to sort a group of Aberration workers she's studying into two groups based on their efficency. Ky happens to be one of them. While she's watching, she guesses The Society must need the best workers for something else, and also realizes the reason Aberrations tend not to live long is because the chemicals they're made to work with are highly toxic. Cassia moves Ky to the high-efficency group, thinking she's spared him from an early death. The next day the officals comes for Ky, and it's revealed the high-efficency group are being moved to the Outer Provinces to fight The Enemy, which is a garanteed death sentence.
** In ''Crossed'' Cassia gives an Abberation boy some of her blue hydration pills in return for helping her, not realizing [[spoiler: the pills actually cause you to dehydrate ''faster''. She later finds him dead in the canyon, with blue fluid staining his mouth.]]

** It should be noted that while the Offical tried to avoid admitting it, The Society weren't the ones who put Ky's image on the microcard. They more or less just ran with it and spun it whatever way proved their system worked.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Officals wear a white uniform, workers wear blue, students wear brown.

** In ''Crossed'' Cassia gives an Abberation boy some of her blue hydration pills in return for helping her, not realizing [[spoiler: the pills actually cause you to dehydrate ''faster''. She later finds him dead in the canyon, with blue bluid staining his mouth.]]

* GovernmentDrugEnforcement: The pills everyone carries with them at all times, and are occasionally ordered to take by an offical. The green pill is taken to calm people down, the blue pill is [[spoiler: poision disguised as]] an emergency nutrient, and the red pill [[spoiler: wipes your memory of the past 12 hours.]]

* WeWillHaveEuthanasiaInTheFuture: At the end of ''Matched'' Cassia finds out they posion your Eightith Birthday meal, which is how they make sure you die at the age they decided.

* BigBrotherIsWatching: Citizens dreams are monitored on a regular basis.

* AerithAndBob: Character names can vary from Indie and Vick to Sarah, and Catherine.

In [[{{Dystopia The Society}}]], everything is figured out based on statistics. What you eat. Which job you'll do best at. Who your optimum partner for marriage and children is. The Society has even determined the best age for people to die at.

In The Society, everything is figured out based on statistics. What you eat. Which job you'll do best at. Who your optimum partner for marriage and children is. The Society has even determined the best age for people to die at.

* TomatoInTheMirror: At the end of ''Matched'' Cassia is told that someone put the Abberations into the matching pool, which is how Ky ended up on her microcard. [[spoiler: During ''Reached'' Cassia remembers that it was actually ''her'' that did it.]]

* ClingyJealousGirl: [[spoiler: Cassia is not happy about Indie's interest in Xander, even though she (Cassia) is in a relationship with Ky at the time.]]

* SecondClassCitizen: Aberrations, who work menial jobs that slowly kill them, are not allowed to be Matched, and get sent to be targets for The Enemy when The Society decide they're losing the war.

* TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler:In the beginning of ''Matched'', Cassia is told that someone put aberrations into the matching pool. At the end of ''Reached'' Cassia realizes that it was actually her that did it.]]
* WarIsHell

In [[Dystopia The Society]], everything is figured out based on statistics. What you eat. Which job you'll do best at. Who your optimum partner for marriage and children is. The Society has even determined the best age for people to die at. Cassia has always trusted their judgment. A little loss of freedom is a small price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, and the ideal mate.

She's delighted during her Matching Ceremony when it's her childhood best friend, Xander, who appears on screen. But another face flashes on screen for a second, casting Cassia in uncertainty. Now she's beginning to question the perfect life she was once so content to live, and the powers that decided it for her.

She's delighted during her Matching Ceremony when it's her childhood best friend, Xander, who appears on screen. But another face flashes on screen for a second, casting Cassia in uncertainty. Now she's beginning to question the perfect life she was once so content to live, and the powers who decided it for her.

In [[{{Dystopia}} The Society]], everything is figured out based on statistics. What you eat. Which job you'll do best at. Who your optimal partner for marriage and children is. The Society has even determined the best age for people to die at. Cassia has always trusted their judgment. A little loss of freedom is a small price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, and the ideal mate.

* AerithAndBob: Of course Cassia would have a brother named ''Bram''... Oh, let's not forget ''Xander Carrow'' and ''Ky Markham''...
** The sequel adds even more characters whose names are anything from Indie, Vick, and Eli to Hunter, Sarah, and Catherine.
* BettyAndVeronica: [[spoiler: Cassia is Matched with her best friend Xander, but briefly sees the rebel and Aberration Ky on the screen. She is in love with Ky, but is supposed to be with Xander.]]

*** Green - calming.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Ky's father associating with the rebels lead the family to be reclassified as Aberations and moved to the desolate Outer Provinces. When the area was bombed Ky was the only survivor. He was taken away by Society officals before he could bury his parents. Since the memory-wiping [[RedPillBluePill drug]] doesn't affect him, he remembers all of this but can never speak to anyone about it.

* HandsOnApproach: Ky teaching Cassia to write in the dirt on the Hill.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:The Society created a virus as a means of destroying the Enemy, but it eventually mutated into the plague that nearly wiped out the Society.]]

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Ky and Vick [[spoiler:leave all the other decoys behind to die, except Eli,]] when they make a run for it.
* IHaveThisFriend: Indie's story about her mother's failed attempt to escape the Society by boat, which was actually her own doing.
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Ky wants everyone to know he is '''not''' the Pilot and has no interest in ever being the Pilot, thank you very much; he just wants to run away and live peacefully with his girlfriend.
* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: In the name of sparing readers a repeat of the problems with "[[HarryPotter Hermy-own/Her-my-uh-nee]]", let us point out that "Cassia" is pronounced "Kasha."
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler: Xander provides Cassia with supplies so she can go after Ky. Possibly a subversion, since he hides his own Matching statistics inside the pill packages to remind her of him.]]
** What Cassia has in mind when she [[spoiler:sorts Ky into a group of workers designated for a new job. It ends up making things worse for him.]]

* [[spoiler:LaserGuidedAmnesia: What the "red pill" does.]]

* LoveAtFirstSight: Played with. Cassia and Xander's affection has grown over a long time. Seeing Ky on the Matching screen feels like this, since it makes her wonder if they are really that compatible; although she knows Ky already, they don't talk much due to his habit of trying to live as unobtrusively as possible. However, [[spoiler: Ky ''has'' been "noticing" Cassia for several years, ever since he saw her comforting her little brother; it was only Ky's status as an Aberration that kept him from approaching her.]]

* ManlyTears: Cassia is quite touched to see Ky crying during a war film; she only thought the special effects were terrible. [[spoiler: It turns out the carnage onscreen was actually real.]]
* MementoMacGuffin: Some people pass on "Artifacts", old family heirlooms from before the Society was formed. One per person is the limit. Cassia's is a compact [[spoiler: in which she hides the illegal poem her grandfather left to her. Later on, when the Officials decide to take the Artifacts away, it only adds to Cassia's rage against the Society.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler: Nice job sorting Ky into the more efficient group of workers, Cassia, not knowing they will be drafted as soldiers.]]
** And [[spoiler:nice job giving Cassia that supply of (poisoned) blue tablets, Xander.]]
* NoHuggingNoKissing: Cassia and Ky somehow still manage to make the air smolder between them without even touching. [[spoiler: When they do kiss, it's pretty momentous.]]
* NoNameGiven: The boy who runs away from the village with Cassia and Indie. Likewise, the countries that the Society is supposedly at war with is never called anything except The Enemy and the countries past it are only called the Outlands.
* NoSell: [[spoiler:Xander, Ky, and Indie]] are immune to the red tablets. [[spoiler:Cassia]] is immune to the blue tablets.
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: Ky doesn't trust the Rising any more than the society, since his father's revolutionary activity is what got their village destroyed and the Rising never came to help. [[spoiler: He does join, but mostly for Cassia's sake.]]
* NoteToSelf: Cassia writes "Remember" to herself right before being forced to take a red pill to know that she has forgotten something important.

* OrphansPlotTrinket: Ky's compass.
* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: What the Society considers the "matching" ceremony to be, and what was supposed to happen between Cassia and Xander. Cassia's parents count as a straight example.

* TheQuest: At the end of the novel, [[spoiler: Cassia sets out to find Ky.]]
* RedPillBluePill: Essentially, Ky is the red pill and Xander is the blue pill. Also literal, with the pills they give everyone to take.

* SceneryPorn: The descriptions of the Carving, inspired by the canyons of southern Utah where Ally Condie grew up.
* SecondClassCitizen: Aberrations, who work menial jobs, are not allowed to have children or carry emergency tablets.

* StarCrossedLovers: In addition to Cassia and Ky, Vick's BackStory involves him being Reclassified after he fell in love with and secretly married an Anomaly named Laney.

* TallPoppySyndrome: The more competent among the workers are [[spoiler: drafted into the army and sent to war.]] Ky works hard to avoid this by being as average as possible.

* UnluckyChildhoodFriend / VictoriousChildhoodFriend: Xander and Cassia's story could end up either way, depending on how the sequels pan out.

* WeWillHaveEuthanasiaInTheFuture: [[spoiler: Cassia finds out they put poison in the food of the elderly to make sure they die at 80.]]
* WeWillUseManualLaborInTheFuture: The Aberrations package food for the elderly.
* WeWillHavePerfectHealthInTheFuture: The Society even makes sure you eat the proper amount of calories for your weight, height and job.
* WhamLine: "[[spoiler: Xander]] is in the Rising."
* WhatTheHellHero: [[spoiler: Cassia calls Ky out for burning the map that leads to the Rising, taking her choice away from her. He retorts that she did the same thing when she sorted him at the nutrition center.]]

* XanatosGambit: [[spoiler: Cassia's seeing Ky on the screen is revealed to be an experiment to prove that Matching indeed makes people fall in love, since without it she would never have known Ky. If she had picked Xander, then they would have known that she was willing to obey what was expected of her. Either way, the Society would get what they wanted.]]

In [[Dystopia The Society]], everything is figured out based on statistics. What you eat. Which job you'll do best at. Who your optimum partner for marriage and children is. The Society has even determined the best age for people to die at. Cassia has always trusted their judgment. A little loss of freedom is a small price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, and the ideal mate.

A dystopian trilogy (''Matched'', ''Crossed'', and ''Reached'') by Ally Condie, started in 2010 and concluded in 2012. In the {{Utopia}} of the Society, everything is figured out based on statistics. What job you are good at. Where you live. What you eat. People in the society even know exactly at what age they will die, age eighty, which was chosen because of statistics. Who you will marry is determined at your "Matching" ceremony. Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one… until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow.

* BigBrotherIsWatching: He even watches your dreams.

* BreadAndCircuses: As Cassia observes, Citizens are given just enough freedom to keep them too content to rebel.

* ChildSoldiers: Thirteen-year-old Eli and a bunch of others.
* TheChosenOne: Vick and Indie insist that Ky is the Pilot who will lead the Rising to victory against the Society.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: The pills - blue, green, red - and the uniforms. Workers wear blue, students brown, Officials white.

** On a bigger scale, the whole Society functions like this.
* CripplingOverspecialization: One of the tenets of the Society. According to them, the previous society (in other words, now) was overloaded with choices. People only learn what is required for their job, nothing more and nothing less.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Ky and his adopted family, the Markhams. [[spoiler: His father was classified an Aberration after committing an unspecified crime. He grew up in a war zone. His parents died. He now works as a dishwasher. The Markhams' son was killed by an insane killer who escaped from prison (or was let out to teach citizens a lesson, depending on how cynical you are.) Then Ky is conscripted into the army, leaving the Markhams bereft of another son.]] Talk about harsh.
* DueToTheDead: Ky and Vick make a point of burying their fellow soldiers, reciting "Crossing The bar" in lieu of a prayer. [[spoiler: Ky later reveals that his biggest regret is leaving his parents' bodies unburied.]]

* TheEvilsOfFreeWill: Everything in the Society is decided by statistics of your previous actions.
* FieryRedhead: Averted. Cassia is an introvert; even when she does get angry, she mostly keeps it to herself.
** Indie plays it straight. Also, ''Crossed'' retcons Cassia's hair (previously described as "coppery") to brunette.

* FromASingleCell: The Society is attempting to do this, with everyone being required to give a tissue sample after they die so that they can find the secret to immortality.
* FullCircleRevolution: Add the Rising to the list of illustrations of the moral of ''AnimalFarm''.
* FutureImperfect: Zig-zagged. The Society has picked 100 of the best of everything of the past for everyone to know, but they don't know about the rest.

* GovernmentDrugEnforcement: The pills everyone carries with them at all times. The green pill is taken to calm people down and can be taken regularly, and the red pill [[spoiler: wipes your memory of the past 12 hours.]] Also, it is revealed in ''Crossed'' the the blue pill [[spoiler: is poison, not a nutrient pill designed to help keep you alive.]]