Dystopian World In Heather Lindsley's Just Do It

In Heather Lindsley's “Just Do It”, we understand that the main character, Alex, lives in a dystopian world. Alex begins in the short story as a strong rebel who works to destroy the system that is governing her society: bio-chemically induced advertisement. She desperately tried to avoid the gun being pointed at her in the beginning, running, hiding and even trying to dissuade the shooter by “pulling the zipper at the high neck of [her] jumpsuit [...] stoping just shy of revealing cleavage”, therefore even using her own body as a weapon to avoid getting shot by the darts (358). However, in the end of the short story, Alex is also presented with a similar scene, but in turn, she is the one behind the gun. She mercilessly points her behaviour

modification gun at her own son. This turn of events is what makes this short story dystopian, Alex loses her will to fight the system—though it is forced upon her—and instead becomes part of what she was fighting against.
Moreover, a dystopian aspect that ties into Alex becoming what she fights against: losing ones ability to make our own decisions.

The entire story's main focus is the loss of freedom caused to the government allowing the use of CraveTech—yet we can suspect the government has also been influenced in some way by the company. The dart is injected in people using a gun and the effected area becomes very itchy, “the scratching releases a flood of chemicals that create a powerful and specific food craving” (358). As described in the story, these darts release a really strong chemical and completely alter the victim. For example, Alex start by describing the french fries that she is craving as “disgusting, nasty”, however as the chemical start taking effect on her, she describes it as “tasty delicious french fries” (358). Even an old man shit in the arm with a dart becomes is at the mercy of the craving induced in him, yelling “How can you be out of fish sandwiches?!”, frustrated and unable to make a decision of his own about his craving (359). Alex is also victim of a behaviour modification and is forced to marry the CEO of the company she was working against—though it is unclear if she would have done so without external help. Alex and the people living in this society do not have control over these cravings and are living at the mercy of CraveTech.
Decision making is a big part of the freedom we have as humans and so is being able to express ourselves. This story is considered dystopian because we lose those freedoms, we lose touch with ourselves and most importantly, we are unable to make our own decisions. They are no longer individuals, but a collective

society.