Traditions of the Future

Okay, so I've been giving a lot of thought to traditions and holidays recently, and I thought today would be a good day to discuss it what with Easter on Sunday and whatnot.

I'm a huge lover of the dystopian genre, and I'm still devouring every dystopian novel I can get my hands on. I've noticed that very few of them make reference to holidays or traditions, and it's caused me to wonder.

When (or If, I suppose some could say) the apocalypse hits, will we abandon those things we hold dear? Will we stop celebrating birthdays or having family traditions that form crucial bonds? It seems to me that when people go through crisis, it's those things that prevail the most, those traditions--those family lines--they cling to the hardest.

I recognize new traditions or ceremonies in dystopian novels (The Reaping in The Hunger Games, for example, or The Matching ceremony in Matched, or the assigning of careers in The Giver).

But what of holidays and traditions we have now? I'd like to think--and hope, perhaps--that even if I functioned under a severely limiting government, that I'd hold my children's birthday celebrations by the light of a candle in the dead of night. That we'd find a way to continue the bonding traditions that build the loyalty and relationships that are needed to endure life in such a society.

Maybe I'm just nostalgic from reading The Little House on the Prairie books with my daughter, where Mary and Laura labor in secret to create Christmas gifts for each other. As part of my childhood, I loved saving and creating simple, secret gifts for my family. And I'd like to think that those kinds of traditions, those kinds of binding events, wouldn't be eradicated in the future, no matter who's in a position of power.

What do you think? Do you see more value in holidays and traditions than simple ceremony?