“Without the despair of loss there is no hope.” An analysis of Collins’s Hunger Games trilogy and Lowry’s The Giver.

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to show that dystopias, in particular YA dystopias, despite the disrupted reality they represent, and partly because of it, are infused with a hopeful feeling. This might explain why this genre is so fascinating to young readers. The work is divided into four chapters. The first one starts from the political concept of utopia in order to demonstrate that the concept of dystopia directly derives and opposes to it. Starting from the political standpoint, the discussion then moves toward a definition of literary dystopia and the genre is analysed in its different phases and its main characteristics. The second chapter is entirely dedicated to the thematic analysis of classic dystopias such as Orwell’s Nineteen-eighty-four, Huxley’s Brave New World and Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Studying these texts seems indeed essential to the understanding of the genre and of more recent novels based on the same literary tradition. The third chapter compares classic and YA dystopias from a narratological point of view with constant textual reference to the novels taken into consideration. The main aim of this section is to look for a common pattern in the use of plot elements and narrative structures. Chapter four consists of a textual analysis of Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy and Lowry’s The Giver in light of the considerations made in the previous chapters. The focus of this final part is in particular on the thematic innovations brought to the genre by these YA dystopias.