At risk of a dystopian future : a literary exploration of trauma within present-day and futuristic contexts

Abstract

The objective of this dissertation is to explore the various ways in which authors of dystopian fiction engage with the notion of trauma, with my analysis focusing on Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go and Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake. I aim to show the ways in which these writers are not only able to imagine futuristic traumatic scenarios, but also how they use the trauma of their characters to bring to light issues that are pertinent in today’s day and age. To this end, the first chapter will discuss the idea of collective trauma by focusing on the oppressed group of clones in Never Let Me Go, while the second chapter will hone in on the individual trauma of the three main characters in Atwood’s Oryx and Crake. In the third chapter I aim to tackle the issue of bioengineering, a notion that operates at the heart of both novels. We live in a world of constant advancements in the fields of science and technology; in view of this, I aim to demonstrate how Atwood and Ishiguro effectively construct new worlds based on the negative repercussions of such advancements. More importantly, what they are envisioning may perhaps not be too far off from our own world; given that ‘lived dystopias’ may already be in existence in parts of our world, Ishiguro and Atwood thus make us question whether we are contributing to a dystopian future for mankind from which there may be no possibility of return. In light of this possible risk, this dissertation explores what insight these novels might provide regarding the crucial question of whether it is possible to survive in the traumatic environment of a dystopian world.