Contemporary female-centred dystopian fiction An analysis of Naomi Alderman’s The Power (2016) and Leni Zumas’ Red Clocks (2018) compared to Margaret Atwood’s canonical The Handmaid’s Tale (1985)

Abstract

This thesis aims to analyse two contemporary female-centred dystopian novels, namely Leni Zumas’ Red Clocks (2018) and Naomi Alderman’s The Power (2016) and compare them to Margaret Atwood’s canonical The Handmaid’s Tale (1985). The comparison will be based on grounds of religious elements, the narration and young adult characteristics. Religion has proven to be important to all three books, although in different ways. Similarly, there are both similarities and differences in the narration of the three novels, which can partly be related back to the intended audience of these works. Lastly, the characteristics of young adult dystopian fiction are studied, as this subgenre has become incredibly popular over the past decade, but also is in many ways very similar to female-centred dystopian fiction. By combining these three elements, this thesis aims to provide a first insight into how female-centred dystopian literature has changed over the past thirty years. This leads to the major conclusions that Atwood’s work is still very canonical and influential in the modern society, as links between her work and The Power and Red Clocks are everywhere; both in the texts, reviews, and in how these books are marketed. Secondly, both The Power and Red Clocks provide more diverse perspectives than The Handmaid’s Tale. Both recent books make use of multiple, very diverse perspectives, whereas The Handmaid’s Tale was narrated and focalized by a single protagonist. This ensures that both The Power and Red Clocks are readable and relatable for a far larger and more diverse audience and can therefore spread their message to a larger amount of people.