The Protagonist's Response to Power and Language in the Dystopian Novel

Abstract

<p>This thesis explores the role of the protagonist in response to power and language in the dystopian novel. I attempt to show that a novel may be classified as dystopian if it fulfills certain factors that posit language and discourse as fundamental devices of power. These three main factors are as follows: the establishment of an official, totalitarian language, evidence of opposing discourses, and the representation of the protagonist as a figure who deconstructs social reality. My primary texts are Yevgeny Zamyatin's We, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.</p>