Year of the Flood: Post 1
The first thing immediately notice about Year of the Flood, is the power that it wields compared to the Hunger Games. I think that although the Hunger Games was technically a protest piece of literature, it was largely a novel meant to sell and entertain a wide audience, ranging from pre-teens to adults. Year of the Flood on the other hand is much more direct and conveying with it’s political messages. A large part of this is because it’s far more frightening because of its realism. The dystopia that the book is set in is fueled by monolithic corporatism and corporate takeover of civilian life. Given the recent political trend of structuring government to support or give corporations more (a largely neoliberal agenda) that is exemplified in legislation and court rulings such as the Citizens United decision.
Uncanniness occurs when something is very close to reality, but slightly different. Magaret Atwood’s dystopia is uncanny because our future may not be far off. Because of this Atwood is able to use fear as a very powerful tool in her literary arsenal to sway readers of her agenda.
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2 Comments
caroline
November 3, 2013I agree with you about the cold realism of the Year of the Flood in comparison to the Hunger Games. Though I loved the Hunger Games, much of it did feel like just another young adult novel. The Year on the Flood, on the other hand, is uncomfortably realistic. No one knows how to do dystopia like Atwood, which I know from also reading the Handmaid’s Tale.
Cynthia Perez Beltethon
November 3, 2013Like Caroline, I agree that the Year of the Flood, while a work of fiction is extremely realistic. I wrote about how Toby’s experiences as a woman is not unlike that of sex workers (and women in general) in the United States today.