From Girls on Fire to Mothers on Fire: Family and Female Heroism in Young Adult Dystopian Literature

Abstract

The thesis analyses the gender roles of female heroes who appeared in young adult dystopian literature during the time period of the late 2000’s and the early 2010’s when the genre’s popularity grew substantially, and female protagonists became common in the genre. Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games (2008), Stephenie Meyer’s The Host (2008), and Rick Yancey’s The 5th Wave (2013) serve as primary material of this thesis. The novels’ female heroes represent the typical Girl on Fire protagonists who emerged in young adult dystopian literature during the time period that this thesis studies. The thesis examines how the female heroes of these novels both challenge and conform with traditional gender roles. The thesis identifies patriarchal patterns related to the themes of family, motherhood, nurture, and self-sacrifice that are common to all three novels, and studies how these themes affect the female protagonists’ agency and heroism. The theoretical framework of the analysis consists of feminist literary criticism and genre studies on young adult dystopian literature.

The analysis identifies multiple patriarchal patterns which were common in Girl on Fire narratives. Among these is the recreation of a traditional nuclear family which consists of the female hero, her male love interest, and her younger sibling. The female heroes’ storylines are defined by a journey to recreate a stable family unit, and their stories often end in happily ever after. Additionally, the analysis concludes that most, if not all, of the protagonists’ heroic actions are motivated by their family and, most importantly, by their maternal roles and the promises made to their younger siblings. The female protagonists’ heroism is defined by maternal self-sacrifice and ethics of care. The thesis argues that these patriarchal patterns limit the female heroes’ agency.

The thesis contributes to the study of the Girl on Fire phenomenon and the history of the young adult dystopian genre. It observes how the genre began to move towards diversity, but how its new female heroes were still affected by the patriarchal patterns identified in the analysis. The study concludes that Girls on Fire paved the way for the diversity of contemporary young adult dystopian literature.