Never Let Me Go dystopia: (n) an imaginary place or condition in which everything is bad

Dystopian Literature When we think about the dystopian novel, what first comes to mind is often George Orwell's Nineteen- Eighty-Four. Published in 1949; he prophesied the advent of a flawless totalitarian society, in which the individual is of literally no significance.

Dystopian Literature Aldous Huxley's Brave New World Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 Cormack McCarthy’s The Road Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood Douglas Coupland’s Generation A

Why Read It? The critic Bernard Richards once said 'dystopias are useful; they warn us about what might happen'.

This seems fair enough; you can finish a copy of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and breathe a sigh of relief, safe in the knowledge that you don't live in the repressive state of Gilead in which the sole functions of women are to please men and make babies. Even if you happen to be a man.

The dystopian novel is a comforter to the human psyche; we like to read about death and corruption, as long as we know that it can't happen to us. Or do we?

Could we all awaken one morning to find our bank accounts mysteriously cancelled? The world a changed, oppressive place? Maybe, and perhaps it is this that compels us to read dystopias; they provide a spark of danger in our otherwise mundane lives.

Two Main Types of Dystopian Dregs… 1) Nasty Things Happen but Everything Turns out Right. This plot is followed in LP Hartley's 1960 novel Facial Justice, in which the heroine, Jael 97, beats the Establishment at its own game and everyone lives happily ever after.

Two Main Types of Dystopian Dregs… 2) Nasty Things Happen but Despite Everyone's Best Efforts the Establishment Wins. An example of this scenario can be seen in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World of 1932, in which babies are created in bottles, meaningful relationships are obsolete and in the end John... no, best not give that away. Suffice it to say, that the novel's conclusion is suitably depressing. Most authors of dystopian novels choose this option.

Common Concepts As with plot, almost all dystopias deal with the same fundamental concepts. Of these, the most common include: – The Status of the Individual – The Nature of Power – Communication

The Status of the Individual In a word - low. The individual is of little, if any consequence, the desire being for uniformity within society.

The Nature of Power There is some variation here. The seat of power in a dystopian society can rest with an individual corrupt dictator or a corrupt governmental entity, but the effect is much the same; the individual is crushed and freedom curtailed.

Communication Poor, artificial, stilted; these are all words that could apply to communication in a dystopian novel. Communication is just another method of control in the dystopian society.

Never Let Me Go A Dystopian Novel Set in a slightly skewed version of contemporary England, in which people are produced to provide ‘donations’ to the general public. Follows Kathy H and her childhood at Hailsham school…Kathy H

Plenary What sort of expectations do you have for the plot of Never Let Me Go, given what you know about dystopian literature?