Girls On Fire: Gender And Disability In The Hunger Games And Divergent
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2016
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English and Languages
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Doctor of Philosophy
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This item is made available by Morgan State University for personal, educational, and research purposes in accordance with Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Other uses may require permission from the copyright owner.
Abstract
This dissertation analyzes gender and disability in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Divergent by Veronica Roth. The heroines challenge gender norms in their societies, being successful in revising gender norms during their cultures' the rebellions, yet conforming to the established heterosexual patriarchal norms after the rebellions end. These trilogies collapse gender binaries and have empowered female characters who resist traditional gender scripts. They also show characters who deviate from established gender norms, and in doing so, these characters prove that one's gender is not static, nor does it have to be controlled by dominant social proscriptions. However, the female rebels are ultimately contained through a traditional dichotomy: conform to established gender norms or die. The trilogies also engage issues of ability/disability. The trilogies use three main models of disability in healing the physical and mental disabilities of the characters: the medical model of disability, the social model of disability, and collective memory. At one level, the societies rely on medicine to heal physical injuries and to understand genetic and cognitive “differences.” However, the trilogies pose the social model of disability as a better solution as the societies understand and accept difference ultimately to accept everyone as they are. Finally, individual remembering and the collective memory help the characters, and even the readers, to confront the horrible events of the past in a hope that the characters can find a way to survive trauma. Since Katniss and Tris are female rebels, their societies also use healing strategies that feminize them. They are repeatedly confined and isolated, usually after injury. Because these heroines continue to rebel after being released from confinement, their societies present them with the ultimatum either to conform or to die. Katniss marries and has children. Tris dies because she refuses to be feminine. The endings of marriage and death undermine the advancements that the heroines make in challenging gender norms. The conclusion of this project suggests that contemporary young adult dystopian novels provide necessary analyses of gender and disability in our current society. These novels aid young adult readers in facing the stark realities of key issues in their lives, and encourage them to discover what they can do to make a difference in their own lives and in the lives of others.