Rie of Passage in YA Dystopian Novels: The Hunger Games & The Giver

This thesis aims to define and establish the use and effects of the rite of passage into adulthood in dystopian literature for children and young adults. In accordance with the recent rise in popularity of dystopian fiction in both literature and film, the focus is on one of the first children’s novels of the genre, The Giver by Lois Lowry, on its three sequels, and on one of the most prominent trilogies in recent years, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. The typical characteristics of dystopian novels have been established, and a comparative analysis of the novels in focus has been performed to reveal if and how they display differences in that respect. In the next step the stages of the rites of passage into adulthood have been explored and applied in the analysis of the novels under examination to establish their influence on the protagonists and their actions. It has been established that the protagonists move from one stage to the other and that in each stage they face the negative aspects of their dystopian environment and of the literary world they belong to. The consequences of their respective fictional societies become obvious in the final stage of the rites of passage into adulthood. It can be concluded that the protagonists abandon their rite of passage either to change their society and current order of social relationships or to eradicate it in attempt to replace it with a more tolerant society founded on awareness and free choice.Glavni je cilj ovoga rada definirati i utvrditi prisutnost i ulogu obreda prijelaza iz djetinjstva u zrelost u distopijskoj književnosti za djecu i mlade. Prateći nedavni porast popularnosti sadržaja distopijske tematike, kako u književnosti, tako i u filmu, težište je na jednoj od prvih knjiga za djecu koja sadrži elemente navedenoga žanra – Davač, američke autorice Lois Lowry. U obzir se uzimaju i preostale tri knjige u serijalu, u svrhu usporedbe. Druga je knjiga u žarištu jedna od najistaknutijih trilogija posljednjih godina, Igre gladi autorice Suzanne Collins. U radu se razmatraju obilježja zajednička distopijskim romanima te se provodi poredbena analiza navedenih djela kako bi se utvrdile njihove razlike u odnosu na utvrđena obilježja distopijskoga romana. U sljedećem koraku analiziraju se pojedine faze obreda prijelaza iz djetinjstva u zrelost, kako bi se uočili trenutci prijelaza protagonista iz jedne faze u drugu te promatrao utjecaj obreda na glavne likove, njihove odluke i živote. Prijelaz protagonista u novu životnu etapu iznosi na vidjelo negativne utjecaje distopijskih obilježja književnoga svijeta i okoline koja okružuje likove. Posljedice negativnih utjecaja vidljive su zadnjoj fazi prijelaza te se dolazi do zaključka da protagonisti i ne dovrše u cijelosti prijelaz započet obredom, u onom smislu u kojemu je on zamišljen u fikcionalnom svijetu. Protagonisti napuštaju proces kako bi promijenili društvo i trenutačni poredak ili ga u potpunosti onesposobili i zamijenili slobodnijim poretkom