The Dystopian Dickens: Expectant of Hard Times

As part of this thesis, the novel Expectant will parody different elements of two of Charles Dickens’ novels with their dystopian, futuristic setting. Expectant replicates the themes of disappointment and emotional deprivation from Great Expectations (1860-61), and dehumanization and the struggle between fancy and reason from Hard Times (1854). The parody will draw parallels from the plotlines, characters, and symbols of these novels to further cement the similarities of the themes employed with themes popularized more recently by novels of the dystopian genre. The mission of the project is to sell the novel, Expectant, to publishers on the basis that is it competitive in a dystopian-driven young adult literary market and that, through the parody of Dickens, it offers a different perspective on dystopian literature that will generate interest within the intended target audience