Dystopian Literature: The Hero's Journey

The idea of the heroine’s journey is a largely undiscussed topic in critical literature. Books that touch on the subject focus more on the implications for women to feel empowered and less on the actual character development arc and how that arc is affected by the character’s gender. Similarly the field of young adult dystopian fiction is still largely unexplored and still developing. By looking at the character of Tally Youngblood one can see that her journey subverts conventional views of a heroine’s journey. Through Tally, the Uglies trilogy invites readers to think about how, in YA dystopian fiction, female characters face internal struggles that are mirrored by the external challenges they face. This is important because the target audience

The theory has been around since 1972 and the publication of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Since its publication the idea coined by Campbell has been applied to an inordinately large number of texts both modern and classic. The largest problem with analyzing modern texts with this concept as a foundation was that it was initially published only to chronicle the arc of the hero. The theory is primarily based off of classic texts with mainly male protagonists and relies heavily on looking to the past for examples of the hero’s journey instead of looking at modern examples. Modern dystopian fiction in particular conflicts with this theory. Firstly these texts have new themes and problems that could not have been predicted by Campbell’s original theory that focused so much on historical literature. Second, and most importantly, a large number of young adult dystopian fiction features female protagonists. These female characters have entirely different struggles that are interwoven with their gender and the conflicts that arise because of it. This text is still important to the critical conversation as it started the discussion and theory that the hero of a story follows a specific arc that is mirrored throughout texts but needs to be analyzed more for the ways in which it no longer works and less for the merits of the original

Westerfeld seems unable to go a chapter or two without having Tally fall or jump off of something. But, these falls aren’t just exciting events to get the story moving again. They all come at pivotal moments in the story when Tally has a big decision to make or a huge challenge to take on. Some falls mirror the struggles and triumphs that Tally faces later, providing foreshadowing and a physical representation of an abstract concept. The external conflict, trying to save herself by jumping off of something, represents the internal conflicts Tally is facing. She takes every risk because of her guilt and is not hesitant to throw herself off of a building to make up for what she believes she has done. Tally’s first fall off of Garbo mansion at the beginning of Uglies serves as a catalyst to the rest of her adventures. Even this early on, when Tally has not betrayed anyone and still believes in the city and everything it means, Tally still throws herself off of Garbo mansion in order to get away because Peris doesn’t want her to get caught. Even this first jump is motivated by Tally’s guilt, she feels bad that Pretty, perfect, Peris is worried about her. She has to get away to make up for risking herself in order to see Peris because he didn’t want her too. She cares about getting away too it’s a matter of self preservation but she is largely motivated by her guilt. She risks herself even more by relying on the city that she knows she can