Waste Relations in Young Adult Literature

Abstract

This thesis investigates the representations of waste relations in young adult literature, using Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games Trilogy, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Gemma Malley’s The Declaration, and Catherine Sinclair’s Uncle David’s Nonsensical Story about Giants and Fairies. It discusses the consequences that evolve from contemporary notions of waste relations, the ways we define waste, and what boundaries we place to keep from being labeled ‘waste.’ In particular, I argue that a close analysis of these young adult literature novels reveals a distinct relation between the characters and waste, a relation that revolves around dirt and ultimately skews perceptions of individual characters.