Analysis Of 10 Futures By Michael Pryor

Imperfections are inextricable from human nature. In Michael Pryor’s 10 Futures, the protagonist Tara accentuates her compelling, believable attributes when she encounters and surmounts arduous challenges. Pryor manipulates various literary techniques including diction, imagery and repetition, inevitably developing a blank canvas into a character with verisimilitude. Manifest in 2090, Tara’s physical and psychological adversities, precipitated from identity theft and family divorcement, catalyses her character development in a dystopian environment.
Tara's moral dilemma and rebellious yet intelligent dispositions are apparent when she uses a false identity, discovering Matteus committing “identity theft”. During a “sunny, sunny midnight”,
Tara believes she divorced her parents, who “love the past, hate the future”, in a “totally rational, intellectual fashion”. The contrast and diction between “love” and “hate” and colloquialism with “totally” accentuates her arrogance. Furthermore, “Tara doesn’t hate her parents. She irritates them, they irritate her”. The caesura and parallelism with “she irritates them, they irritate her” conveys Tara’s emotional sentiment. The rhyme between “hates” and “irritates”, the irony and repetition of “irritate” amplifies her condescension causing the divorce. Moreover, the diction with Tara who “shoves her hands in her pockets” and “slouches against the wall” illustrates an unambiguous image of Tara being uncomfortable, amplifying her ironic statement and austere relationship with her parents. Conversations between Tara and her parents were minimal; she says to her imperturbable dad, “there’s nothing to tell”. The short syntax of Tara’s “automatic” response elicits an awkward, tense atmosphere. Manifestly, Tara’s family visit was another physical and psychological struggle, aggravating her moral dilemma. By implementing contrast, colloquialism, irony, caesura, parallelism, syntax and imagery, Tara’s selfish and arrogant dispositions and estranged relationship with her parents precipitates a protagonist who is relatable and enthralling to an adolescent