The Use Of Parody In Jasper Fforde's Shades Of Grey

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Jasper Fforde’s novel, Shades of Grey, transports the reader hundreds of years into the future where the world is an alarmingly different place. The novel, set in Chromatacia, is centred on a society in which continuous stability is the primary concern. The novel is set approximately 500 years into the future, after the ‘something that happened’. In the novel, it is never revealed what this event was, however it is portrayed as a disastrous event. This is reiterated by the naming of the past as ‘the previous’. Shortly after this ‘something that happened’ there was an ‘Epiphany’ and the beginning of the New Order. This language implies that the new society was aimed to be free from problems, and be solely happy, however the irony in this is …show more content…

He uses exaggeration throughout the novel to draw attention to the absurdity of life in Chromatacia. In relation to exaggeration, Fforde uses parody to highlight issues in our own society. Parody is defined as being a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious writing or thing, therefore Fforde demonstrates the ridiculousness of our own culture through exaggerating these elements.

The novel is centered on two chararcters, Eddie Russett and Jane. Eddie is a red, who has high colour perception. He has been sent to the Outer Fringes to conduct a chair census, a what he believes to be a punishment for pulling a prank on the Head Prefect’s son. Jane is a grey who lives in the Outer Fringes, she is involved in corruption through her participation in the illegal colour swatch market, and pushes the boundaries of thinking within …show more content…

High Saffron is one of the locations that people are sent to for “reboot”, a supposed reconditioning and teaching of people who are not living according to the rules set out, however when there Eddie discovers the fact that the people are in fact killed. The government has solved any problems of people not conforming by killing them. This demonstrates the true oppression and harsh regime that is existent. This is not unlike other speculative texts, where any person who is an obstacle to the goal is

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