New Fiction Idea #14

This was somehow inspired by having to read and discuss part of The Communist Manifesto in class. (Also, I'm totally imagining Russia lingering over "In proportion as the antagonism between classes within the nation vanishes, the hostility of one nation to another will come to an end" with a sort of (*0*) face and interpreting it to mean it would make everyone friends with him... Anyway.)

Title: Backbone (could be changed)

Genre: U/Dystopian Fiction

Protagonist: Hannah Sherman, a seventeen-year-old blonde who's a bit underfed but very strong from the harsh work she endures. She's a bit of a tired cynic who very much wishes she could just create guitar music but knows she has no chance and thus buckles down for her farm work.

Other Main Characters: Ian Cariaga, a twenty-something man with dark hair and a pale complexion. He is tall with an unimpressively average build, acts a bit feverish in general, and will avoid work whenever possible.
Corey Fisher, a nineteen-year-old male with hazel eyes and dark brown hair. He's the same height as Hannah and rather bony. He's a whiz at composing music, and he's usually quite light-hearted, but he holds a grudge against the government.

Antagonist: The government? (Yay, dystopia.)
Everyone Hannah meets in her journey could potentially be a threat if they bring her up too often, even if they give her a lot of help and aren't themselves suspicious of her.

Setting: Hannah has grown up working in the intolerably difficult fields of Gherrum, around no known family and few good friends. The heat can get extreme, there is almost no health service, there are no excuses not to work, and an air of hopelessness hangs over the place. Completely unknown to the field workers, factory workers miners, etc. is a great state to the north, Fyllan. With those below supporting them materially, they are free to do anything. There are no families, only communities; whatever one's passion is is what that person does, where in the state they live, and who they are. People draw inspiration from others in their group and are free to move from group to group as they please (although if they can't find one they like enough... things can get bad for them). It's overall an extremely pleasant place full of fulfilled dreams and all that good stuff.

Plot: Ian, one of the lucky chosen from birth to be raised in Fyllan, is a bit mentally off and, more importantly, wholly undedicated to work. After many missed opportunities, he suddenly disappears from his latest community and is transported to Gherrum. In the much stricter environment, it is impossible for him to continue to be unproductive, but he still complains like nothing else—this and his instability combined allow few to listen to him. Hannah, however, does—and one day Ian manages to tell her about Fyllan. Hannah is inspired to escape there and live out her dream. She manages it somehow, joining with the community of musicians (which has subdivisions, of course, but we need not get into that yet) and very much befriending Corey. Still, the shadow of her birth determination to Gherrum hangs over her, and she must face several issues before she can enjoy her guitar work in peace.

Point of View: Third person, limited to Hannah.

This actually seems to have combined with an idea written for a Scribes meeting. I don't mind that.

I'm not sure exactly which way the plot goes once Hannah gets to Fyllan, aside from her being in hiding somewhat, but this is in its earliest stages. Any comments or suggestions are welcome, as always.