Write an essay about any aspect of Feed that interests you. You are the speaker. The study of Feed is the occasion. We are your audience. Your purpose is to deepen and expand our understanding of Feed (particularly our understanding of feed as a satirical argument). Feed is your subject. The tone and style are up to you. What approach will work best for your audience and purpose? (SOAPSToneS)
Compose and edit your essay in Google Docs or Word or ....
Copy and paste your essay into the comment box below by midnight Friday.
These essays will go into the Unit Work (formative) part of your grade which counts for 30% as opposed to the End-of-Unit Work (summative) which counts for 70%. It will nevertheless be graded on a 9-point scale using the AP-style analysis scoring guide. Primarily, I will ask myself how effectively does your writing deepen and expand your readers' understanding of Feed?
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Feed Discussion
Each of you participated in a discussion about one section of Feed. You also created a Feed Discussion Google Doc. That document contains:
* Q3-style questions about technology, consumerism, and relationships.
* Discussion preparation: something specific to discuss from each part of Feed.
* Discussion preparation: passage & questions for the part of Feed you were assigned to discuss.
* Connections and ideas you had while listening to the Feed discussions.
Reflection on week of questions, discussion, and essay writing about Feed:
* An explanation of three aspects of Feed that you understand more fully after studying the satirical dystopian novel for a week.
* A response to two ideas or interpretations about in a peer's essay in the comments below.
* A description of one aspect of Feed you would still like to understand more fully and why.
Corporate Influence
ReplyDeleteFeed by M. T. Anderson is a story about a corporate run world. Throughout the book there is clear evidence of the ability that corporations have to control their consumers. With their ability to pinpoint the customers interests and encrypt possible sales into their mind, the corporations are limitless with their influence over society.
Throughout Feed there are events in which the feed is attempting to make a sale to its consumer and is usually successful. A spot in the book that particularly stood out to me was during the “Coke” scene in part three, “Utopia”. In this chapter, “The Real Thing”, Titus and Violet were with all of Titus’s friends and they were trying to take advantage of a Coca-Cola marketing promotion. The promotion was “if you talked about the great taste of Coca-Cola to your friends like a thousand times, you got a free six pack of it”pg.158. The irony in this chapter was even though the characters thought they were taking advantage of Coca-Cola, they ended up becoming thirsty from talking so much about the beverage and going out to purchase a six pack of it. Of course this is what Coca-Cola sought from the promotion and gives a clear representation of where the corporations stand as opposed to the consumers.
Andersons use of intertwining existing corporations into Feed hints at how the control these companies have isn’t fiction and can be found in the present day. There are many company names brought up in the book but Coca-Cola was among one of the only that is an existing corporation in real life. This made me interested in whether Anderson may have been induced to write this chapter due to a Coke promotion he saw or whether he just chose Coke due to its popularity.
Throughout Feed, corporations are able to control society by literally getting inside their head. Anderson conveys his views on corporations in the present day by using existing popular corporate names. Feed relates to the present day in the aspect of corporate influence over society.
Feed explores one of the biggest problems facing mankind: how we respond to technology and integrate it into our lives without destroying humanity. In Moon, the first part of this book, the idea of the feed is introduced. Even the name of this technology shows how humanity has changed. it is called the feed because it is a direct feed of the internet and virtual world into the brain, but it also represents how society has changed. They seem to exist because of this feed, and for the feed. It keeps them alive. It is their “food” for their lives and keeps them connected to the rest of the world. When the feed connects everyone, it seems to streamline their thoughts. People are used to seeing one certain thing that everyone else sees and hears so that they all have similar thoughts, and speech patterns. What is defined as normal is very specific. The feed seems to make their thoughts more shallow and not very insightful, because people’s minds have been bombarded with consumerism and everyone else’s thoughts. Being so connected also drives them to want to assimilate to those around them. This causes them to consume the popular products, use popular words and lose sight of their own personalities. Everyone is desperate for other people’s approval, and the feed allows them to do this on a bigger, global level. Technology also takes away from the detail and richness of human life and communication. There is much more detail and value in a bigger vocabulary, rather than in a streamlined slang vocabulary. Technology puts the aim of language onto slang and common words. This newer way of speaking is like a digital picture compared to a film picture. Film creates pictures on a molecular level showing amazing detail and capturing feeling, while digital photography can only create pictures in as much detail as the amount of pixels the camera and screen have. Digital photography limits photography like slang limits human thinking and society. When this communication is used, it strips away detail and produces communication that is streamlined, flat and lackluster.
ReplyDeleteFeed is a story that is meant to portray an idea. The idea that people can become too attached to technology and that it can start to take the human essence away. To me Feed doesn’t seem so much of a story, rather it feels like a persuasive essay. It uses the idea of the “feed” to show us how attached to technology we are becoming. But the feed exists even today, not built into your head, but at the fingertips of almost anyone. The people who just sit down with their technology, forgetting that they are humans and can talk to one another face to face. Feed also explains who some people understand that it is becoming too much and are trying to take action against it. In the book there are sections that are meant to point out specific aspects of how technology is consuming our lives in different ways. Specifically one section that show this is in Slumberland, chapter 76.2% where Violet sends her memory to Titus. In the memory Violet is practically paralyzed. At the same time, her feedtech customer service representative Nina is explaining to her that feedtech investors have agreed to stop upgrading her feed interface. She goes on to tell Violet that the investors feel that her spending habits aren’t what they are expecting. Violet is devastated and afraid, but is it because of the news about her feed or wondering what will happen to her? However Nina continues to try to pitch sales to Violet like commercials on tv. This passage illustrates two main points that the book is conveying to the reader. One that technology is crippling people, just as Violet was rendered motionless so that the feed to pitch sales to her. This proves to be ironic, because technology is meant to help people become more than they could be, it is meant as a tool where in this case it is the exact opposite, it is harming people and rendering them less of a person in some cases. The second point that this passage is trying to convey in my opinion is that corporations will do anything to pitch an add to you, try to get you to buy a product or invest in something. In this case, they rendered Violet motionless so that they could tell her that she need to spend more. Corporations are allways trying to make an extra dollar off of you and it seems like this passage is trying to convey that message as well. In general the book is trying to convey that technology is reaching a point in peoples lives that it is making them almost less human. The question is, is it true?
ReplyDeleteIn M.T. Andersen's Feed, there are many hints towards society become a place where people are stupid and have no social abilities whatsoever. He does this either subtly or rather obviously, but either way he is showing how technology can ruin human interaction and their ability to learn, by ruining their work ethic and their attention to details. When a computer controls your likes and dislikes while at the same time absorbing all of your time, you forget that there is more to life, like the people around you.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that I found to be interesting in Feed was how M.T. Andersen very subtly hinted at how the Internet can be manipulated rather easily. This comes up most obviously in the second part, Eden. Titus is talking about missing the feed, he talks about how it just makes things so much easier and says "everyone is just supersmart now." This quote is then very quickly contradicted by Titus saying " you can look things up automatic....like if you want to know which battles of the Civil War George Washington fought in and shit." For starters George Washington died right around 1800, and the Civil War started in the early 1860's so Titus claimed everyone was now supersmart but then gets a simple fact regarding United States history completely wrong. And with the Internet being susceptible to hacking, as was just shown by them being hacked. This is a hint to show that maybe the technology is taking it too far and people are actually getting dumber. The other time when this is clear in the story always appears in Eden. This comes on page 49 when Titus is again complaining about the painting of the boat on the wall of the hospital. He is talking about how it is stupid that there is no one on the boat, then says " and the rudder was, well, whatever rudders are." Again Andersen is showing not only the possible stupidity the feed creates but also the overall laziness that it instills on the youth that are influenced by the feed. Another thing that this can hint at is how the people in this society have lost all appreciation of nature and the environment because for them it is obsolete.
Another thing that I picked up on and found to be interesting was on page 54 when Titus was talking about talking. He was explaining how hard it was for him to engage in a conversation with Violet, comparing it to " some kind of brain surgery, and you have to tweak exactly the right part of the lobe" and as if that isn't complicated enough, he goes on to add "it's more like brain surgery with old, rusted skewers and things, like those things you use to eat lobster, but brown." This is an example of how technology can ruin human to human interaction. Talking to someone is not that hard, and should not feel like brain surgery at all, but when you can chat someone is your head and not speak at all, without worrying about hurting someone, saying the wrong thing or embarrassing yourself.
The definition of normal, according to Dictionary.com is, “conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected.” That being established, the specific requirements of being considered “normal” vary dependent upon several factors, primarily upon the expectations that society has set. This within itself is also dependent upon the type of society present, fads that affect it, and varying lifestyles within said society. Because of the lack of set requirements to be considered “normal,” it could be a debatable subject between parties with varying experiences in life. These differences could serve as a core factor in affecting the interpersonal relationships of the involved parties, and as a result push their relationship in a direction of for better or for worse. Within the pages of Feed, by M.T. Anderson, many characters grapple with their very similar, yet drastically varying lifestyles in a society plagued with technological, mental, and emotional expectations that cause tension to arise in the relationships they have amongst themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe two main characters, Violet and Titus, provide prime examples as characters with varying lifestyles, especially concerning their upbringing. Titus, a young man who has grown up with the Feed, resides in a well- off household with a family that is all that he has ever known. He’s just your everyday, average kid in this society. And on the other side, there is Violet, a young woman who grew up in a struggling middle-class household whose parents had to work hard and never experienced the Feed themselves. Violet only had the Feed installed when she was seven, which despite seeming like not to big of a deal, serves as a primary reason why she sees the world much different from Titus. What Titus considers normal, is quite different than what Violet considers normal, as much as she strives to have Titus’ outlook. Titus describes the Feed as a part of him, and uses the comparison on page 47 to emphasize this with his thoughts of external computers as he says, “They carried them around outside of them, with their hands, like if you carried your lungs in a briefcase and opened it to breathe.” In contrast, Violet shares similar views to many of the readers with her definition of normal including the abilities to read and write that she reveals that she has on page 65, “She opened it and pulled out something, which was a pen. She also had paper.” The two examples highlight Titus and Violet’s difference in reliance on technology, and it is this very difference that creates tension later on that leads to a final fight that ends their relationship as Titus reveals his thoughts, “You wanted to mingle with the common people. Just latch on to this one dumbass, and make fun of his friends for being stupid, while all the time, having this little wish that you could be like us... but we have our own problems.” (page 269) The drastic miscommunication is the biased result of different upbringings and values, Titus perceives Violet’s habits as criticisms, when in actuality, she struggles with concepts that battle with all she’s ever known, trying to fit in to conform, as normal. It’s this factor that eventually leads to their downfall.
DeleteLifestyles play a very crucial role as far as personal aspects of a character. However, the society in which they live, and how they deal with it’s expectations also reveal a lot about them. One primary example is the use very early on in the novel of the hacker that gives a virus to many of the characters. The words that he advertises read, “We enter a time of calamity... Children with smiles that can’t be undone...’’ (page 39). All of the characters dub him crazy, which can be appropriately justified because of the mannerism in which he preached. Yet, there may be a method to his madness that no one takes into account pertaining to the calamities that may exist within society and the Feed. Another example of an aspect of their society that may be considered unnatural to us, and also Violet is the cutting down of Jefferson Park in order to make way for more corporated things. Furthermore, Titus’ father attempts to justify this act, provided that oxygen plants will be able to provide the necessities of living, which may be the most “abnormal” thing to us. Violet voices her disagreement on page 125 as she protests, “They cut down Jefferson Park? That is so like corporate-” when she is interrupted again by Titus’ father. Lastly, their society has social expectations that apparently frowned upon originality or anything that went against the norm, which directly affects the interpersonal relationships that Titus and Violet had in their group of friends, when discussing Coke products on page 161. Violet enthusiastically chimes, “It’s like sweet gravel. It’s like a bunch of itsy-bitsy computers running for a shuttle in my windpipe.” These words are quickly followed by immediate judging by the others, which evolves Violet’s desperate want to fit in, yet cannot due to simply being herself.
DeleteSociety is one of the more predominant factors in what is deemed “normal,” yet even it relies upon lifestyles and also fads. Fads within Feed are an element that seem to satirized not only, by the mere ridiculousness of what they are but also by how quickly they fizzle out. Violet, once again serves as a crucial character that the reader will most likely find themselves agreeing concerning this factor. The fads start out early in the novel, as something silly, whether they be animatronic birds that Titus criticizes on page 77, or merely ever changing hairstyles that he acknowledges on page 52. Lesions serve as recurring element, that are the most drastic of the fads. They become popular when actors on the kids’ favorite show begin sporting them. It is revealed on page 183, that they are beginning to be artificially exploited to fit in, or be normal. Quindy goes above and ridiculously beyond, when she has had lesions placed all over her body in an attempt to outshine the Calinda in a jealous fit. This event serves as a prime example of when the necessity to conform becomes unhealthy, not only mentally, but physically as well. Ironically,Violet is the one alienized because of the former judgements made of her in the group, when she reveals the preposterity of the situation in a passionate rant on page 202, “ Look at us! You don’t have the feed! You are feed! You’re feed!... Look at what you’ve made yourselves.”
DeleteViolet has served as a major key element and example in her struggle to conform to the normality that the other characters live in. Her upbringing, morals, and views all go against what she simply wants to believe but cannot as a result of what she considered normal and just. This struggle complicates her interpersonal relationships, not only with a boy she thought she’d connected with, but also with what she saw as the only chance to lead a normal lifestyle. As a result, she died unsatisfied with the disagreements that had occurred. It brings to question; was she right in her endeavors, or was she right in her protests? The answer lies in what you consider to be normal.
DeleteThroughout FEED it is apparent that everyone’s life revolves around this technology. However as their life becomes dedicated to the FEED they care less about their surroundings. Events in the environment and the decimation of the world are unimportant as long as they get those cool new lesions. People are brought up not to worry about the environment or advance civilization for the human race. Instead they are supposed to figure what they want to buy on their feed. Only those like Violet who are not exposed the Feed realize the crude degradation of their world. However Violet is seen as a crazy hipster who uses big words and is rejected because she is different. This whole issue with the environment is relevant to today. People don’t care about what doesn’t immediately affect them or inconvenience them. In the book the author makes little changes to otherwise normal things to show the outrageousness of the situation. Such as the steak farms, but more importantly is the sludge beaches. When Violet and Titus go to the beach they are in suits to prevent contamination and they do normal activities like playing in the sand despite the horrid black sludge that is present in the environment. Besides the environment is the occupation and bombings of Latin America but the populace seems to care more about how they can look meg cool with their riot clothes. While in our current time we occupy and frequently bomb middle eastern countries but many of our people are only interested in how big Kim Kardashian’s butt is or how Honey Boo Boo is a pageant princess. The U.S seems to be more of a warmongering state than now with hostile relations seemingly increased. Although sometimes in our day its a matter of simply not knowing or ignorance. However in the future people seem to know but they just don’t care or simply think it doesn’t matter. The author compares modern to future America and seems to predict the general future of the U.S and its residents. If we continue to rely on technology the way we do then we may very well end up as ignorant idiots being controlled by our desires.
ReplyDeletePeople often associate a longing to be accepted with the teenage years of one’s life. Although it is human nature to want to be a part of something, a contributor to a community, it is a particularly strong desire during adolescence. This is a time when young people are trying to figure out who they are in a world that tells them to be themselves, as long as “yourself” fits what is expected of you. At the same time, teenagers are known to be rebellious and impetuous. They want to be individual, make changes, while simultaneously trying to morph themselves to fit into the box of social acceptance. This universal theme is displayed in M. T. Anderson’s Feed, where he uses characters like Violet and Titus to reflect this internal struggle many young people struggle with today, and faces the reader with the question: Does technology make individuality and acceptance more difficult to achieve in the modern world?
ReplyDeleteTitus and his group of friends are clearly a part of the “in” crowd. They go to parties, visit other planets, follow the latest trends, and entertain themselves by messing with their brain chemistry. They are wealthy, and enjoy the luxury of not having to pay attention to the issues of the world. While the things these characters in Feed do may seem extreme, such as flying to the moon or “malfunctioning”, they are used to send a message about the things teens are doing today. The kids who can afford extravagant trips without making a dent in their wallet, and the kids who take designer drugs are the modern day equivalents to the activities in the book. These are escapes, a way for these teens to relieve themselves from having to face the realities of the world. When Titus meets Violet, he is attracted to the fact that she is not the same as his friends. She doesn’t malfunction, she can’t easily afford trips to the moon, and she cares about the world outside of the feed. While Titus is fascinated by her individuality, he is also embarrassed by it. For example, in Utopia, Titus, his friends, and Violet decide to try to win a lifetime supply of Coca-Cola by talking about how great it was. Titus and his friends are chirping in, trying to make Coke sound like some sort of nectar of the gods, and are immediately uncomfortable when Violet makes a poetic statement about the beverage and acquired tastes. She clams up and doesn’t contribute for the rest of the time. This passage is an example of somebody striving to fit in, to be like the others, but getting rejected for doing it “wrong”. This happens all the time in todays society, when people try to join a conversation or joke with a group of people, and are shunned for not doing it the “right” way. The rest of the group begin chatting with each other through their feeds about Violet, and this shows an example of how technology allows people to sneakily band together and gang up on someone, even while they are in the exact same room! The issues are not confronted, they are hidden behind screens or hurtful words, without taking a moment to understand or to learn from the other party.
Violet is a perfect example of this imbalance for wanting to be like everyone else, while still wishing to be yourself. When on the moon she follows Titus and his group of friends around, despite not enjoying the places they go, and as a result she ends up getting hacked. At the time, she wanted the experience, and she wanted to know what it felt like to “live”, but coincidentally, it cost her her life. And throughout the novel she accompanies Titus to parties and tries to make friends with his friends, but being herself and talking about the things she cares about backfired and made her an outcast. At the hotel, during Slumberland, Titus explodes on Violet for this, and it makes a very clear statement about people everywhere. “You wanted to mingle with the common people. Just latch onto this one dumbass, and make fun of his friends for being stupid, while all the time, having this little wish that you could be like us, without thinking what we’re like, or what our problems are, or that we might not be like saving the environment or anything, but we have our own problems - now you’re - you know?” (p. 271) This quote from Titus shows the opposite side of the situation, where the people who are not accepting feel as though they are the victims. This reveals a hidden insecurity, one that is not often faced. People like Titus know deep down in themselves that they are becoming the technology- they are losing their human ability to think and to make decisions for themselves because of the constant availability of the feed. People know their reliance on the feed is unhealthy, but they’d rather not be faced with the truth of it by people like Violet who try to educate them on the truth. This is where we find the answer to our question. The nonstop use of technology to function takes away our humanity in the sense that we are no longer critical thinking, analytical creatures. Rather, we are constantly fed information on what we should believe is right, what products we should purchase and use, and how we should act. In turn, this narrows our mindset and makes accepting others and accepting the truth harder and harder to do. Social dynamics are changed, and with ads streaming into our minds 24/7, being an individual thinker becomes harder and more of a burden.
ReplyDeleteThe parallels between the dystopian future M. T. Anderson creates in Feed and the world today are clear once the situations in the novel are shrunk. We can see how although our smart phones and computers are not literally inside our heads, they are becoming more and more essential to daily life. While these tools are an amazing feat for the human race and they can be incredibly useful tools, the more control the media and government have over the internet and our technology can greatly limit our minds and capability. Not only our capabilities when it comes to learning about meaningful issues, but also our capabilities to accept others. While the internet has been a positive force in recent years for helping people such as members of the LGBT community and other minorities gain the acknowledgement and rights they deserve, too much influence from a media that only supports a certain type of body, style, personality, or appearance can be extremely detrimental to our growth as humans and the expansion of empathy within us. Feed displays this possible outcome through the interaction of the characters and their feeds.
Awesome. Your insights into the subtleties of social interactions are gifts to the rest of us. Thanks. I especially liked this "Violet is a perfect example of this imbalance for wanting to be like everyone else, while still wishing to be yourself" and this "Titus shows the opposite side of the situation, where the people who are not accepting feel as though they are the victims. This reveals a hidden insecurity, one that is not often faced."
DeleteKarina Keenan
ReplyDeleteAP English Language
January 12, 2015
D Block
M. T. Anderson’s book, Feed, touches on a lot subjects that are happening today in our world. Although in the book these situations may be exaggerated you can still see how it relates to the world we live in today. One primary subject that Feed seems to be bringing to attention is how a person gets treated when they are different than the rest of the population. Violet is very different than the rest of the teenage characters in Feed; she is homeschooled, she knows how to write and has a larger vocabulary than other characters, she isn’t very social, and she hasn’t had a feed since she was very young. Because she isn’t what most of the characters would call normal she is treated differently by all of them. Because of the extensive vocabulary and knowledge that she possesses, most of the teenagers feel uncomfortable and awkward around her and eventually start to not like her because they believe she thinks she is better than them. Since she was not raised in a different fashion than these kids that allowed her to gain more knowledge than them, makes her a target. The same thing that is happening to Violet is happening in our world today. Some of the smarter kids in our generation want to hide their knowledge from their friends because they think they will be looked down upon if they get good grades. Also, as kids we are taught not to brag about our grades because it will make other people feel bad if they didn’t reach the same grades. In our generation it has become normal to be only average. As you grow up it is a natural tendency for children and teenagers to just want to fit in with their peers so why would any child or teenager want to look better than their peers. If you are one of those people that decides to embrace the knowledge that you have learned, you are not looked at in the same way by your peers then if you were just “average” like everyone else. The other teenagers in this book are also good examples of what teenagers are like today, they ones that we consider “normal.” They all do they same things every day; go to parties, get drunk, hang out with friends, and obsess over the technology that they have. This is almost exactly what the “normal” teenagers of today do. They all go to school and don’t work to their full potential, then they go home and either hang out with their friends, watch TV or play on their tablets or phones, get drunk, or all three. It almost seems to be an epidemic of sorts because of the amount of teenagers that actually do this. Very rarely now can you find someone that wants to do their schoolwork, or go for a nature walk, or even hang out with their own family for a day. When you are a teenager in our generation, you either of the choice to be a Violet or a copy of the person standing right next to you.
Tech”know”ledgy
ReplyDeleteFeed by M.T. Anderson is not just a novel warning the modern world about the future. It is also not a book to just push aside without any second thoughts. It is three hundred pages that exaggerates today’s world. Humans living in the period of time that M.T. Anderson sets his plot in are equipped with basically robotic brains. These humans do in fact have all of the same body parts that we do today-- they’re not really what a sci-fi robot would look like (if that is what you were picturing). In fact, the only difference is that the humans in the novel have their technological brains inside their head instead of outside, like we humans do in this time period. Smartphones and devices along the same lines as that can be thought of as a technological brain to us today. If you think about it enough, why do we humans depend so much on our phones and other ways of reaching the internet-connected world? Titus’ life in Feed may seem ridiculous, as I did too when I first read the book. When you dissect the details though and relate the same problems Titus and his friends have to today’s world, if almost seemed as if M.T. Anderson is merely telling the story of what life would be like if phones were inside our heads instead of in our hands or pockets. Like Titus, we do depend on our electronic devices. If you tallied up every time you check your phone on a daily basis, it would truly be mindblowing. In fact, it would probably be just as much-or close to- the amount of times that Titus or his friends were paying attention to their feed and not the world around them, or at least, what is left of the world they are living in. It can easily be recognized that Earth in the book Feed is basically a hyperbole of our Earth today. Our Earth is being exposed to pollution, destruction, animal and plant extinction, and weather changes that are harmful to the world as we know it. Feed explores all of these problems Earth faces today, but just stretches the problems a little past how we see them in our modern days. People are being affected too. The technological advances are making people more lazy with shorter attention spans and with bigger expectations of the words “interesting,” “exciting,”or “fun.” Most teenagers today do not find just sitting around with their friends playing a board game or going for a bike ride around town exciting anymore. Those activities are usually gateways to questions like “what should we do?” or “where should we go?” A lot of teenagers would actually rather get drunk with a group of people or pass around a joint and getting higher than their beaten down Earth is in the Universe.
Just like these sad facts, M.T. Anderson includes ideas like “malfunctioning” and getting drunk in his book to represent what generations are coming to. The problem is, both the fictional “feed” M.T. Anderson introduces and social media today are factors that cause teenagers to think that doing intense activities are the only ways to be entertained. Today, social webpages like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr are accessed by millions-even billions- of humans each minute. Each of those millions or billions of people are also seeing ads for the newest type of vodka or beer, and the newest strain of Marijuana. There are links to mind draining and pointless videos of a fight behind your Town’s high school or even Youtube videos giving step by step instructions about how to almost kill yourself by attempting the cinnamon challenge. These videos distract people from the treacherous truths of the world and how we are basically living on a disintegrating planet. Why do we keep holding our phones next to our faces and continue watch videos showing overweight people fall through trampolines or stare at our favorite actress, wishing and dreaming to someday look just like her? The answer lies in the fact that nobody wants to face the problems the world is made up of today. Everyone sees the troubles on the news, and everybody learns about the problems pollution causes in science class back in the fifth grade, but nobody wants to think about it. Technology is always going to be apart of human life, no matter what. It has become apart of us, even though it is not an actual Feed inside of our heads.
DeleteJust like these sad facts, M.T. Anderson includes ideas like “malfunctioning” and getting drunk in his book to represent what generations are coming to. The problem is, both the fictional “feed” M.T. Anderson introduces and social media today are factors that cause teenagers to think that doing intense activities are the only ways to be entertained. Today, social webpages like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr are accessed by millions-even billions- of humans each minute. Each of those millions or billions of people are also seeing ads for the newest type of vodka or beer, and the newest strain of Marijuana. There are links to mind draining and pointless videos of a fight behind your Town’s high school or even Youtube videos giving step by step instructions about how to almost kill yourself by attempting the cinnamon challenge. These videos distract people from the treacherous truths of the world and how we are basically living on a disintegrating planet. Why do we keep holding our phones next to our faces and continue watch videos showing overweight people fall through trampolines or stare at our favorite actress, wishing and dreaming to someday look just like her? The answer lies in the fact that nobody wants to face the problems the world is made up of today. Everyone sees the troubles on the news, and everybody learns about the problems pollution causes in science class back in the fifth grade, but nobody wants to think about it. Technology is always going to be apart of human life, no matter what. It has become apart of us, even though it is not an actual Feed inside of our heads.
DeleteAn aspect of Feed that interested me was, Violet’s father. Violet’s father is different from the rest of the characters in the book. This man responds very differently to the feed than Titus and his friends and family do. This character is essential to the book and helps make the satire clearer. Violet’s father relates to us and we see how different the other characters are from us through his normalcy; he is not normal to the other characters but for us he is very close to a normal human. Violet’s dad was reluctant to let his daughter get the feed and didn’t let her do so till she was seven; he only did this after not getting a job he was almost perfect for because he didn’t have the feed. Violet’s father realized what his daughter would have to go through if he didn’t let her get the feed. Also, we learn that Violet’s father does not send her to schoolTM instead he has Violet homeschooled. He is a college professor and he teaches “the dead languages” for example, what appears to be Greek. Violet showed an example of what her father teaches, to Titus. When she translated the example she wrote, it said, “I came, I saw, I conquered.”(Eden, 66). We learn that Violet’s father does not have the version of the Feed that the kids have. The version that he has is much older, “His back honestly had a big hunch, which was from a really, really early feedscanner, from back when they wore them in a big backpack on their back, with special glasses that had foldout screens on either side of your eyes.”(Utopia, 135). Violet’s father does not have the feed in his head, connected with the brain, like most others have. This shows the advancement of technology of that time and how fast it happened. This relates to the modern world today. Computers and cell phones have changed so much in so little time. It makes you think, is there a limit to creating new technology or will it advance forever? Violet’s father’s house is unique from the other houses of that time. His house is made of wood and the place is covered with words. “There were papers with words on them, and books, and even posters on the walls had words.”(Utopia, 135). Violet’s father also talks differently. He talks in a more sophisticated and smart way. He does not use slang and he uses big words. This is opposite from most of the other character’s way of talking. One of the things Violet’s father says when Violet brings Titus in to meet him is, “I am filled with astonishment at the regularity of your features and the handsome generosity you have shown my daughter.”(Utopia, 136). This contrasts the way the rest of the characters speak since the development of the feed.
ReplyDeleteAlthough domestic life is not one of the highlighted issues in Feed, by M.T. Anderson, it’s still a factor that plays into the overall exaggeration and satire of this future inspired novel. Titus’s parents are reliant on the feed and it affects their parenting and lifestyle, the feed causes an emotional disconnection within their house that is not seen in violets family, whose father does not have the feed inserted in his brain. The first insight into the different family dynamics is when Titus and Violet are both on the moon after being hacked and Titus father shows up but Violets father is unable to. Even though Titus father is physically there he seems disconnected to Titus and is unable to communicate is a proper way due to Titus’s disconnection with the feed. The father’s language is very informal to the point of carelessness, even though it is revealed to the reader that he has a very important fancy job. The dad offers no actual comfort to Titus in the stressful situation and is preoccupied with other things due to the feed. Their relationship with their feed is stronger than the bond between them, which is not the case with Violet and her father. Violet is homeschooled and her father does not have an internal feed so their family is less reliant on the object. When Violet is in trouble on the moon, he is unable to be there because of expenses but when violet is in trouble on earth, he rushes in to be there for her. Violets father main priority is being a good parent for Violet so she is able to have the best life for herself; which is difficult due to their low income, and its is an issue that Titus family does not have. In Titus’s family everyone is centered on the feed and they do not have any real social interactions unless its dinner time or something and even then the conversation are all about the feed. Titus parenting style is very different to Violets father as seen through the scene with Titus’s younger brother Smell Factor. By not revealing the brother’s true name shows the rift that is between the two and how the techno is mainly the cause of that. Throughout the novel Smell Factor is mentioned singing, or throwing things, and always being preoccupied by the feed, which is a substitute for the parent’s lack of attention. The gap in their relationship is due to both of their feed and how it is always advertising for their age group and is supports them in a way that seems like anything else other is unnecessary. This lack of social experience causes difficulties for Titus when he and Violet begin to get serious in their relationship and he doesn’t know how to handle the situation without disconnecting or lashing out. The feed causes a shift in the relationships between parents and children in the book that causes’ tensions later on. When Titus father comes back from weeks away from home he shares very personal memories with the family about his whaling adventure even though those memories contain some inappropriate feelings. Titus’s mother and father are very disconnected with their children’s life they tend to be more preoccupied with other matters, usually involving the feed, which is contradicting to Violets father later on in the book. Violet’s father intervenes with her life when he realizes that she might be dyeing and doesn’t want her to be putting herself in any danger, emotionally or physically. He doesn’t want Violet to be hanging around Titus, who can’t emotionally handle the situation, and he lashes out on Titus after violets condition worsen. Her father stands up for Violet even when she was unable to do so herself and continues to let Titus visit her because he knows that is what Violet would have wanted. He always puts her needs in front of his and he understands her in a way that is very rare in the time of the novel. Although technology was created to help to people connect with each other it has been used by our generation to divide us and Feed shows the destructive turn that technology is leading down to.
ReplyDeleteFeed is an intriguing book that explores many topics from I want to talk about solely the second section of the book, Eden. I find it one of the most interesting parts in the book that really allow the author to bring across his point. It is the section where Titus and his friends (including Violet), have lost their connection to the feed. Eden is a religious abode or paradise, and during this chapter they have lost their connection to the feed, and are living in “silence” as you could call it. Anderson is trying to point out how this silence, even this hospital, is a paradise away from the evil, the “unholy conventions of the feed”. The most interesting chapter in Eden would be The Garden because of its strong connection to the chapter. Eden is a holy place, but the word actually describes a place called The Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden is described as the garden of God in the Bible. It is the place where Adam and Eve lived before they were thrown down to earth, a place with much life and pulchritude. Ironically, in this chapter, Violet brings Titus up to a garden at the top of the hospital, yet nothing in the garden is full of life. Infact, all of the plants are dead and just flapping in the suction of space, almost like what the Feed is doing to people, it is drawing the originality, the humanity that makes us human, from us. Yet this section is also interesting though because it can also be viewed as him showing that technology is useful in certain situation and is not just purely a creation by the devil, but more of a power that should be balanced, not abused; it can still be used to allow people to deepen their knowledge and thoughts. When Violet and Titus are up by the garden in the hospital, Titus sees the dead plants flapping in the wind, but instead of just thinking of them as dead plants flapping in the suction, he views it as “a squid in love with the sky”. Through this Anderson is showing us how even though the death of originality that it seems to be causing, can give rise to much more intensive and deep ideas and thought than was originally there. In the Garden of Eden there may have been much life and beauty in the flowers, but there are no imperfections or basic enough for ideas to be built off of them, yet how we find the correct balance between the Garden of Eden and the "squid in love with the sky", still remains unanswered.
ReplyDeleteExcellent insight: "When Violet and Titus are up by the garden in the hospital, Titus sees the dead plants flapping in the wind, but instead of just thinking of them as dead plants flapping in the suction, he views it as “a squid in love with the sky”. Through this Anderson is showing us how even though the death of originality that it seems to be causing, can give rise to much more intensive and deep ideas and thought than was originally there."
DeleteAs long as humans think, feel, and have language there will be poetry in response to whatever environment we find ourselves in. As you rightly point out, Titus is still capable of creative thinking though the feed removes much of the need for such thinking. You also rightly point out that "Eden" is such an interesting section of the book because of the creativity and invention--with language, love, and play--that emerges in the teens.
"Just give up." This isn't exactly the kind of message many books send to their readers. Because of this, Feed by Anderson is one work of literature that particularly stands out. It is never directly stated that one should never fight for what they believe in, but it does teach of inevitability, specifically with technology. We live in a world that will always have innovators; people who attempt to improve our current lives. With this, our technogy will always be advancing. This cannot change, so we either have to be onboard or fall behind. Falling behind, or attempting to fight the advancements made can result in negative consequences, as displayed in Feed.
ReplyDeleteViolet from Feed gives a rebellious perspective to technology, contrasted with an attempt to fit into society, as she never lived the "normal" life. Focusing more on her resistance, she created a plan so that she would not give in to the ways of the feed, in this case with advertising. She explains, "What I'm doing, what I've been doing over the feed for the last two days, is trying to create a customer profile that's so screwed, no one can market to it. I'm not going to let them catalog me. I'm going to be invisible." (98) Violet is pushing herself away from the technology that she believes is hurting people. It is as if the feed is a brainwashing sales pitch that is implanted in your head at birth. She doesn't wish to be a part of this, as others are. It is possible that other people with the feed do not want to be easily sold this way either, but they aren't aware of the fact that they are being psychologically advertised to. Violet has the knowledge, and is taking action.
However, taking action is not exactly the way to go in this situation. Violet's plan backfired on her, and when her feed was badly damaged, her tech assistant "Nina" was unable to help her due to her indefinite profile. The great plan to break technology and its hypnotic effects has failed for her. What readers can learn from her implied demise is not necessarily to give up hopes when fighting against a negative force, but that they should think about what they're putting themselves up against. Technology: a rather general industry that is constantly shaping our world. It is impossible to defeat, so advancement in some way will always occur at any given time. If one single person has a way to make their own rebellion, he will need a following. Working alone won't even put a scratch on the titan that is the technological industry. One would need the majority of the population to make an impact. This of course will not happen though, it's easier said than done. Systems such as the feed are created to work for you on a personal level. Tories explained his thoughts on the feed, "it knows everything you want and hope for, sometimes before you even know what those things are. It can tell you how to get them, and help you make buying decisions that are hard." (48) He along with many other feed users view the feed as more of a shopping assistant than an invasive advertiser. People feel more like the feed knows them individually, so a bond is established. Breaking this bond would appear impractical for most, so if a small minority were to try to fight the feed, they would not have much support. This technology is made to do what we like, and it will only push our buttons more and more as time goes on.
DeleteWe cannot stop advancement. The pursuit of a better world is always at work. The results of this can be beneficial for humanity, with inventions such as penicillin, saving lives from disease. On the other hand, technology can also hurt us. It can consume us and push us away from others aspects of life. Many aren't aware that they are a victim in a way. Some will become aware, and try to fight this antagonist. Feed gives s story similar to this, as Violet tries to become "invisible" from the feed's customer profiling system. By jumbling up the advertising in her feed, she was able to almost break the system. These were futile efforts however, since no real effect would take place without numbers; a following. Her plan actually ended up harming her, since her inconsistent profile made it impossible to seek help when she needed it. Through this, we can learn a lesson of acceptance. Yes, technology has become a very close part of our lives, and yes, it practically controls us. But we also have to accept that we cannot stop this as a whole. This technology is made by us for us, so it does exactly what we wish it to. We gain a dependence on it, to the point where letting it all go would be absurd. We can try to keep technology away from ourselves in a way that prevents it from getting to close, but we should not waste our time trying to stop it.
Violet’s dad illustrates what a parent is like today and shows us how drastically parents have changed in M.T. Anderson’s future. Titus’s dad is more like a kid and uses the words and expressions that Titus and his friends do. However, Violet’s father acts how an adult should act and is strict. There doesn’t seem to be too many parents like that in Anderson’s future. “He thinks words are being debased. So he tries to speak entirely in weird words and irony, so no one can simplify anything he says.”(Utopia, 137). Violet’s father is desperately trying to cling on to the ways of the past. He doesn’t like how life is like now with the way people act. Based on his reluctance to the feed and Violet’s response to the decrease in trees he probably doesn’t like trees gone and the pods. He doesn’t see the appeal that the feed has to the others. Violet’s father is what we think of as a human. While Titus and the other characters are still humans they barely seem like humans and more like robots with their inability to think deeply and reflect. Humans are complex beings but the creation of the Feed makes people simple minded and numb to many important issues. This is similar to how technology tends to distract us these days. At the end of the book when Violet is no longer functioning, her dad becomes extremely angry and distraught. Violet’s father is angry with himself for not getting Violet a better model and for having the feed installed so late. Not only is Violet’s father angry with himself, he is furious with Titus for taking Violet to the nightclub on the moon where they were hacked. Violet’s father is looking for an outlet and a person to blame for what happened to his daughter. Violet’s dad is also mad at Titus for making Violet feel sorry for being sick and Titus just disappearing when times got tough. Violet’s dad is mature unlike Titus and handled Violet’s situation better but he is also Violet’s father so he pretty much had to. “You’ve done your duty. Why don’t you go along and play your games?...We’re the land of youth. The land of opportunity. Go out and take what’s yours.”(Slumberland, 290). Violet’s father despises the way the youth is since the creation of the feed. This is how some adults view the youth today since the creation of the internet and smart phones. American kids have it pretty easy and take things for granted. Violet’s father doesn’t like how America is, especially because of the feed. He goes on to say, “We American’s are interested only in the consumption of our products. We have no interest in how they were produced, or what happens to them...what happens to them once we discard them, once we throw them away.”(Slumberland, 290). This man while seeming to be crazy actually points out the truth about America and its ways. This attitude toward products is exactly like how we feel today. Towards the end of the conversation Violet’s father makes a reference that Titus doesn’t understand, “It’s almost time for foosball. It will be a gala. Go along, little child. Go back to the eloi.”(Slumberland, 291). Basically Violet’s dad is telling Titus to go back to his people that have life easy while Violet and her father among others deal with hardship and unfairness. Without the character of Violet’s father, the book would not have the same effect it has, in order to get the satire there needs to be this character who shows an opposite way of living and attitude than the rest.
ReplyDeleteErin, I enjoyed your thorough, sustained, detailed, insightful investigation of the role of Violet's father in Anderson's satire. Thank you.
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ReplyDeleteAn aspect of the story that particularly interests me is the role American government plays in the creation of Feeds futuristic world, and more specifically the environment. The US president seems to back up the major Feed corporations by saying that the “lesions” are indeed not a result of any American industry activity. Lesions in the story are stylish cuts in the skin that expose the inner body, and throughout the book you can clearly see them trending with teens (remember the part when Quendy got hers?). The Feed is so geared towards marketing/advertizing you have to think the trending and movement of getting these lesions comes from it, going back to my point with the American president’s statement, and how he states the opposite of what Anderson gets the reader to believe. The part in the book where someone is trying to explain the president’s calling of the prime Minister of the Global Alliance a “big shithead” plays into the characterization of the president. I look up presidents around the time this book was being made (2001) because I assume the politics around his writing would have a heavy influence on what Anderson thought of the government. I found one other time a president was left completely with their pants down for something they did/said, and that was Bill Clinton. Back in 1998 Clinton stated he did not have a sexual or inappropriate relationship with a woman named Monica Lewinsky, which later on was proved that he in fact did have a sexual relation with this woman; leading to his impeachment. Both Clinton and the president in Feed were caught saying something that got them in trouble, and both of them attempt to cleverly get himself out of trouble instead of admitting their wrongness. Anderson may be displaying the distrust in American government, specifically in the president. The book displays other flaws in America’s governing as well by making America seem like a cash grabbing, selfish country. They killed off most of the environment for industries to expand, and Violet is the only character in the book that cares about it. The part where Titus’s Dad and Violet get into a little argument on trees shows a lot of what Anderson thinks about what was happening to the world back in the 2000s with major corporation expanding and cutting down trees for buildings. The book doesn’t shine a good lighting on American government to the reader, to me this must mean Anderson didn’t think highly of American government up till the point of making Feed.
The characters of Feed are very uncomfortable with feeling anything other than complete happiness. Obviously no person wants to be feel lonely or sad, however having the full spectrum of emotion is something that makes us human. Unhappiness is unavoidable, yet the characters of Feed do everything they can to not have any negative feelings. The old man who hacks Titus and his friends expresses this by saying “Children with smiles that cannot be undone.” (39). This might seem like a thing to strive for at first glance, however this does not mean that the children are permanently happy, they just repress their gloom. Most of Titus's friends end up feeling resentful towards Violet because she would often bring up topics that make them uncomfortable. Titus eventually feels this way as well. When Violet's health really starts to decline, Titus avoids her. "I didn't think she should joke about that, because you just don't joke about your life. Especially because it can make people really uncomfortable, if you have something wrong with you, and you keep bringing it up in certain ways.” (259). These characters always want to distract themselves from anything that could make them unhappy, and that is the way Titus has lived his life. Violet’s upcoming death forced Titus to face reality and unhappiness, and he couldn’t deal with that. M.T. Anderson is critiquing how people do this today. Many people now try to forget their problems by escaping into technology, and in this society M.T. Anderson created, it is even easier to do so. People of this future are no longer able to deal with their negative emotions at all, so they just try to move on, which makes it even harder to deal with the next time they feel sadness. Earlier on, when Violet and Titus’s father had the debate about the trees, Titus’s father dismissed Violet’s feelings of anger. “My father nodded and smiled at her with this meg condescending smile on his face, and was like “Dude, I remember when I was like you. You should grow up to be a, you know. Clean-air worker or something. Don’t lose that. But remember. It’s about people. People need a lot of air.”” (126). Instead of facing the problematic aspects of their society, which would make them uncomfortable and upset, they let it go. They do not question how terrible things in their lives could be, because then they might not be able to live in denial anymore.
ReplyDeleteThroughout Feed by M. T. Anderson there are different trends that arise as the book progresses. These trends begin with a mundane object then slowly gravitate to the extreme. This slow progression from mundane to absolutely horrid attempts to show the escalation of society at that time. These trends are viewed as cool and therefore affect personal relationships. As trends escalate so do personal relationships. These trends fade over time, until another thing move to take its place. This feature in the book suggests that similarly today there are many things that demand our attention for a particular period of time, then it fades away no longer holding appeal. The movement of these trends also suggests that it has become increasingly challenging to hold our attention. The limited attention span of those in Feed satirizes the attention span of those today. Through the trends of the time this is how people interact with each other. Trends define the world of Feed giving this society a purpose. Through his novel Anderson suggests that eventually trends will likewise be the central point in our lives, waiting for the next big thing to grasp our attention and without it our lives will not have a purpose.
ReplyDeleteThe first trend that begins in the book are the fake birds. These birds were "...the big spit and lots of people had them...". However a little later that same night these same birds were viewed as "...stupid, because the birds didn't even fly or sing or anything". This trend began to lose its popularity until "...they were meg yesterday ". This transition of one trend works to satirize our world today. At one point something may be viewed as the next big thing, then it's faults and imperfections are highlighted and criticized until finally this product is seen as virtually useless and something else takes its place. What was once great is scoffed at and a new product is embraced, this cycle is continuous. These trends escalate to include the the bad things of the society, the bad becoming popular blinds those in the Feed making them ignorant to the things around them. The lesions that were once viewed with distaste becomes popular and people even begins to inflict these lesions on themselves, since this is now viewed as an amiable thing. This lesion trend begins because the people in a popular show began to get them so they are now viewed in a positive light. As trends start people begin to change with these trends. These trends go through a cycle of dislike, like and eventually old and useless. In an attempt to keep up with the trends of the time people choose to change not only what they wear but also their personalities to match the time. As things evolve and we lose interest in the things around us there becomes a demand to be the next thing that will grab our attention. The small span of time that something captures our attention says a great deal about how society has changed. Perhaps it also suggests that when something captures our attention we overwhelm ourselves with it so we can easily lose interest. This attitude of changing with the time and moving away from the past, shows that enjoyment and entertainment has become abrupt, allowing us to forget the small things seemingly insignificant things around us.
Death is a big part of human life. It’s something that happens to everyone, and many different cultures or people have their own views of what happens to a person when they die. They have many different ways to treat the body, to guide the soul, or to help the soul reach a world that is better than our own. Death has always had a large connection with spirituality and it has always had a sacred feeling to it. Death is also a big theme in Feed, considering that one of the main characters is killed by her own feed. The fact that it was Violet’s own feed that killed her has a sort of dark irony within itself, but what is even more interesting is the way Titus’ reacts to her “illness” and to her eventual death. On page 145 of the book, Violet makes a statements about death that completely describes how death has changed from our generation to theirs, “ You know, I think death is shallower now. It used to be a hole you fell into and kept falling. Now it’s just a blank” (Anderson, 145). The characters in this book, in this world that Anderson has created, are overwhelmed with different means of stimulation every second of every day. Their feeds are always showing them something, and if for some reason it is not, people get bored or start to panic. So it is a logical assumption to think that to these people, death is boring. They are not constantly surrounded by mortality or illness, as people our days may be. There are more things for them to focus on, so death because unimportant. Just a side note. To them death is not an end of someone’s life, it is an end of someone’s feed, because to them the feed is life. That is the only thing they receive stimulus from. When Violet asks Titus how he would want to die, if he could choose, he responds with, “ It’s like to have this like, this intense pleasure in every one of my senses...and the feed like going a mile a second, so that it’s like every channel is just jammed with excitement...until just-- BAM! That’s it, I guess. I’d like to die from some sort of sense overload.” (Anderson, 145) Even when thinking of his own death, Titus still talks about the feed. He wants his death to be caused by that constant stream, which, like Violet said, is very shallow. Titus has no thought to an afterlife, to any sort of ceremony or respect for death. It is a natural part of life, and whether or not you believe in an afterlife or a soul, it needs to be respected. This mentality of death not being important even extends to Violet. Often times when Violet is trying to talk to Titus about her feed and what is happening to her, he ignores her or does not seem very interested by it. Violet wants to live before she dies, and she is trying to do that with Titus, but he can't do that with her. He is too attached to his feed, that even the idea of having to lose it, or the idea of the feed causing someone harm, terrifies him. This is why he slowly starts to back away from her. Even though he thinks of death as just a blank, it scares him because there are no blanks in the feed. There’s no room, there’s too much information being thrown out there. A blank, to Titus, is something that exists outside the feed, and anything outside the feed is scary. He does not understand how to deal with it. Violet’s death is both scary and boring for Titus, and causes him to end his relationship with her. He trusts the feed too much, and relies on it too much for him to allow anything to jeopardize that. The moment Titus deletes Violet’s memories is the moment he fully sees her as just a blank. He can't even think of her as a person anymore. Later on in the book, he even says, “It feels like being felt up by a zombie,” (Anderson, 269) referring to Violet touching him. Now not only is she a blank, she isn't even human anymore. Not to Titus. He does not want to be touched by her, or be near her. She’s a threat to the feed, and therefore a threat to him, and who could blame him? Why date a blank girl, when you can date a girl with lesions?
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