Feed

M.T. Anderson's Feed took me a while to get into but once I did it really got me emotionally involved. At first, the exaggerated teenage slang turned me off to the book but I eventually got used to it and soon it was just funny hearing about how "meg cool" things were instead of being kind of annoying.

It was a very interesting look at the possible, perhaps even probable, outcome of human's actions on earth. Anderson takes some very current mindsets and situations, both socially and politically, and shows a futuristic outcome that seems to lead to the end of human civilization. The actions of the U.S. for instance, around the world but especially now in Iraq are very poignant in this story. Many people believe that the country is doing things that are wrong for their own self interest and not paying attention to the fact that the rest of the world can't stand us. At one point in the book, the U.N type international group chastises America and the government responds by throwing back an obviously weightless threat full of "ummms" and "ahhhhhs." In this case, even the public faces of the government have stopped trying to at least look like they know what they are doing and have things under control. Another political thing that caught me was the fact that some countries had closed their boarders to Americans. I think that this is a very strong possibility. I did some traveling in the middle east and going across borders with an American passport was not very comfortable, I was obviously not liked or wanted in some places. Even in Egypt, I had a little bit of a hard time. Though that may have been because I had traveled in Israel. These political elements seemed to be a comment on the nation's actions today put in a safer medium and hidden by the fantastical futuristic elements.

The social and commercial elements are at the heart of the story however. The "feed" that is connected to most people's brains exaggerates our current dependency on commercial products. Some aspects are humorous in the book like the fact that clouds and school are the property of companies and have to have the trademark symbol after them. But other aspects are not really funny at all. Companies have direct links to your brain. They can see what you want, what you have, what you have spent, what you have not spent, etc... In this world our privacy has been voluntarily given up for the ease of shopping. There are other things the feed does like allow you to look things up and basically always have an encyclopedia in your head but even this seems to have negative effects. People no longer have the need to think, they can just look things up whenever they want. The people in the story, consequently, don't ever think about things and when they are met with opportunities to, they shun them because it is too difficult. Even most of the parents do this.

Like the political commentary, this acts as a social commentary about today. Companies and their marketing are gaining more and more influence in our lives. People are very much moved by what is valued or not valued in the marketplace. For instance, everyone has to have an Ipod, but they are one of the worst mp3 players out there. But I have one too. Brand name clothes and products of that nature hold so much sway and actually create what is fashionable and what is not. This way fashion is always changing and people are always buying. This is seen in an extreme way in the story when styles change literally every week.

The powerful effect of the control the companies have taken is really seen when the characters don't even seem bothered that the feeds have created lesions on their bodies. They allow even their health to be forfeited for the ability to be hooked up to the market. The TV stars start getting lesions, so they became in fashion and cool. Its crazy to a reader now, but I'm not sure that it's that far fetched. We get our ideas of fashion and "cool" from some pretty strange places. Baggy pants for instance, comes straight from prison as if thats a "cool" place.


The heartlessness of the companies is shown when Violet is denied financial aid to repair her feed. The feed that the company put in her brain is killing her and nobody will help her. Its amazing to think about but how many times are people denied healthcare? Again, it may not be that far fetched.

To get away from the commentary on modern society I want to talk a little about the emotional relationship between Titus and Violet. I was tremendously moved by the book when Titus began separating himself from Violet. Anderson wrote the emotions really powerfully. So powerfully in fact that while reading that section I began to feel a separation between my fiance and I; even though nothing was wrong. Violet's desperation to have someone to share her last days alive with and Titus' struggle to separate himself from emotions that he found impossible to deal with was very powerful. These emotions are hard for anyone, even today, but in a world where nobody is expected to deal with these issues and nobody gets any sympathy it becomes unbearable. I had to sympathize with Titus even while I was terribly angry at him for not being there for Violet. In a similar situation as Violet's, I could see myself pulling away from people and not wanting them to be burdened but Violet went all out to have someone to share her life with. This pulled me both ways, of course she craves human connection but it is a lot to ask of a person. To fall in love with someone that is going to die. A lot to ask.