Unit-4 - Feed M T Anderson PDF

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Discipline Specific Elective (DSE-1)

Literature for Children and Young Adults Unit-4 M.T. Anderson : Feed

Edited by: Nalini Prabhakar School of Open Learning University of Delhi Delhi-110007



SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING UNIVERSITY OF DELHI 5, Cavalry Lane, Delhi-110007

Discipline Specific Elective (DSE-1)

Literature for Children and Young Adults Unit-4 M.T. Anderson : Feed

Contents S. No.

Title

Pg. No.

1.

Learning Objectives

01

2.

Introduction

01

3.

Summary

03

4.

Themes

06

5.

Gender

07

6.

Consumerist Techno Dystopia

08

7.

Summing Up

11

8.

University Questions

11

9.

Reading List

12

Prepared by: Simran Mittal    



SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING UNIVERSITY OF DELHI 5, Cavalry Lane, Delhi-110007

Unit-4

Feed M.T. Anderson Simran Mittal 1.

Learning Objectives

After studying this unit, you should be able to: 

Learn about the life and works of M. T. Anderson.



Trace the evolution of dystopian fiction as a genre.



Analyze the language of Feed.

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Look at Feed from the perspective of gender.

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Understand Feed as a consumerist techno dystopia.

2. Introduction Born on November 4, 1968 to Will and Juliana Anderson in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Matthew Tobin Anderson is an American writer of young adult fiction. He has qualified respectively from St. Mark’s School, Harvard College, the University of Cambridge, and Syracuse University. He worked for a time at Candlewick Press where Thirsty, his first novel, was published in 1997. He has also been a music critic at The Improper Bostonian, a disc jockey at WCUW radio, and a lecturer at Vermont College of Fine Arts where he is now a board member. Anderson is also a Board member of the National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance. Advocating that adolescents can adequately grasp mature ideas, Anderson exposes his young readers to new perspectives on the world around them. He credits them with being more receptive to change and hence being the future of the nation. In addition to Thirsty and Feed (2002), he has also authored picture books like Handel, Who Knew What He Liked (2001) for children. He was the winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature (2006) for writing The Pox Party, the first in a series of two “Octavian Nothing” books. More recently, Anderson has worked on short fiction and graphic novels, such as "Bug Out: What to Do When It's Time to Get Out of Dodge" (2012), The Daughters of Ys, co-authored with Jo Rioux (2020), and so on. While utopian narratives portray an idealistic society wherein all present-day problems have been solved, dystopian narratives like Feed envisage a society considerably worse than the present one. They satirize the real world by illustrating the outcomes of certain tendencies that have currently been characterized as utopic.

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The late nineteenth century saw a gradual shift towards dystopia in works such as Jules Verne’s The Begum’s Millions (1879) and H. G. Wells’ “A Story of Days to Come” (1897) and When the Sleeper Wakes (1899). However, critics generally categorize E. M. Forster’s short story “The Machine Stops” (1909) as the first purely dystopic work. The story begins with Vashti, living like an insect in her bee-shaped room. Mechanization has pervaded life to the extent that her only source of oxygen is the fresh air pumped into her room. Completely dependent on technology, people live in underground cities controlled by the Machine and are buried alive when it inevitably collapses. The founding texts of the dystopian genre are Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We (1920), Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932), and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eight-Four (1949). Orwell proved to be a strong inspiration for writers like Anthony Burgess, whose A Clockwork Orange (1962) gained much notoriety for its depiction of violence. The United States saw the rise of dystopian fiction with works like Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s Player Piano (1952) and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (1953). Women’s dystopian narratives began to gain momentum in the 1970s with Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed (1974), Joanna Russ’s The Female Man (1975), and Marge Piercy’s Woman at the Edge of Time (1976). The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood remains the most influential feminist dystopia to date. Dystopian fiction has increased in popularity in the twenty first century, in both films and fiction. Films such as Max Barry’s Jennifer Government (2003), Richard K. Morgan’s Market Forces (2004), Thomas Nevin’s The Age of Conglomerates (2008), and Dani and Eytan Kollin’s The Unincorporated Man (2010) explore the sinister effects of corporate capitalism. Beginning with Lois Lowry’s The Giver (1993), dystopia has also gained more prominence in young adult science fiction in the last two decades. Jeanne DuPrau’s The City of Ember (2003) gave impetus to the genre, and it peaked with Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games (2008) trilogy. One of the major presuppositions of dystopian fiction is that humanity is responsible for its own destruction. Human greed, complacency, and incompetence lead to rampant and unchecked consumerism, capitalism, mechanization, and totalitarianism. Whether it is adult dystopia or young adult dystopia, they share certain elements which form the basis of their society. The relentless pursuit of utopia goes awry; language is used as a tool of oppression as well as subversion; cult-like rituals are pervasive; protagonists undergo a transition marked with doubt and trials; wars precipitate a nightmarish society; and love and desire instigate resistance. Relationships, isolation, inhumanity, conscience, and agency thus form the overarching themes in dystopian narratives. The above-discussed themes, characters, and setting of dystopian fiction speak to adolescents at an emotional level, which helps explain their popularity among teenagers. Scholes and Ostenson note that the nuanced societal issues tackled by these texts fit well with the young minds newly grappling with the complexities of the world. Teenagers are in a period of flux, moving away from the binary worldview of children towards the more refined 2

perspective of adults. This transition can lead to ambiguity about their career, identity, ethics, and social norms. The protagonists in dystopian fiction are similarly sceptical of their identity within a society they find to be increasingly flawed. Much like adolescents, they gradually become conscious of the injustices prevalent in their society and feel isolated from their community as a result. Teenagers are expected to start making independent life-altering choices and eventually become self-reliant. The protagonists in dystopian fiction therefore work as a mirror for their concerns and gives them a sense of belonging. The intellectual and emotional growth of the protagonists in dystopian narratives is often facilitated by the relationships they form, romantic or platonic. These relationships also act as a catalyst for their resistance against an oppressive society. For instance, in M. T. Anderson’s Feed, it is Violet’s unconventional lifestyle which attracts Titus in the first place. Their relationship impels him to consider the consequences of a world steeped in consumerism to the extent that there is a constant “feed” (internet connection) hardwired into his brain. He is driven to reassess the contribution of the feed in defining his identity and expectations from life. Adolescents connect well to such portrayals of friendship and romance in dystopian fiction as these relationships provide them with crucial exposure to varying perspectives (Scholes and Ostenson). This exposure is ultimately what helps them grow into responsible and empathetic adults. Dystopian texts, therefore, fill a unique niche in the lives of young adults. Self-Check Questions 1. What are dystopian narratives? Discuss their evolution over the decades. 2. What are the characteristics of dystopian fiction? 3. Why are dystopian narratives popular with young adults? 3.

Summary

Part I – “Moon” Feed opens with the novel’s protagonist Titus and his friends Marty, Link, Calista, Loga, and Quendy going to the moon for a vacation during spring break. The very first page introduces us to the futuristic language we will see throughout the text, such as “lo-grav,” “null,” and “unit.” There are “feeds” hardwired into everyone’s brain which keep up a constant stream of infotainment, including where to eat and stay during vacations. Despite constantly having the feed in his head, Titus feels lonely and devoid of any meaningful human connection. He also mentions that space has an emptiness all of its own and therefore people prefer to go there in groups. Titus and his friends are denied entry to a party as they all had some “red and wetlooking” lesions. They end up going to the Ricochet lounge, where Titus notices Violet looking disapprovingly at them. Quendy feels upset about the lesion on her forehead, but Violet gives them all a new perspective and makes her feel beautiful. Marty and Link attempt to get Violet interested in them, but she pays more attention to Titus. The group agrees to 3

visit Rumble Spot next, and they come across protests about the moon and the feed on their way. At the party, they come across an old man who hacks their feeds. They keep repeating the sentence “We enter a time of calamity!” until the police shuts them off. Part II – “Eden” Disconnected from the feednet, Violet, Titus, and his friends wake up in a hospital ward on the moon. Titus muses about how the feed is like any other vital body part and no one knows who they are without it. The feed designs their personality, tells them what their needs, dreams, and hopes are and helps them buy it. With no way to pass their time without the feed, the friends stare vacantly at each other and eventually resort to inventing games. Except for Violet, everyone’s parents visit them in the hospital. Titus and Violet share some intimate moments in the hospital. In a society dominated by visual stimuli, Violet knows how to read and write, while her father teaches the dead languages. All the friends are overjoyed when their feed is restored a few days later, and we hear on the news that protests against America’s annexation of the moon as a state have been continuing. Self-Check Questions 1. What is the “feed?” 2. What was the experience of Titus and his friends on the moon? 3. How do Violet, Titus, and his friends cope when they are disconnected from the feed? Part III – “Utopia” As things normalise, the romantic and platonic dynamics between Titus and his friends begin to emerge. Quendy is jealous of Calista for going out with Link. Loga acts like nothing had happened, as her feed wasn’t hacked. They hold a party at Quendy’s place because her parents are away at a choking party. Titus and Violet begin going out with each other. Having been home-schooled, Violet finds it difficult to adapt to Titus’s lifestyle. She mentions to him for the first time now that her feedware sustained more damage than the rest of them during the hack. The feed news also talks about the last days of the American forests and hawks and eagles forced to seek habitat in cities. Titus and Violet meet at a mall where she persuades him to resist the customer profiling performed by the feed. They excitedly browse different products at different stores, but don’t buy anything. Later, the feed bombards them with information on the products they browsed at the mall. When the school reopens, Titus thinks about the history of privatization of schools. These corporate-owned schools teach kids how to use their feeds, and explain that they are investing in the future by taking care of kids. Violet tries to discuss the current politics with Titus, but he is unreceptive to her ideas. She mentions that the feed hinders the critical thinking skills of people, and Titus feels stupid about himself. His parents gift him an upcar and tell him that he was made at the conceptionarium with his mom’s eyes, his dad’s eyes, and the chin, dimples, and hairline of DelGlacey Murdoch. Violet tells Titus that the old man who hacked their feeds was beaten to 4

death at the club, by the police. Titus’s father is dismissive of Violet’s perspective on the consumerism that has pervaded America. As Titus and Violet grow closer, he witnesses her suffering from partial paralysis attacks due to the damage to her feed. Their feed is hacked once again and they are shown a graphic news clipping of a riot. When Violet tries to report the incident to FeedTech Customer Assistance, all she gets are advertisements. Titus, on the other hand, simply wants to go back to sleep. They go to a party with their friends where they find put that wearing riot gear is the latest fashion. Violet is mocked for using difficult language that most people are unable to understand. She tells Titus that her feed is beginning to really malfunction, and her body could eventually fail at the most basic functions. He comforts her by saying she doesn’t have to go through it alone. In an attempt to outdo Calista’s artificial lesion, Quendy shows up full of lesions all over her body. Violet has another seizure during which she calls Quendy a monster, tries to slap Titus, chokes, and goes limp. Self-Check Questions 1. What differentiates Violet from everyone else in her society? 2. How does Violet attempt to resist the feed? 3. How does the feed damage impact Violet’s functioning? Part IV – “Slumberland” Recovering at the hospital, Violet apologises to Titus for the things she said about Quendy. He still remains angry at Violet, but pretends to be worried about her instead. She tells him that she lost a year of her memories during the seizure and that she doesn’t have much time left now. Violet and her father petition FeedTech to take on the cost for research and repairs. Quendy tells Titus to treat Violet better, but he doesn’t respond to Violet’s messages. She tells him that both her mom and dad didn’t have the feed for most of their lives. She sends him a list of everything she wants to do before she dies and some memories as she wants to be remembered, but he deletes everything. He goes into malfunction and drives to Violet’s place while high, where she tells him that FeedTech Corp has decided to reject her petition. She is not a reliable investment for them as they were unable to get a handle on her shopping habits, due to her resistance to the feed. Not having heard from Titus in several days, she goes to his place and invites him to a weekend trip with her. Titus is extremely uncomfortable with her, and eventually he confesses that he didn’t sign up to be with her while she is slowly dying. She tells him that he doesn’t care about what is going on in the world as long as he is satisfied. They break up and he takes her back home. He ignores her attempts to talk again and eventually starts going out with Quendy. A few months later, he receives a message from Violet’s father saying that it is time. When he goes to visit her, her father lashes out at Titus and sends him his last memories of Violet seizing before she lost all function. He confronts Titus for making her apologize for dying. A couple of days later, he goes to visit Violet again. As she is taking her final breaths, 5

he tells her news stories from all over the world and tells her that he will always remember her. Self-Check Questions 1. How does Titus behave when Violet is suffering from damage to her feed? 2. Why does Titus break up with Violet? 3. What are Titus’s final words to Violet? 4.

Themes

Language The very first chapter of Feed introduces us to the futuristic language seen throughout the text, such as “lo-grav,” “unit,” “unettes,” “youch,” “meg,” “upcar,” and so on. However, consumerism has pervaded language like every other aspect of this society. The term “unit,” for example, is indicative of the individual’s status only as a “revenue-generating component[s] in a global economy” controlled by FeedTech Corp (Bradford 130). They have no identities of their own, except as consumers profiled by the invisible marketing giant. The study of language is spurned as a historical relic in the world of Feed. Violet’s father is a professor of the “dead languages” which were once important but are now only used by historians. Reading and writing have become a thing of the past as this society is dominated by the visual. Titus is shocked when he finds out that Violet can read and write: I looked at her funny. “You write?” I said. “With a pen?” “Sure,” she said, a little embarrassed. She wrote something down. She put the pad of paper on my lap. She asked me, “Do you know how to read?” I nodded. “I can read. A little. I kind of protested it in School™. On the grounds that the silent ‘E’ is stupid.” (Anderson, Feed 50) Violet’s literacy is a result of her father’s efforts to home-school her rather than sending her to SchoolTM which is owned by corporations. These are the only two characters in the novel who display a critical understanding of the consumerist society they live in. While her father is mostly dismissed due to his age, the text gives relatively more room to the possibilities open to Violet. There are several episodes throughout the text where Violet’s rich language is juxtaposed with the poor thought and language of Titus’s friends. When the Coca-Cola company announces a scheme where you get a free six-pack if you talk about its amazing taste a thousand times, Titus and his friends decide to try it. They advertise the great, refreshing taste of coke and the different variants it is available in. Violet, on the other hand, makes an elaborate comparison of coke tasting like sweet gravel going down her windpipe. She goes on to talk about how it hurts to drink coke and how they were made to acquire a taste for it, thus hampering their attempts to get free coke. As a result, Loga and Calista 6

criticize her for using “stupid, long words that no one can understand” (Anderson, Feed 111). Violet is able to break free of capitalist conditioning and speak her mind because her father fostered her discerning mind, as opposed to the corporate schools which train kids only in consumerism. One can see from this incident the crucial role that education plays in the development of a child. The consumerist society of Feed uses this influence to make critical language and thinking a taboo. Instead of going through with their plans to get free coke, all the promotion makes them crave a coke that very moment. The scheme for free coke, then, is about instant gratification and increased sales. Referring to George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, Rachel Wilkinson draws attention to “The Principles of Newspeak” which outlines Oceania’s attempt to stamp out any dissent. It waters down language to such an extent that there is no vocabulary in which to express nuanced concepts like resistance, thus making them impossible to realise. A similar lack of articulation can be seen in Feed as well. Wilkinson points out that since Titus is fully assimilated into his consumerist culture, he is unable to express his thoughts. One of the many instances of this in the text is when he is looking for a word to describe Violet’s spine. Noticing that Titus is failing to formulate his thoughts, the feed provides him with the word “supple” (Anderson, Feed 14). Titus “knows only to articulate what he wants to buy, wear, or watch because the feed is focused solely on advertising, entertainment, and consumption. Consequently, Titus both consumes and is consumed” (Wilkinson 25). Not having had the feed until she was seven years of age, Violet understa...