Book Discussion Prep: Week #2

The word “school” is followed by the trademark symbol ™ and capitalized throughout the novel. What is the significance of this and what is the state of education?

When reading through this section of the week of the book "Feed" by M.T. Anderson, our main character and his current love interest Violet start dating. As their relationship grows we learn a lot about how different they really are. Violet grows up in a poor family which is strange because her father, from what we know, is a professor in an unnamed college or university. Which if you think about it, it's strange that their family is poor when one of the parents is a professor which pays quite a bit in this current time. This is a huge contrast from what our main character's lifestyle is like. From what we know about him, his family is rather rich, due to them just giving him a car for surviving the moon. Though we don't know their profession, they must be high paying. When they being to talk about education we find out that our main character was taught at School™. The trademark is what got me thinking, is it's trademarked it's owned by a company, and they would probably teach to promote their other products. This significance is important because we know Violet is home-schooled and our main character says she's smarter than him. Which shows that the state of education of the feed School™ is poor and manipulating the kids from a young age.

Why are these lesion popping up more and more, is it because of the feed?
I think the lesions are an effect of the feed and they use the media to brush them under the rug

What doesn't the feed corp own?
They seem to own everything on the feed, education, media, and advertisements.

Is there a rebellion against the feed?
We've already seen protestors but is there an underground revolution like in 1984.

Who Would Be Better?: Feed: Week #2

When reading this section of "Feed" by M.T. Anderson, we learn a lot about other characters throughout the book. In the book the gang and this new girl they met on the moon goes to a club on the moon. During the club scene they get hacked and their feeds shut down, they then wake up in the hospital without their feeds and are left to their own thoughts and each other to keep themselves entertained. Then after the hospital they go back down to Earth, we find out the new girl (Violet) and our main character are dating. One date they go to the mall and we see a plan that Violet has, she tries to overload her feed with useless information so that she becomes invisible to the feed. We then learn about her views on certain things, she enjoys nature even when it's dead, like when they are in the hospital and she shows our main character a dead old flower garden and says "Isn't it beautiful?" (page 62). We know that she comes from a poor family and that she isn't as reliant on the feed as the other characters we see. This is shown when she says to our main protagonist "Keep thinking. You can hear our brains rattling inside us, like the littler Russian dolls." (Page 91) This is why I think the story would be more interesting if it was shown through her eyes. Her views on everything is far different from our rich main character with all these friends.

Book Discussion Prep: Week #1

When reading the book the "Feed" by M.T. Anderson, it takes place in a future where kids begrudgingly go to the moon to escape boredom. One of the big things in this book is that this thing in the characters' mind that has an always on is something that is called the feed. It's not really specific as to what the feed is since the characters since the feed as some common occurrence. From what I read, the feed seems to be some sort of chip. This chips is located in the brain of everyone, at least everyone that we've been introduced to. This chip in the back in the mind, seems to be a constant supply of information. This is shown by them using it to find hotels, restaurants, and where they are. This also seems like a form of internet due to the pop us for food and big advertisements that you'd have to sort through to find your way. Finally it also seems like a TV because at the end of the chapter there are channels that surf through, like he's changing channels.

1. How would you feel if you were connected to the feed?

I would probably go insane due to the massive amount of information coming at me at once

2. How do you think the technology in Feed connects to the technology of today?

I feel like in connects in the way that we are always on our computers and we always have a device on us that could connect to the internet.

3. Do you think the main characters are really snobby and rude?

I think they've been really rude to each other and the people around them, they hurt each other, they hate on each others ideas, and they get frustrated easily.

Blog #16 - Feed: Week # 1

In the Fictional Dystopia "Feed" by M. T. Anderson, it takes place in a future world were people have basically the internet connected to their head and feeds through there head, completely with ads and pop ups as I saw in the first twenty pages of the book. Then they get bored and one of them suggests to go to the moon because of this cool new low gravity zone called "Ricochet", which they all don't really want to go because apparently in their mind, low gravity sucks. This is one of the reasons why I would not like to live in this time and place that is shown in the story. Number one, the people in the story that I'd have to conversant with are so snobby and boring that I would immediately despise all the people my age due to this. Another thing that would drive me mad is what the people say to each other. I never really liked the word "Dude" being said constantly, the future version of this word is now "Unit" which to me sounds like a computer-y version of this which seems almost insulting. The final reason why I wouldn't live in this world is the information, having this feed of information, though sounds great, but with the ads and popups it would get extremely frustrating, all this information flooding right in front of your face having to think it closed, I would get so many headaches if this were a thing. This is why I wouldn't like to live in this world

Is a Utopia Possible (Blog #15)

When reading the "Handmaid's Tale" by Margret Atwood. The setting was a sort of utopia to the leaders, dystopia for most of us and that got me thinking. If utopia's are so heavenly, why haven't we as humans created one. Even if we tried, why haven't they succeeded. Could a utopia even exist let alone exist forever? Another question that came to mind is that what would humans have to change to make a utopia survive. This is what I hope to answer in this blog post.

  The first question that I would like to answer is could a utopia even survive long term. I personally believe that a utopia could never survive, especially in todays world. There has always been natural laws in human nature. One of the most is Chaos Theory, this theory is that no matter how clean and pure something is it will always lead to chaos. We humans are no exception to this natural law. Another theory is the saying that the grass is always greener on the other side. Which means that if a peaceful utopia is set up in a part of the world, others will attack it out of jealousy or they don't agree with their ways. Then, there are about three possible outcomes about it. One outcome is simple, We'll lose the battle get invaded and destroyed. The second outcome is that the people in the utopia will establish some sort of forced army which will either lead to outcome one or if they win they'll suffer a lot of other problems within its citizens, especially the ones forced into the battle, which will then cause riots and then the destruction of the utopia. The final outcome is that the establish a sort of join if you want to army where people can fight for the utopia if they want to, which if they win it would be the only peaceful outcome. This means that a utopia can exist but not forever one little push on the cliff  of good with spend you falling into the pit of evil. 

 I do think it may be possible to create a sort of utopia. The only way to create a utopia on Earth is war. There are two examples that I can think of other media. One of them is George Orwell's book "1984" which ironically is know for its dystopian environment. In the book a big corporation called The Party is manipulating people to think there's this big war. The people are manipulated into loving their way of life and hating the ones they are at war with. This makes their living peaceful in their society alone. Another example is in the movie "Watchmen", the movie takes place in another world where Nixon is still President and the Earth is just about to enter a huge world destroying nuclear war. At the end of the movie it turns out the antagonist set up a terrorist attack to make it seem like it came from an extraterrestrial attack, which immediately stops the war and they all join together to prepare for this war that doesn't exist. This shows in order to have a utopia we have to unite with a common goal that effects the world as a whole.

This shows that currently there is no way to have a utopia in today's world. The only way it's possible for a utopia to exist is that the world has to agree on a common big threat to the world that will effect everyone. That is how I think that the only way to have a utopia is war.      

After The Ending (Blog #14)

After reading "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margret Atwood, rereading it, and reviewing it. I noticed the ending of the book was very open and left to the reader to make their own predictions about what happened to the characters that we've learned about. With the Historical Notes we know that "The Handmaid's Tale" was a story that was based off recorded tapes of Offred speaking about what happened. With that in mind we can assume that and the end of her story when she was being carried out she either escaped then, or she escaped later and got access to a US Military box, recording devices, and blank tapes to record on. I believe that when she escaped she either found or was taken to the Quakers, who are the rebel group very briefly mentioned in the book, and they gave her the materials need to record her thoughts and her story about her time in Gilead. One thing that I think happen is that she never saw her daughter, Luke, or even Nick ever again unless she was there during the fall of Gilead and it's ways. I say this because how could they see each other again. Offred's daughter we know is alive due to a photo provided by Serena Joy, but she's probably have the Gilead ideals and beliefs drilled into her and she may not even know she has a mother to begin with. The reason I think Luke isn't alive is mainly from what isn't mentioned in the book, Offred won't go looking for him because two out of her three ideas of what happened to Luke he's dead. Finally Nick had no need to go and be with her, he treated this whole thing as a job, he has no reason to leave his job and risk death for someone he doesn't care for. That's what I believe happened at the end of the Handmaid's Tale.

Recap (Blog#13)

In the book "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margret Atwood there was a confusing and peculiar last chapter called historical notes. I'm here to try to explain a reason why it's there in the first place. One of the reason could be through the outburst of religion at the time. As we know Gilead is an extremely religious society and there was another great powerful religion at the time of the book's publishing and people were beginning to question it. In the Historical Notes Gilead isn't even a memory that Archeologists find rare artifacts of. Then one of the Professors makes an article called "Problems of Authentication Reference to the Handmaid's Tale" which goes on to question if Offred's story was wrong. Which connects with real life because people started questioning their religious views at that point. This shows why the Historical Notes were included into the "Handmaid's Tale" and why Margret Atwood put it there.

The ending of "The Handmaid's Tale" was rather open and strange and from what people have said, they are outraged by this ending. I've come to view it in a different light which I would like to explain. I view it a much more happier light after re-reading the ending multiple times. The reason for this is because if you think of both possible outcomes freedom or death, both are positive alternatives to staying alive in Gilead. In the book the ending is that she gets "caught" and is taken away by Eyes to the front door and then that's it, the book ends and it's on with the Historical Notes. As mentioned previously any alternative would be better than living a life of lies and being miserable. So I prefer this open ending rather than a solid one. It fills one with hope that Offred's suffering will all be over soon.

Salvaging Case #1984 (Blog #12)

I Serena Joy, Wife of the Commander of Sector Thirteen, the Commander in question want to say my accounts on the matter of the case involving the scandals committed by our Handmaid Offred and the previously mentioned Commander.  After a couple days to go through the past months of memories with Offred and the past years with my "husband" I have collected myself and I'm prepared to account the days leading up to the report that I sent a few days ago when I learned of this horrible event that has been unfolded. A few weeks before making the report I noticed from my window that our Guard's hat position would change from time to time when working outside. When home I would stay out of his line of sight and see him move his hat I would then begin to hear footsteps from outside. At first I just assumed it was him running to get something, but on one of the last nights before I came to my conclusion I heard the footsteps disappear but then the Guard must've banged his foot because I heard him try to contain the scream of pain, whether he did it on purpose due to frustration I'll never know. There were other signs with the Commander too. The past few weeks he got shockingly "busy with official Gilead matters" to which he said he couldn't tell me anything that happened or even where these matters occurred when he left late at night. Now after writing this if they get to speak their mind of what they think happened I know what they'll say. They'll say that the other said they would threaten them either with blackmail or death, they might even try to blame me saying I forced them into this position which is dead wrong.

Mayday! Mayday! (Blog #11)

Mayday! Mayday! If you're reading this no one copied. I guess this could be considered a will, even though I don't really have any possessions to give to anyone. I guess I could tell whoever finds this my story but I'm afraid that I don't have enough time to tell you everything that happened to me. Time is valuable even more so when you're part of a secret organization against the horror that is Gilead. Knowing my fate I don't care about what I reveal anymore but I won't name names. To whoever finds this I choose you to give my only possession to knowledge. To the "new" Ofglen I want you to tell one of my only friend what happened to me. Remember this word because it may save your life. "Mayday." Try not to just say it because it will draw attention and you will most likely be tortured as to what you know. Work it into conversation, that's what the others that know this word will do and they will be on your side. Now back to this friend. She's lost everything freewill, family, and friends. She deserves freedom more than any of us. Help her, she may not like you at first, because she may think you as a replacement, but you have to tell her what happened to me. Who ever is reading this do this for me and I will be in your debt in the afterlife.