Monday, November 28, 2011

Feed

One connection that I had to other class readings was that "Feed" reminded me of " Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. This is due to the fact, that this short story had themes similiar to the aspects of technology, controlling the lives of people.
 One question that came to mind while reading "Feed" was "what exactly was the lesions that the people had?". There was descriptions of people having lesion on their arms and jaws. Titus described the lesions as "really good to see, in the lights of the hallway". Also, Titus mentioned that there were different kinds of lesions, that people could possibly get. I could only be able to imagine, people in the future having to have their bodies covered with colorful lesions.
One connection that I made to an real-life setting, is that "Feed" made me think of how obssessed the world has came with technology. It is almost impossible, to not see someone that does not own an TV, radio, or computer in America. It was very strange, to read about how the characters in "Feed" literally did not have to own an radio, computer, or TV because it was basically all crammed inside of their heads. The characters could be able to know what was the latest fashions, without turning on a TV because the TV transmitters were basically part of their brains.
Lastly, this section could be summarized as being about in an futuristic setting were many people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment around them, and a young boy encounters an young girl who is involved in some deep conflicts in her life.
The main character of the book, is Titus. He is in his teen years, and is able to read, write, and even have his thoughts controlled by the "feed". This is an transmitter that is directly transplanted inside of his brain. Having the feed is an important aspect of life for both Titus and his buddies, not to mention his family. If not for the feed, how would the characters know how to travel to outer space, or how to carry out daily tasks like shopping? However, Titus's world is drastically changed when he encounters Violet. She is an girl who actually gives an care about the world's occurences. Violet is one person, whom is determined to fight the Feed. She also challenges and rises against what Titus and everyone close to him holds dear and treasures.
The section titled "Moon" goes farther into introducing the lives of Titus and his friends. His friends and him decided to venture on an trip to the moon during spring break. This is due to the fact, that they insist that they have absolutely nothing to do at home. They try to seek out excitement on the moon with other kids their age. However, they appear to become easily bored with everything they encounter, after an few moments. That is when Titus first sees Violet. The rest of the section, can be summarized as being about how Titus found Violet to be the most beautiful girl that he had ever encountered. Even though Violet appears to be more mature than Titus and his friends, Titus realizes that this is the girl that he wants to be with.

My overall philosphy on the first part of "Feed" which is titled "Moon" is that it is an very unusual and unique book. When I am teaching in the classroom, I will make sure to bring this book into the classroom, when I am teaching an lesson on technology. I found this book to be easy to read, even though I might not have been aware of what the author was trying to decipher at times. I at first, was put off by this book. However, I was able to read the book from start to finish, once I was able to get past the first few pages.

1 comment:

  1. Today during class, the aspects and themes of this book was discussed. It was mentioned, how the major underlying themes are education, technology, consumerism, alienation, conformity, corporate infleunce, privacy, environment, government, genetics/eugenetics, American identity, manipulation, and mob mentality were all important aspects of this book. My group choosed to discuss how education was one major underlying factor in the story.

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