Finishing Feed

In my last reading of Feed, I grew very upset with Titus. Specifically, when he deleted all of Violet’s memories from his feed. To me, it seemed very insensitive, and just plain terrible. I was glad at the end when Titus got to speak with Violet’s father. I felt like he was able to kind of shed some light on Titus, and how bad his actions were. I was glad Titus was able to see the suffering that Violet had to unfortunately endure, and one line that stuck out to me was when Titus said he was sorry, and Violet’s father said, “What about for what you didn’t do?” I think this was Titus’s biggest mistake. It wasn’t that he had treated Violet wrong, it was more about what he didn’t do for her. He didn’t give her all the love he could have given her. He used her up and threw her away when he was done with her. Violet’s father related Titus’s actions to that of the culture of consumption he saw happening in Feed’s America. When he pointed out that Titus had made Violet feel sorry for dying I felt really terrible, and angry at Titus. Only when Titus visited her the last time, did I start to think he was redeeming himself a little bit. It showed that he truly cared for Violet, reading to her short lines of the things she liked to talk about. About conspiracies and the danger of the world. I hope that she was able to hear him so that she has a nice last memory of Titus, and not of their fight in the mountains. I was also very intrigued by the very last page of the book, and the lines, “Everything must go.” I really wonder what M.T. Anderson was trying to hint at with these lines. I imagine it had something to do with consumerism and the effects of the feed that the book showed, but I cannot completely decide. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book for the most part, and really liked how it picked at possible technological advancements, and the possible dangers of things like the feed.

Feed #2

The second reading of Feed by M.T. Anderson was interesting. There were some moments that stuck out the most to me. One, was when Quendy walked in with lesions all over her body. This kind of cleared up my image of what exactly the lesions were. They described how you could see her tendons and all moving inside her body. This was disgusting, and I felt terrible for her. To do that for a boy, is a lot. I don’t know how having cuts all over your body could come into style. Another moment that stuck out to me, was when Violet kind of had her freak out right before she malfunctioned. She mentioned many things that were interesting. She was pretty harsh on Quendy, calling her a monster. Quendy was probably already feeling pretty low when Violet said this too. She also screamed how they are hovering in air while there are other people starving. I found this very interesting. I think this can be related to some things we see today. There used to be a joke people would say sarcastically after someone was complaining about something, they would say, “first world problems,” kind of mocking them. I think this is kind of what Violet was saying. They are so preoccupied with their little problems of how to look best, or what’s the cool fashion trend, when there are people out there struggling to find food. She also told them to look at themselves and how they are being raised to be eaten, how they are the feed. I think she wanted to point out how consumed they are by the feed. In today’s world, I think so many people let what social media says dictate their own opinions and beliefs. I think this is similar to what is happening in Feed. They let the feed dictate their lives, tell them what to buy, and tell them what to believe.

http://www.debate.org/opinions/does-the-media-control-peoples-minds

Feed #1

Feed by M.T. Anderson has been a very interesting book so far. I did not know what to expect from it, and it has left me with a lot to think about. The first thing I noticed in the book was the way it was written. The author uses many different words, or shortened words, that is supposed to be the language of the future. I specifically noticed how he uses the word like a lot. I think he does this to try and show that people do not speak as well in this time, that they are more used to chatting on their feed, and not used to personal, spoken conversation. Seeing how much their feed is integrated into their lives, got me thinking about technology in today’s world. We are so preoccupied with our phones in today’s world, that I think we can already see some of the effects shown in Feed. The way people are always checking their social media timelines, or messages, I think is similar to the feed, and that we are ultimately leading up to something very similar. With how addicted people are to smartphones and social media, I think it is inevitable that something like what we see in Feed is created.

So far, I have been very intrigued by Violet in the story, and not so much by Titus. To me, Titus seems like he is exactly what Violet described: someone who has been so consumed by the feed his whole life that he is almost shallow, and doesn’t think much about things. Another thing I noticed in Feed, was during the part at the mall. Everything on their feed has been customized to market and sell to them personally. I feel like there are already similarities to this in today’s world. Sometimes when I scroll on Facebook, I will see ads for something I have googled earlier in the day. I think this is exactly something that could evolve into what we see in Feed.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-future-of-advertising-farewell-mass-marketing-1430105034