Feed: Dystopia
04/04/2014
Mr. Fama
ENG3U
Emily Coffey
Analytical Paragraphs: Technology & Society
Does “Earth” as described in M.T. Anderson’s Feed reflect a dystopian society?
Dystopia; a place or state characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease and overcrowding. Often referred to as an unpleasant, totalitarian or environmentally degraded state of living. M.T Anderson’s “Feed” portrayed much of earth’s natural environment as being succumbed to the ecological turmoil caused by the rapid technological advance of the human race. This progress was most present in the chapter “A Day in the Country” (139) when characters Titus and Violet visit “Filet Mignon” a meat farm in which there is no livestock but rather plantations of synthesized meat growing, with blood filled tubes running in and out of the factory. Titus’ narration explains “we could see all these miles of filet mignon from where we were sitting, and some places where the genetic coding had gone wrong.”(144) Furthermore this sense of urbanisation is shown again while Titus’ father is describing his most recent whaling trip. He explains how whales are forced to be encased in a synthetic form of protection, as described earlier the seas have become highly toxic due to ignorance of the damages of pollution. In many ways Anderson demonstrates qualities of an artificial society that has resulted in the elimination of natural components of a modern functional world. In Feed, society’s depiction of human interaction/communication was through the installation of the computer software known as the feed. The purpose behind this new product was merely a corporate opportunity for companies to market their advertisements geared toward the user’s emotional state, recent thought topics and for the government to send information. It provides access to any online resource; shopping, television and most often used in the novel “M Chatting”. A form of communication similar to instant messaging via a
Mr. Fama
ENG3U
Emily Coffey
Analytical Paragraphs: Technology & Society
Does “Earth” as described in M.T. Anderson’s Feed reflect a dystopian society?
Dystopia; a place or state characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease and overcrowding. Often referred to as an unpleasant, totalitarian or environmentally degraded state of living. M.T Anderson’s “Feed” portrayed much of earth’s natural environment as being succumbed to the ecological turmoil caused by the rapid technological advance of the human race. This progress was most present in the chapter “A Day in the Country” (139) when characters Titus and Violet visit “Filet Mignon” a meat farm in which there is no livestock but rather plantations of synthesized meat growing, with blood filled tubes running in and out of the factory. Titus’ narration explains “we could see all these miles of filet mignon from where we were sitting, and some places where the genetic coding had gone wrong.”(144) Furthermore this sense of urbanisation is shown again while Titus’ father is describing his most recent whaling trip. He explains how whales are forced to be encased in a synthetic form of protection, as described earlier the seas have become highly toxic due to ignorance of the damages of pollution. In many ways Anderson demonstrates qualities of an artificial society that has resulted in the elimination of natural components of a modern functional world. In Feed, society’s depiction of human interaction/communication was through the installation of the computer software known as the feed. The purpose behind this new product was merely a corporate opportunity for companies to market their advertisements geared toward the user’s emotional state, recent thought topics and for the government to send information. It provides access to any online resource; shopping, television and most often used in the novel “M Chatting”. A form of communication similar to instant messaging via a