Summary Of M. T. Anderson's Dystopian Novel Feed

From the moment the majority of people wake up to the moment they close their eyes to go to sleep, technology pervades their lives. Applications on smartphones, computers, television, video games--all take up a significant portion of one’s day. M.T. Anderson’s dystopian novel Feed presents an exaggeration of today’s over-reliance on technology, which Nicholas Carr’s essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” foreshadows. It asserts that society is already moving toward becoming this fictional world. Feed warns that society could become mindless and shallow if technology use is not moderated. The novel’s main character, Titus, and his friends have a feed that connects directly into their brains, providing advertisements, chat, shows, and other utilities tailored to the specific user. So
As a result, education--the acquisition of knowledge--lose importance. Titus and other teens instead spend their time seeking pleasure, going out to party or shop. Everyone is shallow due to the feeds. Big businesses make “everything more basic so … [products] will appeal to everyone… [Soon,] we get less...varied as people, more simple” (Anderson). The ease of life removes any desire to work. Unlike the majority, Violet is homeschooled and does not receive a feed until she turns seven. Therefore, she can think critically on her own. She sees something wrong with the shallowness of her society. Likewise, society regards her as strange because she correctly implements advanced language into her daily conversations. Even Titus, Violet’s boyfriend, feels inferior about his girlfriend’s superior intellect. Instead of encouraging him to think more, however, Titus’ parents purchase a new car for him. Technology also changes the way consumerism works. For Titus, it causes his problems to “go away” (Anderson). The ads for goods such as Titus’ new upcar bombard the feeds constantly, to the extent that Titus “...[wants] to buy things but…[doesn’t] know what they…[are]” (Anderson). The feed