Sand And Slag

“The People of Sand and Slag” by Paolo Bacigalupi is a story set in the far future about how humans can adapt to survive in the most outrageous conditions. The concept of alienation plays a major role in the story itself. It is very difficult for the audience to be able to comprehend what the characters feel and go through. In “The People of Sand and Slag”, the world is run by corporations who hire their own military in order to defend their own base. One of these corporations has three guards that live in Montana. “The People of Sand and Slag”, focus on the lives of these three guards. The guards are hired in order to watch over a huge mining operation. In order to protect the operation to the best of their abilities, a new technology was developed called weeviltech. Weeviltech allows the guards to obtain nutrition from anything seen in front of them. For example, meals include shine, mine tailings, and even dirt. They also do not need to breathe oxygen in order to survive. Another unique aspect of weeviltech is that they can regrow any parts of their bodies and also implant artificial parts into their bodies. “After diner we sat around and sharpened Lisa's skin, implanting blades along her limbs so that she was like a razor from all
The apocalypse occurs because of all the pollution in which humans create. With the oceans covered in trash and fires burning everywhere, Bacigalupi attempts to create an emotional connection between the audience and the rhetor. Attempting such a feat is not easy as the characters in the story do not seem to care about all the trash and have adapted with weeviltech in order to survive all the pollution. This is the main reason in which alienation plays a role among the audience and the rhetor. It is very difficult to connect with someone or something when there are not any similarities among the