We take life for granted. Most of the people on the earth
take their life for granted almost every single day. They rarely count their
blessings and make the best out of every opportunity that is handed to them. Our
time on this earth is very precious and limited. The only time we start to realize
how quickly our life can be taken away from us is when something tragic
happens, such as a death of a love one, illness, a car accident, etc.
In the novel, The Feed
by M.T. Anderson, Violet is slowly dying since her feed is malfunctioning.
Violet received the feed later in her life and her brain was already used to
functioning without the feed. Her getting the feed implanted later than she was
supposed to be very risky to her health and her future. When Violet was a
child, her parents did not want her to have the feed and could not afford for
her to have the feed. One day, her father decided that she should have the
feed. He explains how he lost a job opportunity because he did not have the
feed and did not want the same thing to happen to his daughter.
Violet explains to Titus that she went to the moon during
spring break to see how people live and to have fun. “Like a punishment. The
first night. That guy. The hacker. It was like I was being punished for even
trying” (Anderson 270). Violet unfortunately never recovered completely from
the hack like the rest of the group. The doctors at the hospital told Violet
that her feed could not be fixed and her malfunctions would ultimately become
worse. No good deed goes unpunished. She tried to have fun in her life and in
the end she was punished for it. No matter how many good deeds we try to do for
ourselves or someone else, someone may always find a fault in that deed. Unfortunately
for Violet, her punishment was getting her feed hacked and not being able to
recover.
Since her feed began to malfunction more often, Violet would
have seizures, lose feelings throughout certain her limbs, and started to lose
her memory. Unfortunately her brain relied on the feed to live, so doctors
couldn’t remove the feed. Also, the feed was rusting in her brain along with
the other problems would eventually cost Violet her life. When Violet realized
she didn’t have much time left, she made a bucket list of all the things she
wanted to do before she died.
Violet had a seizure that made her lose a year’s worth of
her memory from when she was younger. After her seizure, she wanted to do the
things that show that she was alive. She demonstrates to Titus that her ideal
way of living is all the opening credits to sitcoms (page 217). Corporations,
technology, and society influenced her thoughts of life and happiness. Why did
it have to take her to get hacked to make a bucket list of things she wanted to
do before she died? I think she could have used the feed to her advantage
before she got hacked to complete her bucket list. In the end she does not
complete her bucket list because of her fight with Titus and how ill she gets. Throughout
her short life, Violet should have thought about things that would have made
her happy.
In the song, “I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack, she sings
about not taking life for granted. Also, she explains how living might mean
taking chances, but they are worth taking. No matter what you do, time is a wheel
in constant motion and is always rolling us along. Time does not wait for
anyone and we may think that there is always tomorrow, but the truth is
eventually we won’t have a tomorrow. Time runs out for all of us and we should
take advantage of the little things in life. Whether the little thing is
dancing, hanging out with friends, or going to the beach we should do whatever
makes us happy.
At a young age, we are taught to take things for granted. Today
kids who are two years old have a smart phone or a tablet to keep them
occupied. Even their toys can somehow be connected to a smartphone so they can play
on the go without having to take the toy. Technology is not teaching children
how to live. They are learning that it is acceptable to live inside the comfort
of your home not doing anything expect playing games on a tablet. We are only
here for about a hundred years and we should not be sending that time on a
tablet or a smartphone. We should be exploring areas and making memories with
our friends and families. I mean, it is
kind of hard to make memories when no one is talking to each other and they are
all in their own world on a phone.
Do not take one single breath for granted and start living
your life today. We should not wait until the very last minute to start living because
we never know when that last minute will be. Start making your bucket list
today and think about how you are going to complete that list.
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