How would you feel if you were being shielded from the opportunity to roam free with your mind and kept in a bubble? Away from exploring the world, making your own memories, own opinions, likes and dislikes. Having someone be the puppet master to your life and calling the shots for you. It sounds like a human self torture; not being able to fully live your life the way you would like to. I’ve pretty much have established this idea from my previous blogs that the Feed does this exact thing to whoever has it is implanted in their brain.
The book is almost too prophetic with the concepts of human dependency of technology, dumb president and depleting environment from lack of human care towards the planet. And of course inevitable love story that makes teen books more appealing to young readers.This control the Feed has on humans implanted with it is strong, but Titus still managed to feel something, an attraction, towards Violet. It made me question exactly how powerful the feednet was when Titus pulled away from her while she was defective and dying. I honestly thought the Feed was taking control of him for a second but then he went back to her eventually and pushed away his need for the feed.
Recently I have finished reading this book called Everything, Everything and it made me think about Feed and some similar themes these two books had. Rebellion and love. If you haven’t seen the trailer for the movie made of the book I’ll briefly tell you what is is about.... Madeline (protagonist) all her life has had a severe case of immunodeficiency (bubble boy disease). She has stayed indoors all her life with filtration systems in the house that prevent any viruses or bacterias from entering the air and harming her.
She eventually becomes curious of the boy next door Oliver and the “outside”. She ends up falling in love and risks her life to experience one perfect day in Hawaii after running away from home. Don’t mean to spoil it BUT plot twist after she got sick in Hawaii she found out she never had SCID (the bubble boy disease )and turns out her mom was being overprotective and didn’t want to risk losing her daughter after already losing her husband and son…
All out of love though right? But seriously it’s safe to say that any type of love makes people crazy in different ways. But isn’t that craziness worth it in the end? Call me a hopeless romantic but I think love and happiness makes many things worth it.
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| Scene from Everything Everything |
Being blocked out from the world, whether it be literal or intellectual, is not living. It is only natural for one to be curious of the unknown. Wanting to explore what is out there, what one has yet to discover with their own senses. To unravel a new experience, it’s a new type of excitement. The Feed also prevented this urge for curiosity by filling one in with “information” that it wanted one to know, not the truth Madeline’s mom did this to her with keeping her trapped in doors for her whole life. It was for her protection, for her so called medical condition and to prevent any risk of anything harming her. But in the end of the day what is life, what is living if you don’t take risks?
You can’t just decide what is right or wrong for a person. One needs to experience life for themselves in order to learn through mistakes. It’s the trail and error part of life. Don’t get me wrong being safe and reassured and having a sense of control your own life is a nice thought but it just isn’t living to me. Encountering the imperfections and beauty hidden all around us, in nature and within people, is what makes being a person more liberating and well more alive.
What is happiness or love or life if you don’t try and find different ways to laugh or smile or live. To meet new people, to experience relationships, bonds, emotions; friendships or lovers, you can’t feel it without experiencing it. Reading about love or life and the idea of love is so different from actually falling and being in love. “A description of a tree s not a tree, and a thousand paper kisses will never equal the feel of Olly’s lips against mine” (Everything Everything, pg 319)How us people live and view life is a mixture a nature and nurture. Opinions, ideas, likes/dislikes all develop from instinct or from inspiration of something/someone we have seen.
I mean love is it’s own universal language. You can experience it with all 5 senses. Love and curiosity is what made Madeline run away and it’s what made Violet want to interfere with the feed. They wanted more out of their life and the ability to have the say in what they do with their own lives. The two characters both risked their own life, Violet with the tragic death and Madeline with the risk of dying from exposure to the outside before knowing the truth of her health. When the truth was revealed to them, they realized the life they were living was a lie.
Titus and Violet starting being aware of the dying planet and the corruption of the Feed, Titus after Violet's death realized he needed to break away from the control of the Feed. Madeline realized she was missing out on seeing the world, having simple luxuries like going for or walk or being around other people, friends. Different motives but they all wanted out. Out of the control of someone else and do what they want to do. Having the freedom to fend for yourself is not only a necessity but also a luxury. It’s what makes us humans impulsive and makes us have a mind of our own. If I were to be in the predicament of either character from these two different books I would choose the risk over staying the same time and time again. It’s my life and I want control of any and all my decisions. All mistakes or blessings are lessons and for humanities sake I hope whoever is reading this now or years from now has the ability to take control of their own mind and life...
Leslie C
Word Count: 1065
Sources: Feed, M.T Anderson
Everything Everything, Nicola Yoon
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