Feed Art Response

M.T. Anderson made many decisions when he wrote "Feed". Each decision he made was used to get a certain point or idea across. The most obvious of these ideas is the use of Titus' and Violet's contrasting backgrounds, this is used to contrast our modern culture with their futuristic culture. Also it wouldn't make any sense story wise to have Titus go around learning about his world since he's already seen it, he had to show another character around to show the reader his world. The reader is meant to see the world as Violet sees it.

Even though the reader is supposed to view things the way Violet does, Titus is still the main character and the book is written from his perspective. Obviously so we can see how the Feed works for a normal teen but also to see how a normal teen thinks in this world. Titus will say things like "We went to moon to have some fun, but it turned out to totally suck" which put things into perspective. Violet is too relatable since she reflects our time, but Titus is spoiled by his Feed and to get the full effect that the Feed has on the normal person, the reader has to see a normal person with the Feed and how they think.

Throughout the book Violet teaches Titus how to think outside the box and evaluate his culture. Violet is the voice of reason who reminds Titus that his culture is flawed. Titus also teaches Violet about the convenience of the modern (futuristic for us) world. This is to illustrate that technology has two sides to it. The culturally detrimental side which spoils our culture and makes us obsessed with consuming and following fads, and the productive entertaining side of it. The majority was the bad kind in the book but Violet seemed entertained by the new technology.

Violet's death symbolized how people who don't catch up with technology are ultimately left behind, everyone depends on technology, specifically new technology. Whatever phone, TV, gaming system etc. has to be new, Violet's Feed was an older model that was implanted late in her life, her failure to catch up to the technology of the times killed her. The overall message of the book was that excessive use of technology will destroy (or already has destroyed) our culture, and our dependence on technology makes it impossible to go back unless we question the effect it has on our culture and if that's something we really want.