Feed

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     Feed was another novel that I went into reading feeling fairly hesitant.  From the synopsis, I was worried that it would be about the author's lack of understanding about technology that makes progress into some kind of boogeyman.  I was pleased to find that this wasn't the case, especially considering the role of advertising in the story.  I think this was a very smart choice, and although advertising is certainly prevalent in lots of science fiction, I feel like it's not discussed much in the YA field of sci-fi.  Because we're surrounded by so many ads every single day, it's easy to forget just how many there are.  I really enjoyed the stylistic choice to put "commercial breaks" after every few chapters to show how integrated the feed is with Titus' life, and I think it helps reinforce the parallel experience.  The way the ads are phrased also really helps to hammer home how inane society has gotten, such as "It's dance.  It's dance, dance, dance.  That's fun.  Fun's fun, and fun's what you can have.  There's nothing to stop you from fun.  Do you see the bodies?  Can you smell the beat?  Then you'll come and roar with us (27)."  Although some kind of meaning could be gained from this ad, it ultimately doesn't matter, both to the company and to the consumers.  Ads exist because they have to (to fund the feednet), and the people will watch them because they're on the feed.
     As shown later in the novel, there's a dark side to advertising.  Violet's decline in health is ultimately due to the fact that she doesn't want to be advertised to, as she is told by FeedTech that "we don't feel that you would be a reliable investment at this time.  No one could get what we call a "handle" on your shopping habits (247)."  With its dependence on advertising, the feed has created a world where consuming is the only way you can stay alive.  Anybody who tries to live without it is ridiculed, like Violet's father, and many people like Violet probably die just to fit in with the others who have the feed.  I was especially impressed by the ending of the novel, when Titus recounts his relationship with Violet through the filter of a movie trailer.  Although he is still unable to process emotions in a mature way, he knows what emotions are and what he is meant to feel, much like music and selected dialogue in a movie trailer.  The line "Everything must go" is especially significant when considering what is happening to the world with the advent of the feed.  The slogan for a sale becomes a warning that the world is dying, and soon all of the people within it.  And the culprit of this destruction is none other than what the phrase comes from:  advertisements.

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