Feed by M.T. Anderson

I love dystopian novels, including Feed, by M.T. Anderson. Though I am typically attracted to dystopian novels like The Hunger Games or Divergent, I was interested in this book because it is a story of a failing futuristic society that is controlled by a larger corporation. Thankfully, compared to most weeks where we have to blog on the first half of the book, I am able to rate this book an A based upon the entire book!

What I enjoyed most about this book was the way in which its themes can relate to young adolescents. From the beginning of the book, people are taught to value object, money, and entertainment, which is why they have the feed, or system-like devices installed into their brains to communicate directly to that person. The first theme I want to focus on is the theme of identity. Considering people within this book have the feed installed into their brains, often times it was difficult as readers to identify the difference in identity between characters. For example, considering the feed provides a constant stream of info on what people should buy, what to like, or what to listen to, it made it difficult to find the difference in identities between the characters (like Marty and Link).

The next way in which this book relates to adolescents is with the theme of power. As people read dystopian novels, its usually about a community or society that is in either undesirable or frightening in some sort of way. Within this book, we read on how the feed controlled everyone’s thoughts from the time they were born, to their time of death. The way the feed works tends to allow the readers and the characters within the book to know exactly who is in charge. People grow up on kids programs and attending school, and eventually become brainwashed into decisions based upon what the feed provides them with. As a reader, I enjoyed the imagery we almost see when we read about the brutality of people when they rebel against the “power.” For example, we read about the corporation’s power and brutality when the rioters were beaten into submission, which reminded me of the similar events in Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.

Relating back to the first theme I mentioned, identity, I want to touch on the role of technology and modernization. Considering the feed controls everything within an individuals mind, why would people even bother to think for themselves? Even today, in our society, I feel that technology is controlling us. Although it doesn’t make decisions for us, it seems that we overly rely on it or overuse it. It bothers me how much time my generation spends on electronics, especially cell phones. Though I fall into modern technology myself, it seems that some people wouldn’t be able to live their lives if Apple products weren’t created! Anyways, besides my rant, I feel that these technology advancements that we read about within Feed may help students realize how much we use technology. Obviously, this theme of technology and modernization would be used to stop being on electronics so much, but more of a theme to help students become more aware.

As I mentioned above, I rate this book an A because not only do I love dystopian novels, but I think this book can really help students within modern culture become more aware of technology and the ways they can find their own identity. I would really be interested to see how much of an impact this book could have within a middle school or high school classroom.