The Young Adult Fiction Feed By. Anderson - 1682 Words

The young adult fiction Feed by M.T. Anderson portrays a suburban dystopia where people’s life is manipulated by an embedded internet chip known as â€Å"the feed†. Within this novel, Anderson mainly tackles on the negative aspects of advancing technology. The development of technology has indeed led to the development of the society in various ways. This essay discusses the impact of technology on identity in a suburban adolescence context. Suburbanization is â€Å"a process by which cities expand peripherally, initially by out-migration of population and economic activity from dense urban cores, to less dense contiguous settlements.† (â€Å"Suburbanization†) Within the â€Å"Futurama† of Feed, highly advanced technologies such as the â€Å"Feed Net† and â€Å"upcar†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦show more content†¦(78) Indeed, the transportation developments in the novel make commute and logistics more efficient and convenient. These technological adva nces, however, produce negative impacts on society’s identities. They isolate people by allowing them to potentially travel further apart from each other. Isolation consequently produces less social interaction, where people are exposed to fewer chances expressing their identities to the society. People’s identity becomes a scarification of the more and more solid, yet more conservative line between private and public space. Meanwhile, in Feed, the aggressive progress in information technology is also a significant factor that contributes to identity isolation. As mentioned in part two of the novel, when Titus’ parents visits him at the hospital, a moment of awkwardness is invoked when he is trying to talk to his father in person: He stood there staring at me for a few seconds, and I was like, â€Å"What? What?† He seemed surprised, and then blinked. He said, â€Å"Oh. Shit. Yeah, I forgot. No m-chat. Just talking.† (55) It is surprising that not only the teenagers in the novel are addicted to the online chatting system, but also the adults. When required to talk in person, Titus’ father first â€Å"[seems] surprised†, indicating that he