Feed by M.T. Anderson, Category B Prompt A
I created an Instagram profile for Violet from the novel Feed. Her profile picture is of a violet flower, which represents both her vulnerability and beauty. When Titus meets her, he is struck by her unique beauty, especially the lesion around her neck that she shows off rather than hiding it. Much like the flower pictured below, Violet as a character is very vulnerable. She is constantly being emotionally and physically comforted by Titus, at times seeming dependent on his presence to thrive. Her handle is "@resistthefeed" and her bio has the quote from the end of the book, which reads "Everything must go," meaning, in this case, both Violet's life and Titus's trust in the feed.
The first photo on Violet's profile is of the moon. This represents her desire to go out and experience the world. She has grown up alternatively than many of her peers-- not getting a feed until later in life, being homeschooled-- and desires to feel normal. At this point, she has a sense of hope, and while she may be a skeptic, she has yet to lose her faith in the feed.
The second photo on Violet's profile is of the Kent State riot. This represents her frustration at Loga, Quendy, and Calista when they wear clothes mimicking the attire worn at major social movements. Violet finds herself upset that the girls do not know where their clothes come from or what they signify. At this point in the novel, Violet is resisting the feed. Her distaste for the feed's constant stream of information without the addition of depth begins to come through as rude and judgmental. The other kids reject her. Violet begins to feel isolated from everyone except Titus-- although sometimes she feels that way about him, too.
The final photo on Violet's profile is of a woman lying in a hospital with wires attached to her head. This represents what Violet's final day were like. In a case of painful irony, her resistance to the feed made it so that no corporation wanted to fund the repair of her damaged feed. Violet, despite all her noble resistance, ended up dead at the end of the novel. This poses the question: was her resistance worth it, or was she too late? Could the society in the novel ever defend themselves against their own creation, or were they past the point of no return?
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| Violet @resistthefeed "Everything must go." |
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| Finally going to the moon today. After years of saving. Can't wait to like experience what life is like up there. To be meg normal. #moon #adventure #cantwait |
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| Riot clothes are meg big right now. Do they know what they're wearing? Do they know what it means? Why am I they only one that gets it? What's wrong with me? #latenightthoughts |
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| This is what my life is now. Wish I could turn it off. Wish Titus was here. #nobodyunderstands |
Hi Rebekah,
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of creating an instagram feed for Violet, though there is some (intentional?) irony in joining Instagram with a @resistthefeed user name. Your captions do a nice job of capturing the language of the teenagers in Feed, though they can sound more like Titus and his friends than like Violet. I have a question about the last post. If this is a picture of how far things have progressed with Violet, how is she still posting her thoughts to Instagram? Perhaps this could be when she is just shutting down for hours at a time.
Hi!
ReplyDeleteYes-- the irony in her username was intentional! :) I agree with your assessment that the captions sound a bit more like Titus and the others than Violet. If I'm completely honest, I had some trouble grasping Violet's characterization and voice throughout the novel. Sometimes, she sounded educated and passionate, and she was strong enough to resist the corrupt world around her. However, at other times, I found her to be dependent on Titus for validation and companionship, a stark contrast to the fierce independence she also displayed. I would posit that this could be due to the persistence by the feed of breaking her down and making her submit to its control over society. That's the only thing I can figure! She was quite the two-sided character. When creating this post, I wasn't able to get a grip on her voice. Her language was so varied in the book that I wasn't able to come up with her "normal."
As for the last picture-- you're totally right! I wasn't quite clear enough in my post, but yes, this picture would be from her time confined to a hospital bed, but before she was completely wiped of life. It would have been in the early days when she still had pieces of herself to hang onto. I apologize for the confusion!