Being in the perspective of Violet:
This is new. I am confused but oddly content with this way of life. With so many people relying on something so unoriginal and boring, I am overcome with joy of being rid of such an invention. I remember days of trying so hard to "deactivate" my Feed, that I began to give up on that dream, and would just deal with whatever filtered through my Feed. Sometimes I couldn't even sleep because my mind would be filled with Feed related things. Which unfortunately is EVERYTHING. I despise the Feed, I wish there was a way that I could forever be in the state I am now, Feed-less. That's it! Rebel, rebel, rebel against the Feed! Overtime, I will hopefully, for my own sake, be normal, or at least what I believe is normal. What everyone else thinks is normal is actually the thought of the Feed. So from now on, I will live opposing the Feed.
Now I wake, and I can think for myself and not worry about being characterized as someone I am not or do not truly want to be. I can believe in my own God, analyze things in my own way, ask questions of things I never truly understood, and maybe, finally live. Live my own way, joyous and carefree. No longer forced to hear about a new trend, or what is happening in the life of every celebrity that there is. In another aspect though, it feels lonely and distant being on a complete polar end of life than those around me. It makes me wonder if it is all really worth it. Should I be an outcast and stand up for what I think is right? Or should I conform to what is around me to forever be linked with everyone in the same way they are to me? But would I be able to call that a real relationship? Would we really be linked? Would we really connect on a level that can be seen as friendship? I sit here, thinking to myself, why do I so badly want to be different from those with a Feed when there is nobody to be different with me. Would I be contradicting what I want to accomplish? Even without the Feed, I still feel my head will explode with loads of uncertainty and confusion. The Feed will still dawn over me even when nonexistent.
Being in the perspective of Violets father:
I've never really been on the same level as those who had the Feed put into there brain. But I have a general idea of what it must be like due to me having a generic type Feed. I've always felt a bit of distance from my daughter due to the fact of our Feeds being on a different scale, hers being much more advanced in a way. I know she still looks up to me for wisdom and knowledge because I stay true to my belief that experience is always going to beat out technology. I miss the times where the Feed didn't run our lives and I could simply live freely. My mind was my own back then, and had nobody to tell me what to think and when to think it. I always wish I could turn back time and bring Violet along with me to show her a world that wasn't fully incorporated. A world where diversity was everything and people encouraged it, and not forced it. Those people that experienced what I did in my opinion "sold out" to what has become of today. Those who rely on the Feed are far beyond lacking a sense of reality. They will never fully understand what life is, was, could have been. They will accomplish nothing, but be told that they did it all within there time on this Earth.
I think you hit the purpose of this post dead-on.
ReplyDeleteYour portrayal of Violet was very true to her character. She had a sense of non-conformism but was still afraid to fully shy away from conforming to others. I feel as though she didn't want to be an outcast. She was afraid of being alone. "I sit here, thinking to myself, why do I so badly want to be different from those with a Feed when there is nobody to be different with me. " She wonders why she thinks the way she does sometimes. Why would she want to be alone? We all like having that feeling of companionship. I'm sure that many of us would feel strange having no friends or relationships.
As for Violet's father, you portrayed his character well also. He thinks that the generations with Feeds are truly missing out on the real world. Because he's experienced things in the real world, he feels as though people will never know what is really out there. It is true in that they will maybe never accomplish anything. How will that make them feel? Like a loser? I would hate to say that I have not accomplished anything. Accomplishing goals makes me feel like what I did was worth it. It just makes you think what people would feel if everything was just done for them...yes it would make life easier but would'nt you feel upset that you have nothing to say for yourself??
I LOVE your Violet perspective. I think it is dialog that she would be thinking about when laying in bed or sitting alone. I think the way you say "I can think for myself and not worry about being characterized as someone I am not or do not truly want to be" is Violet inside and out. People in the book think of her as weird and different, but in the reality of our generation she would be someone we would see as normal and befriend her. I think that quote also characterizes teenagers today. Everyone is always all.. "I don't want to wear the same shirt as her.." and wants to be different but then when they try, they get shot down. This is great!
ReplyDelete"Those who rely on the Feed are far beyond lacking a sense of reality. They will never fully understand what life is, was, could have been. They will accomplish nothing, but be told that they did it all within there time on this Earth."
ReplyDeleteI really liked the way you ended with Violet's dad's perspective here. As I read it though, I couldn't help myself from trying to relate it to what our lives consist of now. Obviously the characters in the book with their Feed's are missing out on a lot more than we are today. But do you think that if someone from a few generations back were to come back and observe us "living" now they might say something similar? Just like the Feed is preventing the characters in the novel from experiencing "reality", I think computers, television, ect. could possibly be doing the same for us today. Again, it was just something I thought about as I read your version of Violet's dad's perspective on his daughters generation. I mean, come on, am I really experiencing "real life" by sitting here staring at a computer screen for hours a day?
I think you nailed Violet's dad's opinion head on and, like Evan, I really liked the closing thought for that section. After reading feed I started to see my parents perspective on certain issues, like why do we have to have our cell phones on us at all times? Sometimes I wonder if we're really taking life and embracing it for everything that its worth or are we, like the characters in feed, simply coasting through life without a purpose? I dont know, its just something to think about.
ReplyDelete