Part 3 of Feed

I am happy to report that I have figured out how to edit my past blogs, (yippee!). So I have change the title of the "part 2 of Feed" post. Now, here are my thoughts on part 3......

Wow! This was a long section. In fact, I got very sleepy and couldn't post my blog last night, but I did manage to finish the reading before nodding out. So, here I am at 6:30 AM typing. The book continues to amaze me in so many ways. In part 3 we get a much closer look at Violet and the relationship between her and Titus. Interestingly enough, one of the points that I made in class, before reading this part has turned out to be somewhat of an underlying theme. That is, the classic American, mythic struggle between individualism and conformity. We all want to fit in to society and be one of the boys or one of the girls, but we simultaneously want to be unique and different from everyone else. In this futuristic society, the government and the large corporations in control want citizens that don't think for themselves. They prefer people that follow the rules and quietly get in line with their plan for their profit making and power mongering control of the world. Aldous Huxley explored this struggle of individualism and conformity in an essay with the same title. Here is an except:


Individualism Vs. Conformity

Summary:
This essay explores the issue of individualism vs. conformity in dystopic societies in the novels "1984," "Brave New World" and the short story entitled "Harrison Bergeron."

In all dystopian societies, there is a struggle between those who believe in the ideology of the governing body and those who choose to exist as individuals. In order for a dystopia to function properly, there must be a considerable effort to eradicate the thoughts of the individual and turn them into a functioning part of a greater society. In the dystopias we studied, there are many examples of characters that showed clearly that they wanted to remain as individuals. In all the examples, the governing body used brutality and violence to control these outsiders. The three characters that best illustrate individualism in the dystopias are Winston from 1984, Bernard from Brave New World and Harrison Burgeron from Harrison Burgeron. In each case, these individuals are confronted by the establishment and brought to conformity through brutality.....

As Huxley points out, the dystopia has to make a considerable effort to eradicate individual thoughts. We can see that those in charge of the Feed are also making this attempt. But Violet has already started on the path of individuality,starting with her upbringing by an eccentric father. She does have some pull to be like the others and be a part of the Feed, but she also wants control over that decision. Titus seems to be impressed by this quality in her and intrigued by the games she plays at the mall, but he is not yet as drawn to being different and separate as she is yet.
When she reveals that she is probably going to die soon and would like to live a little first, he goes along with it although he is skeptical. I suspect, if she does die, he will carry the torch of the struggle towards individuality by himself.

The famous 1984 apple commercial also suggests this same struggle, as depicted here: