Style
M.T. Anderson writes the dystopian novel using heavy satire of consumerism and corporate America. He presents the futuristic downfall of America clearly in capturing the deterioration of language and thought through the voice of Titus. As the readers are often denied detailed description of the main characters, Anderson creates a sense of apathy and hopelessness in the character's thoughts and actions.
Anderson presents the novel in a first-person narrative through the perspective of Titus. Significant to Anderson's narrative agenda, Titus is often presented as an unlikeable and unpredictable character. The reader is positioned to feel as though they can not rely on Titus's view of the world, as it is often skewed by media, friends, family, and temporarily—Violet. Titus's perspective also plays an important role in explaining the conditions of society—he speaks in the contemporary vernacular, expresses apathy towards the political events, and detests learning anything beyond what is required of him in School™.
Another characteristic of Anderson's writing in Feed is his ability to create authentic adolescent voices. Through this sometimes humorous technique, Anderson critiques the negative effects of a loss of independent thought in terms of the character's deteriorating morality.
In addition, the story's narrative interrupts the text with commercials for consumer products, Feedcasts, pop songs, and news snippets. The constant media/consumerist presence positions readers to analyze how adolescents are exposed to consumerism. Eventually, Anderson alludes to America being fired upon with nuclear weapons by the Global Alliance for its industrial crimes. This element lends to the apathetic characterization of the teens in the novel as well as causes the reader to question the moral complexities to understanding a consumerist, globalized world.
Read more about this topic: Feed (Anderson Novel)
Famous quotes containing the word style:
“Style is the dress of thoughts; and let them be ever so just, if your style is homely, coarse, and vulgar, they will appear to as much disadvantage, and be as ill received, as your person, though ever so well-proportioned, would if dressed in rags, dirt, and tatters.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“The difference between style and taste is never easy to define, but style tends to be centered on the social, and taste upon the individual. Style then works along axes of similarity to identify group membership, to relate to the social order; taste works within style to differentiate and construct the individual. Style speaks about social factors such as class, age, and other more flexible, less definable social formations; taste talks of the individual inflection of the social.”
—John Fiske (b. 1939)
“We think it is the richest prose style we know of.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)