The Loss of Innocent
Whose perspective is missing?
As I am approaching to the end of "Feeds", by M.T. Anderson, I've noticed another reason for the perspective the author has chosen. Titus, whose life is controlled by mechanism, is going through a stage of "evolution". I believe that the author has purposely excluded the voice of Violet, who is his girlfriend, because of their differences in the social classes. Overall, it seems to me that Violet's perspective has been limited because of the author's message.
Based on the text, I infer that M.T. has chosen to eliminate her point of view in order to let Titus go on a loss of innocent journey. For example, he had matured a lot from the beginning of the story because of Violet. She was born from a poor family and could not afford many things the other ones could. As a result, she is more independent and smart than the average humans that only rely on "feeds", these mechanical brains, to work from them. Even after Violet has a feed, she never gave up from her usual life, still continuing to read and write, unlike the other ones. I feel that M.T. had excluded her point of view to make Titus realize how he had always taken things for granted. Indeed, he had started to mature a bit after knowing her situation. The confusing thing is, I think that it is common for people to feel that it is mandatory for them to have what they have because they have it, and because of this, they don't know how it feels to be the opposite. I infer that the author's purpose to limited Violet's voice is to allow readers to know how the rich people understands the situation and have Titus go on a loss of innocent journey.
Second off the bat, with Violet's point of view excluded, it gives a big impact to the story. Like as mentioned before, not only did Titus grew up, but the maturity of us, as cautious readers, have also been raised. I did not know that because Violet is poor, it made her independent as an individual. She does not rely on much things because she's the "stick" that she can hold on to. The author slowly revealed the idea that you shouldn't take things for granted by applying Violet's point of view here and there. At first, all I've noticed about the story is Titus's almost-perfect life. Going to the moon, hanging out with friends, going to the club, were all pretty good experiences. This kind of life that makes me jealous of, was more stand out than the others. The effect was that it made me think that this was what happened to everyone in the story every single day, until Violet came along. I've came to believe that the author was giving us this outstanding, flawless life in the beginning, to compare it with a complete opposite one to make us realize the difference and its impact.
To sum it up, Violet's point of view has been excluded it order to give this image of perfection, making Titus mature from his thoughts. Now that I think about it, it is like writing a debate or a speech. Comparisons are made in order to emphasize and deepen your points. W.T. had purposely made Titus's perspective stand out and eliminated Violet's, because he want him to grow up from the wide-innocent-eyes character. He had us thinking, to value things more. Therefore, I believe that her outlook of the story has been intentionally taken out.
I like you bring up the issue of wants and needs in your blog post. I agree, a lot of people think that what they have is mandatory, because they don't know what life would be like otherwise. I also thought it was interesting how you talked about the story being about Titus' loss of innocence, and that is why the author chose to leave out the other characters perspectives.
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