Teni Ashinwo Mr. Bradshaw English honors 10 May 8th 2023 How are Consumerism and Technology Related to Loss of Identity? Consumerism and technology are related to loss of identity, technology has become a big part of everyone’s lives and it also relates to the threats of corporate power and constant consumerism in the real world. Feed is a young adult dystopian novel written by M.T. Anderson about a group of teenagers with microchips in their brains called feeds that allow them to access the internet in their heads. In this book technology aka the feed allows for consumerism because it bombards its user with an endless stream of personalized ads, nudging them into a lifestyle of constant consumption (Arn). Consumerism is the fixation of society on the acquisition of consumer goods. Consumerism makes it easier for technology to replace human relationships with technological ones. Consumerism and technology can cause identity loss by making it easier for trends to become part of people’s identities. Everyone in feed but violet were consumed by technology. Throughout the book, Violet acts as the voice of reason in a sea of brainwashed consumers, pointing out when Titus and his friends are viciously rude, immature, or spoiled. “Stop it! People are starving. We’re playing games, and our skin is falling off.” She continues, shrieking, “You don’t have the feed! You are feed! You’re feed! You’re being eaten!”(Anderson 197). The readers are shown multiple examples of when people buy things out of habit, not need, and the females harming themselves to fit the beauty standard because of a trend. M.T Anderson’s Feed is a novel that mocks how Ashinwo 2 people globally are increasingly becoming dependent on technology and exposed to consumerism (The Theme Of Consumerism In Feed By M. T. Anderson). People in Feed lost their sense of identity and let the feed think for them. An example of people losing their sense of identity in the book was with the lesions. When lesions were first introduced in the novel, they were regarded as disgusting. However "The stars of Oh? Wow! Thing! had started to get lesions, so then people started to think better of lesions." (Anderson 96). Towards the end of the novel, girls are even getting fake ones. According to Titus, Quendy, "Had lesions all over her. When she moved her head I could see a lesion on her neck open."(Anderson 221). At first, citizens are rightly disgusted by all the holes that are forming in their skin, but the media manages to change their minds. By associating the stars of Oh? Wow! Thing! with these lesions, they made them acceptable. Eventually, people began to see them as attractive and girls began getting fake lesions. Quendy got hundreds by choice all over her body. Constant exposure to the media and glamorization can cause people to believe that anything is attractive. Even rotting flesh. In Feed, consumerism and technology are killing people slowly even though they are portrayed as the norm in society. In the book Feed technological advances have robbed the characters of their individuality (Society Molds Human Identity In Feed By M. T. Anderson). The feed has decreased people’s intelligence, stunted their emotional development, and made them blind to the reality that corporate greed has led to widespread human suffering and environmental destruction, even as its proof is written on their bodies in the form of raw, red lesions caused by industrial pollution (Full feed Analysis). The feed has because of a normal thing in their world they don’t care about the negative aspects of it, only the positives. Differences are frowned upon in Titus' society. As a result, all Ashinwo 3 the characters have become sheep and just follow the trend like social media in today world. They alter themselves and their interests to follow society’s standards. The feed tells them who they are and what they need to act like (The Importance of technology in feed). The characters do not want to ignore the feed because they want to be the people that society wants them to be. The feed gives them access to what was cool like outfits and cars. It tells them what clothes and things to do were trending at the moment. Furthermore, they do not see the dangers of the feed, they know that without the feed they would be outcasts and different and most of the characters in the novel want to be liked (Society Molds Human Identity In Feed By M. T. Anderson). No one in this book but Violet seemed to care about that when she was explaining the bad aspects of the feed to Titus he didn’t really care he said“This is the kind of thing people talked about a lot how Everything on the feed has its price, and okay, it may be true, but it’s also boring, so I was like, ‘Yeah. Okay. That’s the feed. So what?’” (Anderon 111). The feed has prevented the characters from making their own identities, but they don’t mind because it gives them information on how to act and what to do. If people allow technology to control their lives, the future world could turn out to be what is depicted in Feed (Arn). Anderson wants the reader to understand the impact technology has on our lives as well as how the media has the power to influence and control us. Therefore, Anderson cautions the reader about the potential future our civilization may face if we don't make a change soon. He worries that one day technology may exceed humans by producing a society of idiots as in the novel Feed (Cartwright). There are scenarios of the world that we live in. Humans are losing their sense of identity and intelligence as a result of the influence of technology over the human race. Ashinwo 4 Works Cited Anderson, M.T. feed. Boston, Candlewick press. 2012 Arn, Jackson. "Feed Themes: Corporations and Consumerism." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 13 Dec 2017. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/feed/themes/corporations-and-consumerism Cartwright, Ayla. “'Feed' demonstrates how starved society is thanks to technology.” Tribune Teen panel. Great falls tribune.com. February 21 2018. https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/life/2018/02/21/book-review-feed-demonstrates-how-sta rved-society-thanks-technology/358726002/ “Consumerism in Feed” IPL IPL.org. N.d https://www.ipl.org/Consumerism-In-Feed-PKWVC2QBUXFT “Full feed analysis” SparkNotes LLC. Spark notes.com, feb 22, 2023 https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/feed/analysis/ Society Molds Human Identity In Feed By M. T. Anderson IPL IPL.org.December 25, 2017 https://www.ipl.org/Society-Molds-Human-Identity-In-Feed-By-5D2F8D13563A8586#: “The importance of technology in feed.” Bartleby. Bartleby.com. January 15, 2018 https://www.bartleby.com/The-Importance-Of-Technology-In-Feed-PJXZXQMB2P6#: “The Theme Of Consumerism In Feed By M. T. Anderson.” IPL IPL.org.December 13, 2017 https://www.ipl.org/The-Theme-Of-Consumerism-In-Feed-By-FJMCAGFUYT
