The Genius of M.T. Anderson’s “Feed”

Feed is one of the most interesting and thought provoking books that I have ever read, I would put it up there with "Memory Police" and "1984". Although it's geared towards a young audience, it really has a meaning that I don't think many of the teenagers who read it will ever appreciate.

Of course, everyone who reads the book will understand it's overarching anti-consumerist message but I'm interested in how Anderson delivers his message.

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The first way is the most obvious, there are multiple times where people can clearly see the damage that the Feed is doing some examples are the news reports about the president and the Global Alliance. Another example would be whenever Violet's father opens his mouth.

There are also subtler but still visible signs such as the parts about climate damage and

What I'm really interested in though, is the very small things that MTA does. Take, for example, when Violet and Titus have this discussion:

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“Yeah. Unit. God, I’m so excited to be going to a real party.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Will it be like it is on the feed?”
I patted her hand. “Yeah. I mean, dumber, but yeah.”

This seems like a banal conversation but with further examination, it shows how much people rely on the Feed, even Violet who's supposed to be a Feed-denier gets her information from the Feed because there's nowhere else to get it from. I know, I'm probably overthinking it, but there are still countless other examples like this one.

My point is, MTA really paid attention to the small details in this one, and I don't see a lot of that in any the books that are new. Feed was special in that it wasn't just some other book that gave you a run-of-the-mill plot filled with overused tropes, but a unique story that made me want to read it again and again (which I did, 5 times).

It was, like I said, similar to 1984 and Memory Police because it made me pause and think.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed Feed too and if you didn't, you should probably buy it soon. I know this post wasn't well-written but it's my first so don't blame me.