Just Keep Running Dude

In the beginning, I felt that I could relate and understand Titus’s struggle as a young man in this new technological world. He was different than his friends, he got the girl, a unique intelligent woman named Violet. But as the story progresses, and Titus is faced with heavy decisions, he starts to show his true colors as a man and what kind of people this society molds. After their traumatizing experience on the moon, the only person who’s feed was truly affected, was Violets. Now this wouldn’t be such a huge deal if the feed was connected to your body, affecting your brain as well as your nerves and immune system. later through the story, she goes on to tell Titus that her feed was slowly deteriorating(170 Anderson). As he found out that she was sure as dead, he started to distance himself. Now I understand, when you mourn or have trouble coping with heaving situations you may push those problems away, I’ve been in situations in my life where that seemed like the only option. Titus however, whether it was the guilt for bringing her there or just the shittiness of losing a loved one, he exiled her. On page 201 she has a complete melt down, understandably she's dying from the inside out. During the break down he supports her, but as they’re in the hospital he starts to question what she really had done. “I wanted Violet to be uninsane again, just a person who would touch my face”(211). she then even went to the extent of saying she was sorry, which didn’t hit home until her father screamed in his face on page 291. He is lacking this sympathy that’s hard for someone like myself to relate to.

When she starts to fade you see Titus lose his independence from his friends, looking for support to run from this weight on his shoulders. He was a relatively straight edged guy, but when Violet is headed to the gallows he malfunctions with his friends, and goes to the extent of seeing her while he's tripping sack(243).  If I was put in the same situation, I’d like to think that I would have stayed with Violet until death. It’s a scenario much like if your significant other had cancer and was told they only had a few months left to live. Would you be there for them as they start to whither away? As the chemo and cancer slowly destroy their body, and you know that this person will soon be gone, do you support them until death or do you distance yourself because you think you can’t take the pain that comes with acceptance of their inevitable fate. Titus chooses selfishness, Violet, a broken human who used to be his other half, was treated almost disposable in his eyes. At one point violet sends him stories about her life, who she was when she was younger and her family. Once she's finished sending him her life story, he deletes it(254), honestly I’m not sure why. It may be that he doesn’t love this girl and for her to be so invested in him he becomes unattracted to her. “You were just planning this whole eternal thing, and I was supposed to automatically love you always, but I didn’t even know. I was just thinking about going out with you, and would have some fun for a few months…”(271). After that he ignored her, hanging out with friends and now dating Quendy, Titus went on to live his normal life as Violet slowly broke down. What an asshole.  But then again, what am I to say about this guy? Obviously what he had done was not the right thing to do but how could he know any better. The way his society is conditioned, people are disposable and he had never been introduced to this kind of death, not knowing he should be making Violets last days her best. By the time he realized what wrong he had done she was already gone, almost lobotomized. He didn’t even initiate the visit, Violet's father messaged him, telling him that she wanted to let Titus know when she was completely gone(283). I would be lying if I didn’t say I hate Titus, because I do. Whether or not he will resist the Feed now doesn’t really matter to me. He abandoned this girl, sure he didn’t know her for very long, but for me to put myself in his shoes, I can’t even fathom how he took the actions he did. Anderson creates a terrifying representation of what our humanity will become as technology becomes a more immersive part of our lives.

Luke D. Prompt 2

Works Cited

Anderson, M. T. Feed. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick, 2002. Print.