Damn can a N**** catch a break?

Let’s start off what does it means to be “Like A Winding Sheet”? I had no idea what this while I was reading the story. “Winding sheet” gives a symbolic effect on how black people are privileged to sleep on a white sheet. In this case, I think that Johnson is privileged to be able to live in a white society. However, he runs into countless times where he is discriminated against or treated differently by a white person. He tries his best to do right and to have other people look pass his “color of his skin”. He wants to be treated like a normal person, but three times in the story, his patience is tested.

The main character Johnson reminds me an average low class African American that is trying to motive himself to constantly go to work to a job that he does like, low pay, and the labor is crazy on his legs. He's been at his job for two years and continues to make improvements for the employees. He knows how sore his legs get every morning and that makes it harder for him to start off his day.  However, “my guy has the same problem that I have”. He tends hold all his grudges inside because he does not know how to handle it and properly release or deal with it.

Johnson’s first encounter with negativity was when he was late to work. Johnson works during the late evenings at a plant ran by Mrs. Scott. Mrs. Scott doesn’t like when Johnson is late so she went off on him. Mrs. Scott says to Johnson, "And the niggers are the worst. I don't care what's wrong with your legs. You get in here on time. “I'm sick of you niggers” (1499). Personally, I think that going off on him was not called for. Johnson is already suffering from leg problems and yet he does not let that stop him from making that chicken!! Mrs. Scott called Johnson a “nigger” and ya’ll already know that should have went!!! Mrs. Scott says to Johnson, Johnson refrains from putting his hands on his boss and took the short. Back in the day, African Americans struggled to get a job therefore I understand why Johnson did not put his hands on her. He would have gotten fired and would not have been able to take care of himself and his lovely wife!

Johnson’s second encounter was with the coffee lady at the coffee shop. After the encounter with his boss on his tardiness, Johnson wanted to ease his mind and buy himself a coffee. Next thing you know the lady says “there will not be anymore coffee for a while” (1502). After hearing that he probably have the straightest face of disbelief. This also reminded me of the movie “Hidden Figures” directed by Theodore Melfi. In the movie Katherine Johnson wanted to get some coffee the next morning at work in her office. When she walked over where the coffee mugs were, the other workers gave her small mug which had a label on it saying “blacks only”. Katherine worked in a mostly white environment. At the time, blacks were only allowed to work as “computers” and there were rarely promoted while working for NASA. Katherine knew that she was going to experience some sort of racisim in her job culture, but that did not stop her from giving her 100% to her job. This is similar to Johnson who give his 100% but is pushed to test his patience at different moments.

Lastly, after a long, exhausting, and racist B.S. day, Johnson is on his way home to see his beautiful wife. (Pause), ladies when a man had a long day at work and see that he’s tired go and comfort your man and make him feel appreciated when he gets home. Now Johnson arrives at his house and ends up arguing with his wife. Throughout the argument she eventually says, “You’re nothing but an old hungry nigger trying to act tough.” (1503). (Pause again), Men do not like when their manhood is being tested. Men are supposed to be strong and the provider of the family. However, his manhood was being tested all day, especially by all women that make it even worse.

After everything that happened to Johnson he recognize the red lip stick that his boss was wearing when he was late for work and also now that I think about it, it was kind of her fault why he was late to work in the first place. Johnson snaps and goes crazy on his wife and starts to hit her countlessly. I’m not saying Mae deserves to get beating up, but in the story it did not tell us when Johnson stopped beating his wife Mae. I feel like that represents how today in society that everyday woman constantly get abused my males and that African American constantly deals with everyday racism and it hasn’t stopped yet.  

Steven E.

If That Ain't Love (Then I Don't Know What Love Is)

Domestic Violence... a very touchy topic in the world with mixed opinions all around.

Lets start with a little definition:

Domestic Violence - the act of either physically or verbally abusing your partner in patterns. So no, this isn't just a once in a while event. There begins to be points in every relationship where the partners argue, but confrontation is a part of life, nobody is perfect. But there begins a time where the problems arise from almost nothing and it becomes to be felt as emotional abuse.

The severity of the domestic violence varies in each situation, but it stems from insecurity and the need to maintain power and control over one another. Domestic Violence can lead to suicide, physical injury and scaring, and low self esteem/emotional instability.

The problem with this is that its not always evident who has these intentions on harming someone, until the two people get deeper into emotions with each other. The deeper you dig, the more you find out about a person obviously, so someone could seem so perfect for you in the beginning, but once the feelings evolve, true colors show.

Lets be real, Domestic Violence really shouldn't be taken lightly, for both male and female. Some men are abused by their women but are afraid to speak up because they don't want to seem weak or inferior. Look, regardless of who you are, if you have someone who is crazy as hell trying to dictate your every move, they make you question your life in a negative way, and they do nothing to make you feel safe and secure, then why are you stuck with that person? If you are in an abusive relationship, speak up. Don't allow yourself to be a victim, you are the controller of your world, nobody else. 

One of the worst factors about domestic violence is denial, when a person is too deep in love to admit that their partner is in the wrong for scolding them for behavior they found to be inappropriate or offensive. A person in denial will make up excuses as to why their partner physically/verbally harms then, claiming that maybe they did do something wrong to anger them. Some people will cover up the truth because they are either embarrassed or don't want to ruin the other persons reputation. 

A short story called "Like A Winding Sheet" discusses this barbaric feeling this man got one day, where he could no longer hold in his anger, as he was fed up with three women he encountered. The first encounter was when was at work, his boss, Mrs. Scott, had also been in a crabby mood when she mistakenly called Mr. Johnson a "nigger"... yes, with the hard -er. Now it's not clear what her nationality/ethnicity is, but regardless this really ticks him off and he feels disrespected. During this encounter with his boss, hehad his fist clenched as if he were ready to swing on her, "but he couldnt bring himself to talk to her roughly or threaten to strike her like a lot of men might have done. He wasnt made that way," (Petry 1499). Luckily, he let the anger slide. Later that day, he was trying to get coffee, but the lady had ran out and he wasn't able to buy any which really pissed him off.  he was seconds away from striking this woman, but he kept his composure and went about his day.

Now later on when he was home, his wife had set him off. He did the unthinkable, he started to beat her. Earlier in the story, the author made it seem like he would never put his hands on a woman, but his anger got the best of him and he hit her multiple times. I feel as if he waited to take his anger out on his wife because she might not tell, she'd probably the problem between them two and not tell the cops. If he were to hit one of those other women out in public, he most likely would have went to jail, but since its behind closed doors, he got away you.

Male or Female, it isn't right to put your hands on anyone to express your anger. Theres always a way to resolve problems by talking it over, don't turn your issues physical. It doesn't matter who you are, everyone in this world should be granted equal power and an equal voice, nobody should overshadow anyone. Don't be a victim of Domestic Violence, it may seem like a passing problem at first, but the problems will only continue to grow. Don't surround yourself with toxic people who don't care about your well being, be around people who wish the best for you, and promote your safety and happiness.

Words hurt just as much as fists and guns, just because a person doesn't speak up about their feelings, doesn't mean they aren't affected, they're just afraid of seeming weak to others. Instead of worrying about what others think, worry about your safety. Do not continue to let yourself seem vulnerable to anyone, whoever it is, speak up and look for help. Disconnect yourself from negativity.

-Terrel

Love shouldn't hurt...

Ok so Today Ima talk about a topic that might annoy some of you but then it might interest many of you...DOMESTIC VIOLENCE is the most disgusting act someone can do to the person they "love". It's sad how people believe that it's a way of punishing or reprehending their loved ones. Women are not the only ones getting beaten or abused physically and/or emotionally. Believe it or not, 40% of domestic violence is suffered by men. Yeah yeah I know you must be thinking "well women's percent must be wayyy higher than that" and you're right but look at this video and I know it's gonna leave you thinking...

I hate how we only hear stories about women suffering from domestic violence like that shit is not fair... In the story "Like A Winding Sheet" by Ann Petry we can see how she talks about women being abused once again. The main character in this story kept telling himself he would never hit a woman because a woman could never hit as hard as him but in the end, he hurt a woman that was so close to his heart who he supposedly loved. Can someone please explain to me how is this love? How can someone possibly hurt their "loved one" so badly and make them feel so worthless...It makes me mad and it frustrates me to see these kinds of situations that occur on a daily basis.. people SPEAK UP! I don't care if you're a guy and you think you're too tough or too manly to admit that you are being abused by your girlfriend! Be a man and seek for help instead. 

There's also a poem that I read and it's called "The Mother's Tale" by AI. The Mother in this story tells her son to beat up his wife often and this way she'll be a good wife to him.. Am I the only one thinking WTF IS WRONG WITH THIS BITCH?! Is she being serious? how can she tell her son to do that? would she want her husband to do that to her? I'm sorry...this made me mad af because it really is sad and frustrating that women are fighting with one another when we could all be working together as a team. Okay but that's another subject completely different so let's stick to the main idea of this blog which is men being victims of domestic violence. We don't see this kind of issue being supported in this poem, do we? I mean his mom is telling him to beat up his wife and that this way his marriage will be successful... I bet she was abused by her husband too and she wants everyone to experience that? Why can't she just teach her son to respect and love his wife without domestic violence... How is domestic violence going to better his marriage, something doesn't add up here..or what do you guys think?

I read a book last semester about domestic violence in men and this subject kind of fascinates me in a sense that it makes me wanna do something about it to change people's mentality about this issue. The book was called "Abused men, The hidden side of domestic violence" written by Philip W. Cook and he explains his point of view in this terrible issue so I recommend you guys to read it if this is a subject that interests you as much as it interests me.

You guys wanna know what else is sad? when a woman hits a man everyone says "He probably deserves it" or "yes girl keep going" but when a man hits a woman people say "how cruel and abusive" or "what a piece of shit"... this leaves me thinking.. how fucked up is our society that woman are allowed to hit men and it's completely normal and it was probably the guy who did something to deserve that.  

I'm gonna tell you guys a story that I find absolutely interesting and sad at the same time... I know someone who suffers from domestic violence but was too blind or too "in love" to realize that he was being abused by his girlfriend. At first, I would talk to him about it and he would say "I'm bigger than her If I wanted I would hurt her" He didn't believe he was in an abusive relationship. He was basically in denial. He would always say "men don't suffer from domestic violence". He was so ignorant and oblivious and it just made me mad to see him like this. One of the answers that I found most disturbing or aggravating was "my girlfriend is emotionally abusive, manipulative and controlling but I just can't leave her because I love her and part of me still care about her funny and sweet side since that's the reason I fell for her years ago". UGHHHH tell me if that doesn't make you madddd.. like he truly loved her and that's how she treated him? I'm just glad after 3 years he was able to leave that toxic ass relationship that was hurting him so much and now he is happy and free. I know I know many of you must think he was lucky to get out of that relationship but most men stay trapped in it, well if you suffer from domestic violence don't stay shut, don't hide it because its just gonna kill you... literally! 

This goes for males and females. Don't stay in a relationship just because you feel like you have to, hope they will change, or still love them for who they were before. People change and you just need to know when to put yourself first. Imagine giving your all to someone and they just take advantage of you, use you, manipulate you, and abuse you. If you stay with them after all that, you need to reevaluate your life. You're better than that. You don't deserve this shit. Put yourself first always. It's okay to be selfish if it means taking care of yourself, putting yourself first, and staying safe. Think of it this way... how would your mother feel if she found out you were being abused? She wouldn't like that obviously so don't put her in that position to feel that way. STAY STRONG. STAND UP FOR YOURSELF.



Melissa F.

Winding Sheet?

A Winding Sheet, a sheet a corpse is wrapped in for burial. This is how Mae had described her husband in bed, "You look like a huckleberry in a winding sheet" (1498). I'm gonna be honest I didn't know what that meant until I reached the end of the story. Now obviously, there is a deeper meaning here. Ann Petry, the author, names her title, starts the book and ends the book with this one phrase. Like a Winding Sheet. What is the analogy and what is the deeper meaning? Before we get into to that let me give y'all a little summary of the story.

The main character, Johnson, is in a loophole of a life. He goes to a job that he hates, which takes a beating on his legs because he never sits. He's been at the job for two years and is still not accustomed to how things work. So overtime he builds up this anger from the job that keeps boiling up. One of these day he comes in to work late, as he usually does, and his boss, which is a female, has had enough. So she has the audacity to call Johnson a nigger. This is what she says, "And the niggers are the worst. I don't care what's wrong with your legs. You get in here on time. I'm sick of you niggers" (1499). This had caused the peak of Johnson's anger, but even then he held it in. As the story continues he gets discriminated against because he was black, and yet again, keeps his anger bottled in. When he gets home to his wife, he was already annoyed, so every little thing his wife Mae did, pissed him off. So, when she calls him a nigger, "You're nothing but a old hungry nigger trying to act tough..." (1503). Johnson took out all his anger on his wife. He beat her over and over again and the story ends right there. 

No resolution and no solution, it's left for the readers to use their imagination. This story honestly scares me because it's so close to reality. Guys don't know how to handle and let out their anger, so they come home and lay all out on their wives or significant other. It just pains me to think of men treating women like that. When talking about domestic violence it gets tricky because the only solution seems to be leaving the husband. Where does that leave the husband and/or the family? The husband is still left with his anger issues and in result could harm another female. So, what's the solution? Well, the female should seek help with their significant other and help them get though their anger issues. And sometimes just talking to that significant other could make them feel better, because whatever's bottled in, they could release it through communication. Now, if they refuse help, then that's when the female should leave because she doesn't want to put her or her family's life in harms away.

I know I veered off course a little, but I had to say something. Alright back to the story. So, how does a winding sheet play into this story. At the end of the story, Ann Petry tries to explain Johnson's situation and says this, "And he groped for a phrase, a word, something to describe what this thing was like that was happening to him and he thought it was like being enmeshed in a winding sheet, that was it, a winding sheet" (1504). The author compared Johnson's beating on his wife to being tangled in a winding sheet. But, why? Here's my take on it. He's fighting himself to get out of the sheet and stop the beating on his wife, but he can't because the sheet is binding him down to this act. This is what Ann Petry says, "...he thought with horror that something inside him was holding him, binding him to this act, wrapping and twisting about him so that he had to continue it" (1504). The something (winding sheet) is a representation of  anger. Anger is holding him down and has wrapped around him like a winding sheet.

Here's another meaning take that could be put into play. When you are in a winding sheet you are covered, basically being wrapped in a blanket. So if you're tangled under a blanket your trying your best to find the end of the cover to free yourself. Racism by white supremacy kept him trapped under the sheet, he couldn't find the end of the blanket because of his repetitive encounters with racism. White supremacy represents the winding sheet. The racism built up his anger, it wound up the sheet so much he couldn't get out. Why couldn't he overcome this white supremacy and free himself? Simple, he can't control racism. So in result, the anger in Johnson reached its maximum point and was released on his wife Mae.

-Riley S.E

It's been a bad day...

"It's been a bad day...." That's no excuse for domestic violence. There really is no excuse at all for domestic violence other than if there's something actually wrong with you... but even that isn't a valid excuse or explanation.

Domestic violence is a topic that should not even exist. Why hit? Why abuse? Why get physical? It's one thing to argue with your spouse/ significant other but to lay a hand on them is another thing. No one can ever say that it is their right to handle their spouse or partner however they want to do so because it is NO ONE'S right to abuse anyone. I strongly believe that if you lay a hand on your significant other, you don't love them. You're just sick. And I don't mean play fighting or messing around... if you hit them to purposely hurt them or because "you had a bad day" and they were annoying you, you don't love them. Not at all. No one deserves that treatment.


There's a story called Like a Winding Sheet by Ann Petry which is about domestic violence. There's a married couple and when the husband woke up, he didn't wanna get up for the longest time. Before going to work, the couple argued and the thought of hitting his wife was in his mind but "he could never hit a woman." He goes to work not in the best mood and his boss, which is a woman, yells at him for being late and she calls him the n-word. He yells at her and the thought of hitting his boss was in his mind but "he could never hit a woman." He was angry for the rest of his shift and when it was over, he went to a cafe and when it was his turn to order, the barista said there was no more coffee for a while. He thought it was cause he's black and the thought of hitting the barista was in his mind but "he could never hit a girl." He gets home and he's tired. He sits on a chair where his wife's overalls are and she orders him to get up cause he's gonna wrinkle it. He refuses to get up and while she's talking, he doesn't hear the humor in her voice and the thought of hitting his wife was in his mind...... and he did. He hit his wife in the mouth repeatedly. Reading this story actually got me thinking. Why say you would never hit a woman but do it anyway? Actions speak louder than words obviously. It doesn't matter how tough your day was; you should NEVER hit someone, especially your significant other.. This goes for men AND women.


I don't know if this is sexist or not but why are so many women scared of their husbands or men in general? Since when did men start hitting and belittling women? I know some women are violent towards men too but if you google "domestic violence" you won't really see men as victims. You'd see women with bruises, women trying to defend themselves, women getting hit, etc. You hear the term "domestic violence" and would typically think it's the woman getting abused by the man right? I don't know why it's like that or why that ever became a thing. Probably because some people think men are more superior and better than women? It's sad that some people actually believe that a woman can't be better than her husband when in so many cases, they are. This probably sounds contradicting to my last sentence but everyone is equal. No one is better than the other. A husband isn't better than his wife and a wife isn't better than her husband. With that being said, you are not better than anyone so you have NO RIGHT to lay a hand on them. Don't get violent.

Do some people actually condone domestic violence? I read a poem called The Mother's Tale by AI and let me tell you, it was one of the most disturbing things I have ever read. To keep it short, this poem is about a mother talking to or writing to her son on his wedding day telling him he's better than his new wife and basically that men are better. She specifically tells him "You must beat Rosita often." ....why.... Why tell your son to beat his new wife? Why condone that? What kind of mother encourages and tells her son to beat his wife? In the beginning of the poem she says she saw her husband dancing with another woman so she cut him across the cheek with a pocket knife... for what? Maybe the reason why she's telling her son to beat his wife is because she used to be abusive towards her husband... but still that makes no sense. I don't agree with one word of that entire poem. It's insane. A woman, or anyone, should NEVER encourage domestic violence or abuse ESPECIALLY for their children.

One time I saw a video of an experiment to see if anyone would help. There were two actors being recorded, a man and a woman (husband and wife), and they were arguing. The woman was talking to her husband in a quiet tone, not trying to bring attention to them. Meanwhile her husband was yelling at her and making a big scene in public. She was trying to get him to calm down and lower his voice but that was only getting him angrier. He kept telling her to get up so they could "finish this at home" but she didn't want to. She didn't want to go home with him.. it was obvious. Then a man noticed the whole argument and stepped in. He told the husband to go home alone or else he would call the cops. The bystander would not allow the wife
to go with her husband to "finish this at home." He knew that could mean something bad, which could end in violence.

Personally, if I see a couple arguing and feel like someone could get violent, I don't feel comfortable leaving. If I saw someone about to get violent, I would call the cops or someone. I was never one for confrontation but I would definitely call someone for help. I know it's none of my business whatever they're fighting about but if I didn't do something as little as calling for help, someone could've been hurt.

Don't be a bystander. You never know... you might have just saved someone's life.

If you are being physically abused, you really should get some help. You need to stay safe.
If you are the one physically abusing someone, you really NEED to get some help. You need to be locked up.


If you have kids and are in an abusive relationship, get out of it for your kids. Your kids know more than you think and they see what's going on. They can tell when something is wrong and they can sense the tension. Get them away from the unsafe environment and raise them to never lay a finger on another person.

Some people in marriages are scared to get help for reasons I will never understand. I personally would encourage every single domestic violence victim to speak up and get the hell away from the person hurting them. No one deserves to get hit no matter what they do. As cliché as it might sound, violence is never the answer.



Andrea I.

Low power mode

It Starts Going Down Hill

Starting from chapter 57.2% of the novel called Feed by M.T. Anderson, Titus starts to ignore Violet. Violet is in the hospital telling Titus about the story of how she lost the feeling in her leg, but Titus only reads some of it. In chapter 82.4% Titus states, “I didn’t listen to all of it immediately.  I was lying there in bed. I saw that it was going to be long, and I stopped after and few sentences. There was a smell like the hospital. It was like sickness … I listened to the rest while the upcar drove me… I could still smell the hospital in my nose. It wasn’t anything around me. It was her” (Feed, 181).

·        In my opinion, Titus judgement about him and Violet is partially clouded because of his emotions. Titus knows that Violet is dying and he doesn’t want to deal with it. He feels as though ignoring her or reading her messages on his time will compensate addressing the situation. Titus is also irritated by the smell of the Violet being in the hospital. He does not like that smell around him. In reality, Titus should not act that way towards Violet. She did not ask to be in the situation that she is in and Titus should understand that.

In chapter 80.9%, Violet sends Titus a message with all of the things that she wants to do before she dies. He doesn’t read the message right away. He looks at it once again and only reads some of it. In chapter 78.6 %, Titus says, “I didn’t send a message back to Violet. I didn’t even listen to her list all the way through the first time.”In chapter 59.3%, Violet says “Titus, I’m afraid of silence. I’m afraid my memory will go soon. When I try to think about that year that disappeared from six to seven, it’s nothing. I mean I can’t remember anything” (Feed, 199).

·        This part was interesting to me because Violet is afraid her memory will be lost. If she did not have the feed, she would not have to worry about losing her memory. Everyone wants to live and function like a computer because “it’s cool”, and not taking into consideration on the negative effects of having the feed.

In chapter 4.6%, Titus is laying next to Violet on the hospital bed. He states, “I sat in her room, by her side, and she stared a the ceiling. I held her hand. On a screen, her heart was barely beating. I could see my face, crying, in her blank eye.”(Feed. 234) Then the feed starts again. “Feeling blue? Then dress blue...Everything must go! Everything must go! (Feed, 235).

·        Titus finally realizes that Violet is a great person while on she is on her death bed. While she was sick, Titus broke up with her and started dating Quendy. In reality, sometimes dating someone that is just like you, is not always best. You have to take risks and get out of your comfort zone. Titus didn’t want to do that until Violet started to get sick. As Violet started to die, her Feed started to fade as well. While Titus was feeling sad, his feed started up again. It knew that he was down and started to advertise different ways to cheer him up. Then it said “everything must go” which then started to fade as well.

Now Do You Really Want the Feed?

·        Yeah having a chip in your brain that gives you instant access to the internet is mind blowing, but it is not worth it! Do you really think you can live in a world like that? Probably not! Once someone is able to hack your brain and spread a virus like they did with Violet that’s it! Now just imagine what happened to Violet, happened to the whole entire world? The world would crumble.

·      

             The book ended on “everything must go” which is correct. Computers are upgraded every year and so is the advancing of technology. Once that chip grows old, it is time for a new one or your brain will not operate the same.

·        Personally, I would want the feed for a couple of months. After four months, they can remove it from my brain. I like watching sports and staying up to date on game stats. I am a huge Ravens fan, so having instant access to stats during a game would come in clutch! I would only use the feed for GPS or stats purposes but not for my academics. I applaud Violet for being the only one who read books and tried to learn on her own instead of using the feed all of the time.

Our world will eventually fall to into pieces if we functioned on the feed. 

-Steven Edmond 

Can I please FEED you?

Hey M.T Anderson lovers... Today I'll be talking about one of his books, Feed!!! Well, I honestly can tell why you guys like him so much since he focuses on different ideas and issues in his books such as Consumerism and technology. I personally love how this story is brought to us from a teenager's point of view. Even though he expresses himself different than us, we can still understand what he's trying to say. This fascinating book reveals a futuristic American culture that is literally entirely dominated by advertisement and corporations that are working with brain implants. mmm, How crazy is that huh?

I know there are plenty of issues going on in this book but right now I would like to start off by focusing on one idea/issue: CONSUMERISM...For those of us who read this book already, we can say that it takes place in a near-future world and in this fascinating world media is literally always with you. The feed is implanted in people's brain. I don't think I would like that but okayy..

I have a confession to make.. I am absolutely obsessed with social media, I check Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr every two seconds to make sure I know everything that's going on in my friend's life. LOL, I know it's probably normal nowadays to do that but for Titus and his friends, that was basically nothing! Idk if this is like insane for you guys or nah but the world Titus and his friends live in sounds so interesting but then so scary. I won't lie... I would like to live in their world at least for one day just to see and experience what they have to deal with on a daily basis. They explain how they were so used to games, ads, information, directions feeding them directly into their brains and when the hacker made their feed go crazy, the world just simply didn't make sense to them anymore. They didn't know how to act or how to just talk and communicate like we do.This malfunction that the hacker caused made them stay on the moon for many days and they felt as if they were gonna go crazy... I would.. since they said the moon was boring...

There are crazy things going on in the book since everything is focused on consumerism. Titus may be clueless, but Violet actually teaches him that this kind of consumerism is destroying him, his friends and his family. Violet's resistance and then her death exposed or showed that there was no point or reason on trying to resist their society's dominant culture which in this case was the feed. why get rid of something that was helping them? that was Titus mentality at this point.

In the book, we can see how in the future most of the teenagers don’t really worry or care about their own level of intelligence and how the feed made them completely ignorant. Education is not really important to them anymore because the feed can help them find any type of information they want at any time. Everything is so much easier with the help of the feed. Is like having google in your hands all the time... I mean we already do because most of us have smartphones... so...

Idk if this is crazy to you guys but..Its crazy to me that most of them only worry about having a good time and consuming anything that comes up in their feeds. like seriously our lives are not easy like that.. life is just not that simple.They believed the feed would make them “supersmart without ever working. (Anderson 42)

 In my opinion, it is the lack of work that makes them so freaking stupid. we can see the difference in Violet because she is homeschooled and the feed was implanted in her brain when she was seven years old so she was older compared to everyone else. She had time to learn and think on her own without the feed and she liked it more that way. She demonstrates to be smarter than Titus and his friends.

The moral of the story is that the more we rely on technology and other objects to think and make decisions for us, then the more ignorant we will become and our lives will be as fake and superficial as Titus and his friends.

The main thing that makes the society so superficial and ignorant is the consumption of products that are constantly being advertised in the feed in their brains. When we think about the feed we can imagine one of those websites where a lot of windows of ads show up and are so freaking annoying. Ok so now Imagine having that inside your brain all the time; How would we all end? with all those constant advertisement influences? Titus and his friends are a result of this giant issue.

So basically what I want you to understand from this blog is that the futuristic society described and explained in this novel is fucked up due to how people over the time turn out to be completely manipulated by consumerism. The feed is exactly what makes this manipulation possible and as a result, people cannot think on their own and they also have no idea of the damages that the feed is doing to them and that's just sad. The feed controls their brains completely and im honestly scared of having a future like Titus reality!! OMG that deadass terrifies me.

This book actually helps the people of today because it will make us more aware of how technology is literally making us slaves to consumerism and it's disgusting. M.T Anderson did an amazing job by exposing his ideas and issues that he sees in the world. This way maybe enough people will get the message and will interfere by not letting the feed become a reality in the future since this would obviously end our lives and the lives of our loved ones.

-Melissa F.