Food and Eating

So there's the feed, which is a little stream of information pouring into your head. But there's also food, and feeding, and consumption in general: a whole set of images that Anderson cleverly lumps together to help characterize Titus's out-of-control society. The "feed" isn't just a technological marvel; it's also a way of thinking about a society that can't stop consuming. Let's look at a few of those examples:

Cinnabon Out of Control

Remember that moment when Titus rolls up to Violet in the mall? No, really: he rolls up a wheelbarrow filled with a giant Cinnabon-type treat  from a place called "Bun in a Barrow." This is just one example of how the novel uses images of food and eating to convey the absurdity of extreme consumption. (Brain Snack: Cinnabon treats are notoriously caloric: a Cinnabon Classic has 880 calories, almost half of what you need in a day.)

Enjoy Your Banquet

The kids have all kinds of wacky slang, but "banquet" is a relatively normal word that keeps popping up in unusual situations:

• "If there weren't those people, then maybe we wouldn't all be standing here having a big shame banquet." (4.3)
• "Like, thanks for the heapin' helpings of yawn banquet." (25.7)
• "You're laying this whole guilt banquet." (53.59)

That's an awful lot of human emotion and feeling to characterize in terms of a "banquet." But it totally makes sense. A banquet is an occasion for massive consumption of food, usually in a swanky environment, and Titus and his friends have been conditioned to always be in consumption mode. So, it's perfectly natural that his generation will use a lot of imagery relating to high-class consumption.

Handsome as a What?

Has your mom ever referred to you as "Handsome as a hamburger?" Or maybe "Pretty as a popsicle?" Er, probably not. So, it stands out as weird when Titus's mom describes him as "handsome as a duck in butter" (25.43).

But again, it only makes sense. We already know that Titus's world is obsessed with food and eating, and what's going on here is that even people and the relationships between them are starting described in terms of things that can be bought and paid for. In other words, we've consumed so many commodities (things that can be bought) that we ourselves have become commodities.

Seem outrageous? Consider this: sites like Facebook make big bucks from selling your data to companies. Facebook doesn't need to charge you a fee to use the site, because you are Facebook's product.  

Did someone say dystopia?

Welcome to the Meat Farm

Yep, "meat farm." And we're not using that term figuratively, like how cows are technically "meat" even while they're out roaming around in the pastures. No: we're talking meat growing in fields like bloody ears of corn:

We could see all these miles and miles of filet mignon from where we were sitting, and some places where the genetic coding had gone wrong and there, in the middle of the beef, the tissue had formed a horn or an eye or a heart blinking up at the sunset. (29.17)

On the surface, a meat farm sure sounds like a good idea. No dead cows, yay! But then there's that dark side: the horns and eyes and blinking heart lurking within the good meat.

Enjoy that eye in the middle of your filet!