Quick: in one sentence, explain the difference between Marty and Link. Can't do it, can you? In Feed, the constant stream of info telling people what to buy, what to like, what to listen to, and what body modifications to pursue ends up making things like "identity" and "individuality" meaningless—and subversive. The people who don't fit in with that mainstream mold (like Violet and her dad) are outcasts, and dangerous ones at that.
Questions About Identity
- Do Titus's friends ever show a unique identity? Or are they all interchangeable?
- Is Violet completely fair in her description of the feed helping to "streamline" people's tastes by "dividing everyone up into a few personality types"? To what extent might humans already be classified into certain "types"?
- To what extent do you think Titus's parents behave like adults, and in what ways do they seem childlike? You might want to consider how Titus's dad speaks.
- Does Titus change at all by the end of the book? Or is he still pretty much like Marty and Link?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Titus is very different from his friends. He has his own identity.
People really wouldn't lose their individuality if there was such a thing as the feed.