Community is a loose idea in Rainbows End, usually defined as a group of people you have something in common with. So there's family-community, though as we see with Robert and his family, this is a type of community that can fall apart. (If your ex-wife fakes her death to get away from you, you might want to reconsider how you're acting in the community.)
But there are also friendships, both local (Miri-Juan) and distant (Miri-Jin). And then, perhaps most interestingly, there are the belief circles: fans of some particular work. These belief circles might add to the world of their favorite book/movie/game. In that way, community isn't just the people you have something in common with; it's the people you contribute with.
Questions About Community
- How does technology change the way communities are formed?
- Besides family, friendship, and belief circles, what other types of communities do we see in this book?
- How do different communities interact in this book? Besides the big rumble over the library, how do different belief circles interact?
- What does a good community provide to its members? What does a bad community take from its members?
- What about bigger communities, like the nation—do we see lots of country-level communities in this book? Are there any communities that are global in scope?
Chew on This
The strongest communities in Rainbows End are the communities where everyone is equal and contributes equally.
Robert only changes his identity when he loses all of his old communities—because identity comes from community.