Stewart Brand, an old writer said, “Once a new technology rolls over you, if you're not part of the steamroller, you're part of the road.” He recognized that the advanced technology in the world may benefit the few individuals who invented it, but has negative effects over others. In “Flowers for Algernon”, a short story written by Daniel Keyes, a man named Charlie Gordon experiences the one thing that he has always wanted: to be smart. However, in the end, the experience was more destructive than enlightening. In The Feed, the protagonist’s friend Violet has her life ruined by the feed technology. Both sources discuss how cutting-edge technology may not always be for the better. New technological advancements can destroy the humanity
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The experiment triples his IQ and strengthens his thinking. The advantages of of the experiment working were short lived, because this technology did not make his life any better. Throughout the story Charlie struggles with himself and asks, “I don’t know what’s worse; to not know what you are and be happy, or to become what you’ve always wanted to be and feel alone” (Keyes). The author uses this quote to show the reader that the experiment didn’t end in a “happily ever after”, and that it did more harm than good. Once Charlie had become smarter, the other characters didn’t treat him the same anymore and wouldn’t even talk to him. He wanted his old life back until he realized that most of the things in his old life were lies. Charlie comes to know things that he would have otherwise never known, because of the experiment. He tells the reader, “Only a short time ago, I learned that people laughed at me. Now I can see that unknowingly I joined them in laughing at myself. That hurts the most” (Keyes 10). The word “hurt” in the passage is important because it shows that Charlie is suffering from this experiment. This destroys him inside because he thought his old life wasn’t that bad. With the experiment, his realization occurred because of his newfound intelligence. His intelligence was short lived because the mouse …show more content…
In the? Feed, by M.T. Anderson, the new technology isn’t as perfect as the main character, Titus, thought it was. The feed was a chip implanted in a person's brain which simulates a computer. For Titus's girlfriend Violet, the feed ruined her life. At first the effects were small. Titus describes her during the beginning of her symptoms, “She couldn’t get out too good with her arms not working” (Anderson 275). As the summer goes on the symptoms and effects become fatal. Titus tells the reader the after effects he notices when he goes to see Violet at the end of the summer, “I stood there in front of her bed... It was like being in the room with her if she was wood.” (Anderson 286) The author describes her as wood because she is empty, not able to do anything. The once human girl is now just a body lying on a bed corrupted by the new technology. The feed has ruined and destroyed Violet’s life and she is just waiting to die. Furthermore, the feed didn’t just ruin Violet’s life, it caused Violet’s father and Titus to fight and cause chaos. Their argument progressed to this, “I yelled, ‘Fuck You! Fuck You! You can fuckin’ tell me!’... ‘Fuck you forever and ever and ever! Forever and ever!’” (Anderson 292) The author conveys how the feed has caused chaos and made them both angry at each other over Violet’s misery and misfortune. Violet’s father thinks Violet is the way she is
The experiment triples his IQ and strengthens his thinking. The advantages of of the experiment working were short lived, because this technology did not make his life any better. Throughout the story Charlie struggles with himself and asks, “I don’t know what’s worse; to not know what you are and be happy, or to become what you’ve always wanted to be and feel alone” (Keyes). The author uses this quote to show the reader that the experiment didn’t end in a “happily ever after”, and that it did more harm than good. Once Charlie had become smarter, the other characters didn’t treat him the same anymore and wouldn’t even talk to him. He wanted his old life back until he realized that most of the things in his old life were lies. Charlie comes to know things that he would have otherwise never known, because of the experiment. He tells the reader, “Only a short time ago, I learned that people laughed at me. Now I can see that unknowingly I joined them in laughing at myself. That hurts the most” (Keyes 10). The word “hurt” in the passage is important because it shows that Charlie is suffering from this experiment. This destroys him inside because he thought his old life wasn’t that bad. With the experiment, his realization occurred because of his newfound intelligence. His intelligence was short lived because the mouse …show more content…
In the? Feed, by M.T. Anderson, the new technology isn’t as perfect as the main character, Titus, thought it was. The feed was a chip implanted in a person's brain which simulates a computer. For Titus's girlfriend Violet, the feed ruined her life. At first the effects were small. Titus describes her during the beginning of her symptoms, “She couldn’t get out too good with her arms not working” (Anderson 275). As the summer goes on the symptoms and effects become fatal. Titus tells the reader the after effects he notices when he goes to see Violet at the end of the summer, “I stood there in front of her bed... It was like being in the room with her if she was wood.” (Anderson 286) The author describes her as wood because she is empty, not able to do anything. The once human girl is now just a body lying on a bed corrupted by the new technology. The feed has ruined and destroyed Violet’s life and she is just waiting to die. Furthermore, the feed didn’t just ruin Violet’s life, it caused Violet’s father and Titus to fight and cause chaos. Their argument progressed to this, “I yelled, ‘Fuck You! Fuck You! You can fuckin’ tell me!’... ‘Fuck you forever and ever and ever! Forever and ever!’” (Anderson 292) The author conveys how the feed has caused chaos and made them both angry at each other over Violet’s misery and misfortune. Violet’s father thinks Violet is the way she is